THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s and women’s cross country programs begin their season, Friday, Sept. 3, at the Kennesaw State Opener at Noonday Park. The men are slated to start their 6K race at 8:30 a.m. while the women are slated to start their 4K race at 9:00 a.m. The course is a 2K loop that the men will run three times and the women will run twice. Spectator parking is located at 550 Shallowford Rd NE, Kennesaw, GA 30144.
The Jackets’ women’s team is coming off its best finish all-time in Georgia Tech history. They finished top three in every meet they competed in last season. Tech’s women were a top-25 squad in the USTFCCCA rankings every time the poll was released last year, ranking as high as No. 13 in the poll. Tech ranks No. 25 in the country to start 2021.
Tech finished second at the ACC Championships. The Jackets had three top-14 finishers at the ACC Championships last year in Nicole Fegans (9th), Liz Galarza (13th), and Mary Kathryn Knott (14th). Claire Moritz was a consistent performer for Georgia Tech over the 2020 campaign. She scored points in each of the four meets Tech competed in 2020. Each of these top performers return for the 2021 season. Overall, they graduated five runners last season and added eight new runners to the squad.
Georgia Tech men’s cross country returns all but four runners from the team last year while adding five new runners. Andrew Kent finished first for Tech in two of the three meets last year but will not be back for this season. The White and Gold had two second place finishes buoyed by James Cragin who crossed first at the UF Mt. Dew Invitational.
Kent was the top finisher at the ACC Championships with a time of 24:20.7 in the 8k race. The Yellow Jackets then had a flurry of finishers with Cragin, Joshua Williams, Jordan Shewbert, Nick Nyman, Harrison Morris, and John Higinbotham crossing in 24:39.1, 24:39.6, 25:00.1, 25:02.6, 25:03.5, and 25:15.3, respectively, at the ACC Championships to round out the Tech scorers.
The Yellow Jackets travel to St. Paul, Minn. on Sept. 24 for the Roy Griak Invitational. Tech returns to Georgia for the Alexander/Asics Invitational on Oct. 2 in Fairburn before heading out to University Park, Pa. on Oct. 15 for the Penn State National Open.
The Penn State National Open is the last event in the regular season. The White and Gold start the post season with the ACC Championships in South Bend, Ind. on Oct. 29, followed by the NCAA South Regional in Huntsville, Ala. on Nov. 12, culminating in the NCAA Championships in Tallahassee, Fla., on Nov. 20.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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