ATLANTA (Jan. 11) – Georgia Tech’s men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams start the new year Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational in the Nutter Field House in Lexington, Ky. Tech will be looking to pick up where it left off after winning seven events in the Kentucky Invitational back on December 13.
“We are excited to be back after the holiday break and are anxious to start competing,” said women’s head coach Alan Drosky. “We had a strong start during November and December and it appears that the athletes have returned in very good shape, which will allow us to pick up our training where we left off. Kentucky has a great facility which should give us a good indication of where we are right now.”
The women’s team will look toward senior Becky Megesi (Jonesboro, Ga.) and junior Sara Pardue (Aurora, Colo.) in the 800 meters, senior Ayana Grant (Oakland, Calif.) in the 60 meters and 60 meter high hurdles, junior Alisha McClinton (Baltimore, Md.) in the long jump and 60 meters and sophomore transfer Michelle Reyes (Bronx, N.Y.) in the long jump. The men’s team will be looking toward senior Michael Johnson (Littleton, Colo.) and sophomore Bryan Swarn (Englewood, Colo.) in the 400 meters and freshman Brendon Mahoney (Cumming, Ga.) in the 800 meters. The Yellow Jackets’ 4×400 team of Johnson, freshman Sharif Azim (Marietta, Ga.), Tosin Tomori (Harare, Zimbabwe) and Swarn will be in action for the first time. Johnson, Tomori, and Swarn return from the squad that finished fifth in the NCAA Outdoor Championship meet a year ago.
The men’s team took five firsts, while the women’s team won two at the Wildcat Speed Meet on December 13. Tech also registered 10 placements of either second, third or fourth place. Tech’s 4×400 team, behind returning all-Americas Johnson and Tomori , won in a time of 3:16.70. Redshirt-senior Malcolm Leason (Wilmington, Del.) won the triple jump with an effort of 49-11.75, while freshman Brian Fraser (Scotch Plains, N.J.) won the long jump with an effort of 21-4.75. Junior Clayton Porter (Chesapeake, Va.) won the 60 meter dash in 6.83 seconds and sophomore Scott Reida (Marietta, Ga.) won the shot put with a throw of 43-1.5. The Yellow Jacket women received first place efforts from McClinton and junior Nicole Campbell (Ventura, Calif.). McClinton won the 60 meters by six-one hundredths of a second in 7.62 seconds. Campbell won the 800 meters with a time of 2:20.59.
Tech is next in action January 21-22 at the Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, Va.
