Oct. 1, 2009
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s cross country teams return to action at the Great American Cross Country Festival Friday in Cary, N.C.
The women’s 5k will begin at 3:30 p.m., with the men’s 8k to follow at 3:55 at the WakeMed Soccer Park.
“The Great American Cross Country Festival is always a quality meet and we’re looking forward to taking part in this year’s edition,” head coach Alan Drosky said. “We’ll get our first taste of ACC competition with several schools participating.”
Eight members from each squad will compete on the course that will also serve as the site for the ACC Championships, held on Oct. 31. The Jackets will be joined by ACC foes Maryland, North Carolina and NC State on the women’s side, and Duke, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina and NC State on the men’s side.
Overall, around 30 different schools will be represented at Friday’s meet.
Both the Tech men and women are coming off strong fourth-place finishes at the Crimson Classic two weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Sophomore Mary Kate DuBard (18:08) placed 12th overall and led the women’s team while junior D.J. McMillan’s 26:09 was good enough for 28th-place to pace to the men.
“September has been a month of training at a very high volume, with our races really constituting the majority of our intense efforts,” Drosky added. “So we want to make the most of this weekend. Overall, we feel good about how the training has progressed and look for better results each time we step on the course now.”