Region News

From Staff and wire reports

Published: May 17, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Ben Rubeor’s goal with 31 seconds remaining in overtime lifted second-seeded Virginia to an 8-7 victory over No. 8 Maryland on Saturday in an NCAA tournament quarterfinal.

Rubeor waltzed in from behind the cage and bounced a 5-yard shot past Maryland keeper Jason Carter for his third goal of the game, sending Virginia to the semifinals for the 18th time. Rubeor used a pick to elude his defender and came around the cage unattended.

College baseball

Duke 7, Virgina Tech 5

BLACKSBURG — Jonathan Nicolla went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs to lead Duke past Virginia Tech in the final regular-season game for both teams.

Will Currier (6-5) got the win for the Blue Devils (37-18-1, 10-18-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), allowing one hit — a two-run homer to Virginia Tech center fielder Sean Ryan with two outs in the bottom of the ninth — in four-plus innings of relief.

Georgia Tech 9, Virginia 7

No. 25 Georgia Tech withstood a late Virginia rally to earn the win in the deciding contest of the three-game series at Davenport Field.

Greg Miclat, Patrick Wingfield and Dan Grovatt all recorded three hits for Virginia. Virginia starting pitcher Jacob Thompson tossed 4 1/3 innings and allowed four earned runs, six hits and a walk while striking out eight. He was credited with the loss and fell to 5-4 this season.

Track & field

Liberty in first place

Liberty senior Jon Hart won the hammer throw and junior Daniel Newell wrapped up the decathlon crown, highlighting Saturday’s action at the IC4A and ECAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Princeton, N.J. Their efforts helped push the Liberty men’s squad into first place in the IC4A team standings, entering the meet’s final day.

Liberty, tied for third place after Friday’s events, jumped into the lead at the close of Saturday. The defending champion Flames have notched 44 points through eight events, leaving them 19 points ahead of Georgetown, which claimed this year’s IC4A indoor crown. Syracuse is a close third, with 24 points.

Hart unleashed a career-best 222 feet, 4 inches, on his second hammer attempt, and the throw outdistanced the field by nearly 15 feet. He repeated his hammer title from 2007.

Tech sprinter breaks own record

Sophomore sprinter Queen Harrison improved her own 400-meter dash school record and the Virginia Tech track & field team wrapped up its final meet before the NCAA East Regional Championships in the Georgia Tech Invitational.

The sixth-ranked women’s team’s performance was led by Harrison, who reset her 400-meter dash record with a time of 52.88 seconds. The Richmond native beat her previous record mark by .36 seconds and was the top finisher in the event.

Golf

Tech’s Van der Vaart advances

Virginia Tech golfer Jurrian van der Vaart shot a three-round total of seven-under-par 206 Saturday in the NCAA Regional in Chattanooga, Tenn., and will advance to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship in West Lafayette, Ind., on May 28-31.

Van der Vaart, a senior from Almelo, the Netherlands, shot an even-par 71 on Saturday afternoon. The top 10 teams and two individuals from non-advancing teams advance to the championship.

Cavaliers qualify

The unranked Virginia men’s golf team staged a miraculous rally during the final round of the NCAA East Regional Championships to finish 10th and earn the final berth from the regional to the national championships.

Virginia’s trip to the 30-team NCAAs at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex is the program’s first since 2000. The Cavaliers entered Saturday’s final round in 16th place, nine shots out of 10th place.