Oct. 4, 2008
ATLANTA – Led by senior E.C. Gibbs’ 25th-place finish, the Georgia Tech men’s cross country team finished fifth in the 8K race at the Auburn Invitational Saturday. The women finished 10th in the 5K at the Indian Pines Golf course in Auburn, Ala.
“We are very pleased with the progress of both teams,” head coach Alan Drosky said. “They ran well as a group and have narrowed their gaps from a week ago.”
Gibbs, who ran a personal best in the 8K, paced the Tech runners for the second-straight race, crossing the line in a time of 23:45. Senior Nazar Trilisky was the next Yellow Jacket to complete the race, just seven seconds behind his classmate with a 23:52 mark. Junior Billy Mateker (24:06), junior Matt Hickey (24:14) and sophomore D.J. McMillan (24:18) were the other three Tech runners to finish in the top-50, crossing in 38th, 45th and 48th, respectively. The men’s field contained 213 competitors and 24 teams.
“The men finished one point behind Clemson and in front of Georgia, two teams that are great to compete with,” Drosky Added. “It’s hard to highlight just one runner because they all ran so well.”
On the women’s side, freshman Mary Kate DuBard led the Jackets with a 19th-place finish in the 5K. DuBard ran her first-collegiate 5K in a time of 17:06. Freshmen Annie Martin (17:40) and Betsy Kim (18:15) were the next two Tech finishers, as the Yellow Jacket women placed 10th out of 23 teams. The women faced a highly-ranked field with No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Florida State and No. 27 Iowa included among others.
“The women were much better than last week,” Drosky said. “They all ran well and it was good to see them bounce back.”
Both teams will have a week off before returning to the trails on Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Pre-NCAA meet in Terre Haute, Ind.
