Friday, January 13
Blacksburg, VA
All Day
Wake Forest University
vs
Virginia Tech Invitational
Photo by: Eric Roth
Demon Deacons Primed for Virginia Tech Invitational and Dick Taylor Challenge
1/12/2023 11:45:00 AM | Track and Field
The Deacs will look to start the 2023 calendar year in impressive fashion with two meets hosted by fellow ACC members.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest men's and women's track & field teams will officially kick off the 2023 portion of the 2022-23 indoor season this weekend as several Demon Deacons will compete in the Virginia Tech Invitational (Jan. 13-14) at the Rector Field House in Blacksburg, Va., while others will remain in the state of North Carolina to compete in the Dick Taylor Challenge (Jan. 14) at the Eddie Smith Field House in Chapel Hill.
The Virginia Tech Invitational will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday and will continue until action has concluded for the day. Competition will resume on Saturday, with the first event commencing at 11:00 a.m. The one-day Dick Taylor Challenge, hosted by North Carolina, will also begin at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday and will run until action has finished.
Results from the Virginia Tech Invitational will be displayed via FlashResults.com, while results from the Dick Taylor Challenge can be viewed on DurhamStriders.com.
Familiar Faces
Wake Forest will look to build upon a solid 2021-22 campaign as the Demon Deacons return six indoor track & field All-ACC honorees and five outdoor track & field All-ACC honorees from a season ago between the men's and women's programs.
This season, the Wake Forest men's track & field team returns First-Team All-American and ACC Champion Thomas Vanoppen. Last season, Vanoppen placed fourth in the 1500m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, becoming the first Wake Forest outdoor All-American since Robert Heppenstall in 2018 and the first 1500m All-American since Kyle Graves in 2015.
In addition to Vanoppen, the Demon Deacon men return Zach Facioni who collected Second-Team All-American honors a season ago, along with three indoor All-ACC honorees (Thomas Kitchell, Andrew White and Rynard Swanepoel).
For the women, Wake Forest returns Anna Bush and Emma Soderstrom as they both earned All-American honorable mention honors last season at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, finishing 18th in the heptathlon and 23rd in the high jump, respectively. Additionally, the Deacs return All-ACC selection Addison Berry.
Last Time Out
At the Winston-Salem College Kickoff last month, Emily Akin, Thomas Kitchell, Amanda Schaare, Andrew White and Pedro Bravo all earned victories in their respective events as Wake Forest became the only school to have five participants win an event at the annual meet.
In the distance events, Akin and Bravo both had stellar performances as they won the women's 3,000m and the men's mile, respectively. As the only Demon Deacon to compete in the women's 3,000, Akin ran a personal-best time of 10:27.15 to finish first. Additionally, Bravo ran a personal-best in the men's mile (4:16.38) to earn his first collegiate first-place finish.
Wake Forest had stellar performances in both the men's and women's shot put as Kitchell (18.46m) and Schaare (15.28m) won the events. Of note, Mason Ellis and Ashlyn Giles finished second in the men's and women's shot put, respectively. The Demon Deacons' dominance in the throwing events didn't end there as White won the men's weight throw (20.24m), narrowly defeating Kitchell (18.73m) who finished second.
In the women's 4x400m relay, Alexis Lay, Kendall Williamson, Mia Boardman and Mimi Wolk finished second, running a time of 4:02.52.
Of note, Addison Berry finished third in the women's long jump, while Casey Sullivan and Sophie Perez Gonzalez recorded third place finishes in the women's shot put and the women's weight throw, respectively.
At the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, Wake Forest participated solely in the 5,000m on both the men's and women's side. For the men, Zach Facioni (13:34.21), Ben Mitchell (13:57.10) and Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos (13:59.45) competed for the Demon Deacons. Of note, Facioni broke the Wake Forest all-time record with his time of 13:34.21. In the women's race, Wake Forest was paced by Mackenna Curtis-Collins (16:02.07), Carolien Millenaar (16:21.54) and Caroline Garrett (16:33.39).
Follow The Demon Deacons
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | #GoDeacs
The Virginia Tech Invitational will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday and will continue until action has concluded for the day. Competition will resume on Saturday, with the first event commencing at 11:00 a.m. The one-day Dick Taylor Challenge, hosted by North Carolina, will also begin at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday and will run until action has finished.
Results from the Virginia Tech Invitational will be displayed via FlashResults.com, while results from the Dick Taylor Challenge can be viewed on DurhamStriders.com.
Familiar Faces
Wake Forest will look to build upon a solid 2021-22 campaign as the Demon Deacons return six indoor track & field All-ACC honorees and five outdoor track & field All-ACC honorees from a season ago between the men's and women's programs.
This season, the Wake Forest men's track & field team returns First-Team All-American and ACC Champion Thomas Vanoppen. Last season, Vanoppen placed fourth in the 1500m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, becoming the first Wake Forest outdoor All-American since Robert Heppenstall in 2018 and the first 1500m All-American since Kyle Graves in 2015.
In addition to Vanoppen, the Demon Deacon men return Zach Facioni who collected Second-Team All-American honors a season ago, along with three indoor All-ACC honorees (Thomas Kitchell, Andrew White and Rynard Swanepoel).
For the women, Wake Forest returns Anna Bush and Emma Soderstrom as they both earned All-American honorable mention honors last season at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, finishing 18th in the heptathlon and 23rd in the high jump, respectively. Additionally, the Deacs return All-ACC selection Addison Berry.
Last Time Out
At the Winston-Salem College Kickoff last month, Emily Akin, Thomas Kitchell, Amanda Schaare, Andrew White and Pedro Bravo all earned victories in their respective events as Wake Forest became the only school to have five participants win an event at the annual meet.
In the distance events, Akin and Bravo both had stellar performances as they won the women's 3,000m and the men's mile, respectively. As the only Demon Deacon to compete in the women's 3,000, Akin ran a personal-best time of 10:27.15 to finish first. Additionally, Bravo ran a personal-best in the men's mile (4:16.38) to earn his first collegiate first-place finish.
Wake Forest had stellar performances in both the men's and women's shot put as Kitchell (18.46m) and Schaare (15.28m) won the events. Of note, Mason Ellis and Ashlyn Giles finished second in the men's and women's shot put, respectively. The Demon Deacons' dominance in the throwing events didn't end there as White won the men's weight throw (20.24m), narrowly defeating Kitchell (18.73m) who finished second.
In the women's 4x400m relay, Alexis Lay, Kendall Williamson, Mia Boardman and Mimi Wolk finished second, running a time of 4:02.52.
Of note, Addison Berry finished third in the women's long jump, while Casey Sullivan and Sophie Perez Gonzalez recorded third place finishes in the women's shot put and the women's weight throw, respectively.
At the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, Wake Forest participated solely in the 5,000m on both the men's and women's side. For the men, Zach Facioni (13:34.21), Ben Mitchell (13:57.10) and Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos (13:59.45) competed for the Demon Deacons. Of note, Facioni broke the Wake Forest all-time record with his time of 13:34.21. In the women's race, Wake Forest was paced by Mackenna Curtis-Collins (16:02.07), Carolien Millenaar (16:21.54) and Caroline Garrett (16:33.39).
Follow The Demon Deacons
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | #GoDeacs
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track and Field
Multi
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Multi
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Multi
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and FieldWake Forest Football vs SMU | Cinematic Recap
Wednesday, October 29
Wake Forest Head Football Coach Jake Dickert Weekly Press Conference (10/27/2025)
Monday, October 27
Wake Forest Defensive Back Davaughn Patterson Postgame vs. SMU (Oct. 25, 2025)
Saturday, October 25
Wake Forest Wide Receiver Chris Barnes Postgame Press Conference vs. SMU (Oct. 25, 2025)
Saturday, October 25