Worthy sets new school record in shot put on first day
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The Georgia Tech track and field teams received strong performances from both its distance performers and those competing in the jumping events on the first day of competition at the Alabama Relays, including a school-record long jump performance by Mishanta Reyes. The meet is being held on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Yellow Jacket women recorded eight top-10 finishes on the day, including an event win on Saturday. The top performer of the day proved to be junior Mishanta Reyes who finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 20-4.50. That jump allowed Reyes to not only record an NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark, but also to smash the 14-year-old school that had been held by Kathy Harrison. Reyes broke Harrison’s mark of 20-1.75 by nearly three inches.
Sophomore Amy Dock was Tech’s lone event winner, as she won the 3000-meter race with a time of 9:51.30. Joining her with top-10 placements in the distance event area was rookie Renee Metivier, who placed fourth in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:34.76.
In the 5000 meters, Tech had a pair of top-10 finishers, as Amy Edwards was seventh with a time of 18:00.59 and senior Tina Frey with her time of 18:12.66. Junior Rachael Caruso was just behind Frey, as she was 12th with a mark of 18:25.74. Among the Jackets’ other top-10 finishers was Tosan Osaigbovo, who was seventh in the 100-meter hurdles with her time of 14.08 seconds.
The field events were also successful for the Tech women, as a pair of sophomores finished in the top five of the high jump, as Jennifer Ledbetter and Jamie Ostrov recorded matching heights of 5-7, to place third and fifth respectively. In another vertical jump event, freshman Jodie Nettles was eighth in the pole vault with a height of 10-11.75.
The final top-10 performer on the women’s side was Cassandra Worthy, who placed sixth in the shot put with a school-record toss of 44-6.00. The throw broke Dana Hall’s record of 43-5.75 just last week at the Snowbird Invitational.
The Tech men’s performers finished the day with eight top-20 finishes, with four of them being in the top 10. The first such performer on Saturday was sophomore Brendon Mahoney, who was eighth in the 1500 meters with a time of 3:50.72. In the 5000 meters, freshman Kyle Rabbitt and Joe Poliseo placed 14th and 20th respectively with times of 15:10.96 and 15:19.81.
Montrell Person found his way into the top 10 of the 110-meter hurdles as he placed 10 with a time of 14.50 seconds. The Jackets also had a top-10 performer in the 400 hurdles, as Aaron Sink was 10th in a time of 53.00 seconds.
Tech’s final top-10 performer was senior Clayton Porter, who was seventh in the long jump with a distance of 24-1.50. Chris Crawley in 12th place with a leap of 23-4.50 followed Porter in the event.
The Alabama Relays will conclude on Sunday with the final day of competition.
