Sept. 6, 2014
Men’s Results | Women’s Results
BISHOP, Ga. – Senior Jeremy Greenwald finished first overall at the UGA Invite as the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s cross country teams opened the 2014 season Saturday at the UGA Equestrian Complex in Bishop, Ga.
The meet was a double dual meet with UGA, Mercer and the Jackets going head-to-head. The Georgia Tech men defeated Mercer 15-50 and Georgia 25-34, while Georgia beat Mercer 15-48. The Tech women defeated Mercer 15-49 and fell to Georgia 25-30, while Georgia defeated Mercer 15-48.
“It was a great win for the men today and on the women’s side it was a great team battle but we came up a little short,” head coach Alan Drosky said.
Senior Jeremy Greenwald finished first overall in the men’s 8K with a time of 25:53, crossing the finishing line 14 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher Steven Spevacek (26:07) of Georgia.
“Basically it was just a rust buster coming in to start the season,” Greenwald said. “Individually it felt pretty good. I was just keying off the leaders and waiting until there was about a mile of the 1k to go to make my move.
“Jeremy stayed close to the front of the race through four miles then pulled away over the last mile to get the individual win,” Drosky said. “It was a very hot and humid morning, so behind Jeremy it was a battle of attrition. A large group of runners kept dwindling down and we were able to get our guys up in it.
“A mix of young guys came through to join a couple of veterans in securing the team win,” Drosky said. “Particularly Patrick Fleming, Zane Coburn, Alex Grady, and Troy Hayden, all wearing the uniform for the first time, really stepped up for us. Veterans Alec Clifford and Nat Estes were solid, and Austin Veith, in his second year, was outstanding.”
Patrick Fleming (26:13), Zane Coburn (26:16), Alec Clifford (26:21) and Austin Veith (26:26) rounded out Tech’s top five finishers. Alex Grady (26:32), Troy Hayden (26:33) and Nat Estes (26:40) ran solid 8K for the Jackets.
Katie Townsend finished first for the Tech women with a 5K time of 18:19. Kelly Meyer followed in 18:34, while Caroline Kissel (18:45), Melissa Fairey (18:45.19) and Allison Brackin (18:46.32) rounded out Tech’s top five finishers.
‘The women ran really well but just couldn’t pull out the team victory,” Drosky said. “UGA went out very hard as a team and we spent the last two and a half miles chasing them down. In the end we ran out of time. Katie Townsend actually got to the lead with a quarter mile to go but was outkicked at the end by a very talented freshman.
“Kelly Meyer closed well to get to fourth. Caroline Kissel, Melissa Fairey, and and fast closing Allison Brackin were all able to get into the top nine runners, while Hayley Keadey finished in eleventh. Redshirt freshman, Rachel Thorne, closed out our top seven in 14th place, which was a great race for her first collegiate race.”
The Yellow Jackets return to action Sept. 20 at the Florida Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. The competition kicks off at 7:55 a.m.
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