Nashville, Tenn. – Nicole Fegans won the women’s 3000m while Andrew Kent finished second in the men’s 3000m, each earning top-3 times in Georgia Tech program history, to cap day two of the Vanderbilt Invitational on Saturday.
Fegans, who earned all-ACC and all-Region in cross country for the Jackets this season, finished with a personal-best time of 9:24.62, which is the second-fastest time in program history. Kent crossed the finish line in a personal-best 8:06.63, which puts him third in program history.
“We had two really good days of competition and saw some significant areas of improvement,” said women’s track and field coach Alan Drosky. “The women in the 3000m ran lights out, with some huge personal bests. The highlight was Nicole’s win over an outstanding field. The hurdlers followed up last weekend with some more great efforts. And the 4x400m relay put up a solid early season performance. The field events, which are very technical, got in some good work that doesn’t show up in the results today, but will lead to better things soon. Overall, a good weekend and a lot of positives to build on.”
The women’s team had five more runners finish in the top 20 in the 3000m, with Mary Kathryn Knott (9:44.68) Abby Kettle (9:51.60), Claire Mortiz (9:51.88), Elizabeth Rice (9:51.97), Mary Claire Solomon (9:54.88) and Ellen Flood (9:57.53) running personal-best times.
The women’s 4×400 relay team of Kendria Edourd, Lydia Troupe, Jordynn Tyndall and Denise Woode turned in a time of 3:51.62 to finish seventh.
Taylor Grimes finished second in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.34, while Tyndall (2:15.89) earned a PR in the 800m and Alexis Kitchens (7.74) set a PR in her 60m prelim.
“There were two performances that should be recognized from the weekend,” said men’s track and field coach Grover Hinsdale. “Andrew Kent and Matt McBrien both ran significant PRs in the 3000m. Both ran exceptional races.”
The men’s team saw five more runners turn in personal-best times in the 3000m – Braeden Collins (8:20.07) James Cragin (8:24.14), Matt McBrien (8:24.40), Henrik Anderson (8:27.37), and Sam Costa (8:36.20).
The men’s 4×400 relay team of Ty Brooks, Jameson Miller, Dwayne Watkins and Ben Jean finished fifth with a time of 3:13.68.
Tech also saw two top-10 finishes in the 400m, with Brooks finishing sixth (48.32) and Jean in eighth (48.60).
Georgia Tech will return to action next weekend at the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson, S.C., from Jan. 24-25.
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