Aug. 13, 2010
ATLANTA – Head coach Alan Drosky announced the 2010 Georgia Tech cross country schedule on Friday. The schedule features the first ever ACC Championship at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. as well as the third consecutive Georgia-Georgia Tech Dual Meet.
“We have created our 2010 schedule to focus on the championship meets at the end of the season,” said Drosky. “Each competition is designed to prepare us for those meets, the ACC, the NCAA South Regional and hopefully some of our athletes will qualify for the NCAA Championship in Terre Haute. The one exception is the Georgia-Georgia Tech meet as that meet is special unto itself.”
The Yellow Jackets begin their season in Athens at the UGA Invitational on September 4 where they will get a feel for the course that they will take to a couple weeks later in hopes of earning their first ever win over their rivals Georgia in the recently resumed dual meet series.
“The dual meet series had a long hiatus,” explained Drosky, “But we resumed it two years ago and it was a close race on both sides that first year. But last year we had a very off day and didn’t represent ourselves well. This year we’re excited about another opportunity.”
After the dual meet, the Yellow Jackets will head to Louisville, Ky. to open the month of October at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic. The following weekend will see Tech at the Samford Invitational in Birmingham on October 9 followed by the Royal Cross Country Challenge on October 15 in Charlotte, N.C., the Jackets’ final tune up before the ACC Championship.
For the first time in the history of ACC Cross Country, the race will be held at the historic Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. The meet will take place on Saturday, October 30 and will mark the first time that Tech has traveled to compete in Boston.
The next meet up on the schedule for the Jackets is the NCAA South Regional in Birmingham, on the Samford University course on November 13. If all goes well, Georgia Tech will advance some of their athletes to the NCAA Championship which will be held in Terre Haute, Ind. on November 22.
The women’s team will return top runner and two-time All-South Regional honoree Mary Kate DuBard. DuBard will be looked upon in 2010 to lead the Jackets during the season. Three upperclassmen, Betsy Kim, Felicity Brower and Sarah Anderson are also strong competitors who have run a consistent race for the Jackets during their careers, while newcomer, Megan Breitbach is a freshman that has the potential to help the team right away.
“The team needs to get momentum moving in a positive direction this season,” explained Drosky. “We struggled as a team last fall due to their inexperience at the college level, but that same group came together nicely during the track season and are coming off of strong track performances. The positive momentum will hopefully carry into the fall.”
The men’s cross country team will be led by DJ McMillan, who was the Yellow Jackets’ strongest competitor last fall. Upperclassmen Patrick Barron and Philip O’Brien are two of Tech’s most consistent runners, but the team is full of a close group of runners with good depth.
“The order that the runners come across could change on any given day with this team,” said Drosky. “The amount of depth on this team is excellent and with the good outdoor track seasons that each of the athletes has had, they should be able to begin the year with some excellent momentum to get this started off right.”
The two cross teams will begin competition on September 4, 2010 in Athens, Ga. at the UGA Invitational.
