April 19, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. – Georgia Tech senior Brian Fraser placed first in the triple jump, and the men’s 4×400-meter relay won its second consecutive outdoor league title Saturday at the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at NC State’s Paul Derr Track. The Yellow Jacket men finished tied with the host Wolfpack in fourth place with 94 points, while Tech’s women placed fifth with 64 points.
North Carolina captured the women’s team title with 238 points, and Florida State claimed the men’s crown with 202 points. The fourth-place finish for the Tech men marks their best outdoor finish since placing fourth in 1992, and the 94 points are the men’s best since 1988.
One of three individual event champions for the Jackets, Fraser claimed his first ACC title with a leap of 49’11.75″ in the triple jump. The men’s 4×400-meter relay team of sophomore Brian Ford, senior Sharif Azim, freshman Matt Trester and senior Bryan Swarn posted a time of 3:11.29 for the victory. Tech’s men’s 4×400 relay has now won three of the last four league titles (indoor or outdoor).
Swarn had a busy day for the Jackets as he also placed third in the 400 meters with a season-best-tying time of 46.69 and fifth in the 200 meters in 21.61, another season-best. With a pair of All-ACC performances Saturday, Swarn now has eight in his career. Azim, who was sixth, and Ford, who took eighth, also scored in the 400 meters.
Junior Brendon Mahoney placed second in the 800 meters in 1:50.17 to earn second place and all-conference accolades for the ninth time in his Georgia Tech career, and junior Michael Massey rounded out the men’s All-ACC honorees with a third-place finish in the high jump (6’9.50″).
Sophomore Dana Rogers led the women Saturday with a runner-up finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.82, good for all-conference honors. Freshman Andriane Lapsley also scored for the Jackets with a fifth-place performance in the 100 hurdles. Also earning All-ACC status were sophomore Shanta Smith, who finished second in the triple jump (42’7.50″), and junior Amandi Rhett, who was third in the 100 meters in 11.70. Senior Jessica DeFreitas scored in both the triple jump (fifth) and 100 meters (eighth), while Rhett also placed fifth in the 200 meters (23.95).
The Jackets combined for 11 All-ACC performances over the two-day meet.
Rogers, Lapsley, DeFreitas and Rhett also combined to take second place in the 4×100-meter relay with a time of 45.13. The women’s 4×400 relay was fifth in a season-best mark of 3:46.13, while the men’s 4×100 also posted a season-best 42.33 in a sixth-place finish.
Also scoring on the track for the men were sophomore Neil McDonagh, who was fourth in the 1500 meters (3:49.87), and junior David Schmidt, who placed eighth in the 800 meters (1:52.18). Hammer throw champ Ian Brewer was fifth in the discus (158’9.00″), while senior Scott Reida took sixth (156’1.00″). Sophomore Greg McCormick was sixth in the decathlon with 6307 points, and junior Spencer Irvine rounded out the scoring for Tech with an eighth-place finish in the triple jump.
The Jackets return to action next weekend at the prestigious Penn Relays, which run from April 24-26 in Philadelphia.
-GT-
