Oct. 15, 2010
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Behind some of their best times this season, the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s cross country teams each finished in third place at the Royal Cross Country Challenge at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte Friday.
Mary Kate DuBard led all Tech runners with an outstanding fourth place finish (out of 190 runners), second among college athletes, earning a time of 17:22.8, her best time of the season. The men were led by D.J. McMillan who earned a sixth place finish (of 202 runners) with a time of 24:27.7, also a season best for the senior.
“We had the kind of day today that we were looking for and that we needed,” said head coach Alan Drosky. “Literally almost everyone ran a personal best. And both teams placed well and showed great progress.”
Each of the top-five women’s runners came across in the top-50. Following DuBard, was Betsy Kim with a 20th place, 18:23.8 finish, Megan Breitbach (31st, 18:41.3), Felicity Brower (35th, 18:45.5) and Sarah Anderson (42nd, 18:51.9). The Jackets finished with 119 points as a team.
“For the women,” continued Drosky, “Mary Kate ran very well and Betsy was outstanding. And Sarah gave us our best fifth runner this year. That was big.”
On the men’s side of things, the pack was a little tighter as all five Jackets came across in the top-25. Following McMillan were Shawn Roberts in 14th with a time of 24:58.5, Joe Fulton (19th, 25:11.7), Doug Black (21st, 25:19.0) and Eric Powers (25th, 25:22.). The men’s team finished with just 81 points as a team.
“The men had as good of a day as we’ve had in a while,” said Drosky. “DJ was terrific and Shawn ran great. Doug, Eric, and Niall ran incredible personal bests. But Joe at number three was awesome. It wasn’t as good as it could have been. Patrick, who has led us all year, was just behind DJ after the 3 mile mark when he tweaked his hamstring and had to pull out of the race. He made the right decision to stop and hopefully it’s nothing major.”
Florida State won the team title on the women’s side of things as the No. 3 nationally ranked team totaled just 77 points as a team. The women’s individual top-finisher was Justyna Mudy from Shorter who fiished with a time of 17:10.2.
The men’s race was a lot tighter as the top-3 teams finished just 15 points away from each other. Queens University, the host team, edged out UNC-Greensboro and Tech earning the win with just 66 points tallied while Meshack Koviaki of Columbus State won with a time of 24:12.0.
