THE FLATS – Georgia Tech cross country is ready to go in South Bend, Ind. for the ACC Championships on Friday. The women’s 6k race starts at 10:10 a.m. followed by the men’s 8k race at 11 a.m.
The ACC Network will be carrying both races live via linear broadcast. The top 21 men’s and women’s finishers will earn All-ACC honors and the first true freshman male and female finishers will be considered ACC Freshmen of the Year.
Tech has had recent success in a running ACC Championship. In the 2021 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Nicole Fegans took home the top spot in the 10k race with a time of 32:45.30. Fegans has raced three times during the cross country season. She has won two races including the most recent race just two weeks ago.
Three-time ACC Freshmen of the Week Sarah Copeland looks to be the first true freshman across the line on Friday, so she can secure the yearly award. Copeland is the only women’s freshman to win the conference award multiple times this year.
Her PR of 21:19.8 in the 6k is 8.3 seconds better than any other freshman of the week winner who has run more than one 6k race. If Copeland wins the award, she would be the first Georgia Tech cross country runner, male or female, to win the award.
The men’s team comes of a resurgent finish at the Penn State National Open. They secured fourth place in the race and James Cragin finished fourth individually. From an important tactical perspective, Yellow Jackets runners improved placing as the race progressed.
The women’s team finished second overall and Fegans won the race as an individual. Claire Moritz was the fifth finisher on the women’s side. Katy Earwood was the fifth finisher for Georgia Tech, a spot that has been of note all season. Earwood has finished fifth for the team in each 6k race this season.
After this race is the south regionals on Friday, Nov. 12 in Huntsville, Ala.
