April 20, 2013
RALEIGH, N.C. – Four Yellow Jackets earned gold and first-team All-ACC honors Saturday as the Georgia Tech men’s track team took seventh and the women placed 10th at the ACC Outdoor Championships at NC State’s Paul H. Derr Track.
The men’s team had four team points and was in 10th place heading into the final day of competition, but three first-place finishes helped the men jump from 10th to seventh place and total 53 points. Jhanelle McLeod’s gold performance in the triple jump led the women, who scored 19 points on the final day to finish with 29.
Florida State (149), Virginia Tech (138) and Clemson (114) were the top three finishers in the men’s competition. On the women’s side, Clemson (151), Florida State (146) and NC State (82) were the top three teams.
Georgia Tech junior Jonathan Gardner took first in the triple jump with a leap of 15.49m (50’10”) to give the Yellow Jackets five of the last seven titles in that event. Gardner also won the event at the indoor ACC Championships in February. Teammate Myles McDavid’s 14.85m (48’8¾”) jump took sixth and put up three team points.
Senior Aaron Unterberger placed first in the pole vault with a height of 5.32m (17’5½”) to become the first Yellow Jacket to take gold in the pole vault. Freshman Nathan Daniel took sixth in the event with a height of 4.55m (14’11”) to add three points for Tech.
Sophomore Brandon Lasater continued his successful outdoor season with a first place finish in the 800 meters. He displayed his trademark kick in the homestretch to claim the gold with a time of 1:48.79. Teammate Zack Fanelty took seventh with a time of 1:51.81 for two team points.
On the heels of a school-record setting performance just two weeks ago, Jhanelle McLeod logged another outstanding performance in the triple jump. The senior from Kingston, Jamaica took first in the triple jump with a distance of 13.02m (42’8¾”) for 10 team points. Teammate Julienne McKee placed eighth in the event (12.45m; 40’10¼”) to add one point.
On the track, Ama Larbi took fourth in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.03 (five team points).
The women’s 4×100-meter relay team of Jamilah Middlebrooks, Donjhae Jones, Ama Larbi and Christina Pensock finished eighth (47.71) for one team point.
On the men’s side, the foursome of Perron Jones, Spencer Allen, Michael Simms and Alexander Reese placed third and earned six team points in the event.
Jones, Jeremy Greenwald and Mykhail Chambers finished eighth in their events to add one point apiece to Tech’s total. Jones took eighth in the 100 meters (10.71) and Greenwald took eighth in the 1,500 meters with a career-best time of 3:47.09. Chambers high jumped 2.03 meter (6’8”) for eighth place.
The Jackets continue their outdoor season next weekend April 25-27 at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa.
MEN’S TEAM SCORING
1. Florida State 149
2. Virginia Tech 138
3. Clemson 114
4. North Carolina 113
5. Duke 66
6. Virginia 63
7. Georgia Tech 53
8. NC State 39
9. Miami 36
10. Wake Forest 26
11. Maryland 13
12. Boston College 2
WOMEN’S TEAM SCORING
1. Clemson 151
2. Florida State 146
3. NC State 82
4. Virginia 76
4. Duke 76
6. North Carolina 66
7. Virginia Tech 56
8. Maryland 48.5
9. Wake Forest 32.5
10. Georgia Tech 29
11. Miami 27
12. Boston College 25
