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COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina assistant track and field coach Mike Sergent has been selected for induction into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame and will be honored in festivities at the institution this weekend. A member of the Virginia Tech track and field program from 1988-92, Sergent will be inducted in his first year of eligibility.
Sergent is one of five individuals selected for the Class of 2012 that will be inducted at a Hall of Fame dinner on the Tech campus on Friday, Sept. 7. Each of the inductees will be introduced to fans at halftime of the Virginia Tech home football game on Saturday against Austin Peay. Sergent, along with Dave Braine, Andre Davis, Sharon McCloskey and Amy Wetzel Doolan, will bring the total number enshrined to 163.
During Sergent’s collegiate career, he established himself as one of the country’s best performers in the hammer throw and the 35-pound weight throw.
In 1990, Sergent was ranked by USATF among the top 15 in the 35-weight throw. He was also ranked by Track and Field News three consecutive years. At the 1990 Metro Conference Outdoor Championships, Sergent finished second in both the hammer throw and discus, while placing sixth in the shot put. Earlier that year, he set a school mark (at the time) in the weight throw with a heave of 63’1 ¾” and qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships. He was unable to compete in the event because of a lower back injury.
During his senior season, Sergent had the school’s top throw in the hammer at 210’1″. He also hurled the discus 175’5″ that season, a throw that still ranks as the fourth-best in school history. Sergent won Metro titles in both the hammer and the discus in ’92. He went on to earn All-America honors when he finished seventh nationally at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and was an Olympic Trials qualifier.
A four-year All-Metro pick in the weights, Sergent received a degree in exercise physiology from Tech in 1992. He served as a graduate assistant with the Hokies for two seasons, while completing a master’s in sports management. He was elevated to a full-time assistant in 1995, a position he held for three seasons.
During his five seasons as an assistant for the Hokies, Sergent was a part of one Metro and four Atlantic 10 Conference championship teams. In 1998, he joined the staff at the University of South Carolina as the assistant coach in charge of throws. During his 14 seasons with the Gamecocks, Sergent has coached 21 All-Americans, 25 NCAA qualifiers, 14 SEC champions and five NCAA champions.
