ATLANTA — Georgia Tech’s men’s and women’s cross country teams will take aim at the Atlantic Coast Conference championships next Monday in Charlottesville, Va. Both squads will look to improve on their seventh place finishes from a year ago. The meet is being hosted by the University of Virginia.
”We are looking forward to going to the conference championship and improving our placements from a year ago,” said head coach Alan Drosky. “We have been training for this meet all season. We have been running at a high level over the last couple of weeks and come into the meet at full strength. It is now down to one race for how the season will be remembered. We will definitely have to raise our intensity to do well.”
The women’s team heads into the meet on a roll. The lady harriers have won three consecutive meets, including the Troy State Invitational last Saturday. Junior Becky Megesi (Jonesboro, Ga.) captured her third consecutive title by winning the Troy State women’s title in a time of 14:45. Taking third place was senior Judy Johnson (Snellville, Ga.), who completed the 4,000-meter race in a time of 15:05. Junior Tina Frey (Peachtree City, Ga.) was third in a time of 15:23, which also marked the third straight time those three finished in that order. Redshirt-freshman Sara Pardue (Aurora, Co.) was 10th and sophomore Carolyn Kreiger (Marietta, Ga.) was 13th for the Rambling Wreck.
The men’s team captured its second title in its last three meets, and placed five individuals in the top 10 to carry the Troy State men’s title. Junior Phillip Gable (Kennesaw, Ga.) led the Jackets by placing fourth in a time of 15:46 on the 5,000-meter course. Taking seventh through 10th place were Brad Mills (Toledo, Ohio), Michael Niederhausen (Peachtree City, Ga.), Joey Zins (Atlanta, Ga.) and Todd Gandee (Peachtree City, Ga.). The team’s top runner this season, sophomore Joe Stegall (Rydal, Ga.), was tripped in a pack early in the race and did not finish. He is expected to be at full strength for the ACC championship.
Tech will next be in action on Nov. 14 in the District IX championship meet, which qualifies individuals for the NCAA championship meet.
