Feb. 27, 2016
BOSTON – The Georgia Tech track & field team received a phenomenal performance from Bria Matthews Friday night at the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships inside the Reggie Lewis Center, as she was able to win the gold medal in the long jump.
After Day 2 of the ACC Championships, the men are in 14th place with four points, while the women are in eighth place with 17 points.
“The women had a great day of competition,” head women’s coach Alan Drosky said. “I’m proud of not just their effort, but how they’ve come together as a team. Our goal is a top 10 finish, and we’re in a great position to accomplish it. However, we’ve got to bring the same intensity tomorrow. Today’s highlight was Bria’s win – what a great freshman campaign she is having. Bailey Weiland and Donjhae Jones also came up big for us today with clutch efforts.”
Matthews already had the school record in the long jump (6.40) coming into the weekend, and the freshman put an exclamation point on her indoor season with a jump of 6.35 on Friday.
Donjhae Jones also scored for the Jackets in the long jump, finishing sixth with a leap of 5.82. Bailey Weiland put forth another solid performance in the high jump, finishing fifth with a jump of 1.73 meters. Kenya Collins qualified for the finals in the 60m hurdles, recording a personal-best time of 8.29.
Zachary Gunnz, who will be competing in two finals races on Saturday, highlighted the men’s competition.
“For the most part, we had an outstanding day of qualifying,” head men’s coach Grover Hinsdale said. “We had five PRs and five make it to tomorrow’s finals. It is difficult to pick one from so many exceptional performances, but I would have to choose Zachary Gunnz as the standout performer of the day. He ran a PR in both the 60m and 200m and made the final in both. I am very pleased with the way this team fought today.”
Gunnz ran a personal best of 6.83 in the 60m and a personal best of 21.89 in the 200m. Andres Littig had an indoor PR of 1:49.72 in the 800m, while Avery Bartlett ran a time of 1:50.44 in the same event. Both qualified for Saturday’s final. Spencer Allen will be in Saturday’s 60m hurdles final, recording a time of 7.92 in the prelims.
Saturday’s action will begin for the Jackets at 11 a.m. ET with the women’s triple jump. Live results for the meet can be followed at http://theacc.co/ITFliveresults. Saturday’s events can be watched on ESPN3 starting at 1 p.m.
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