April 14, 2004
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the Outdoor Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, Friday and Saturday, April 16-17. The Yellow Jacket women finished second at the Indoor ACC Championships, while the men finished fifth.
“As always, we are looking forward to competing in the 2004 Outdoor Championships in Chapel Hill,” said men’s head coach Grover Hinsdale. “With a few exceptions, we are healthy and ready to go, and we look forward to a great competition.”
“I think this is the best outdoor team we’ve ever had,” said women’s head coach Alan Drosky. “We’ve always been very strong during the indoor season and fallen off a little bit during the outdoor season due to the number of events, but that is not the case this year. We have competitive athletes in almost every event and the depth of the conference should have a real effect on this year’s championships. Any number of teams has a legitimate chance of knocking off defending ACC champion North Carolina, including us, Florida State, NC State or even Clemson. This will be a very exciting meet.”
Fresh off her national championship in the high jump at the Indoor NCAA Championships, sophomore Chaunte Howard is the defending outdoor high jump champion in the ACC. The Riverside, Calif., native currently holds the league’s top clear of the outdoor season at 6’02.00″. Howard earned all-conference honors in the high, long and triple jump events during the indoor season.
Freshman Ashlee Kidd won the 400-meter ACC title at the Indoor ACC Championships and leads the ACC with times of 23.62 and 52.70 in both the 200 and 400 events. Those times are also NCAA Region qualifying marks for the St. Petersburg, Fla., native.
Junior Montrell Person won an ACC title in the 60-meter hurdles during the indoor season and currently ranks No. 1 in the 110-meter hurdles this outdoor season with a time of 13.60. That time is also a NCAA Region qualifying mark and is a half-second better than the next best time in the conference.
Sophomore Brandy Depland has gotten off to a very good start this outdoor season, holding the team’s top marks in the long and triple jump events. Depland holds the ACC’s top mark in the triple jump with a NCAA Region mark of 42’09.00″ and ranks third in the long jump with a mark of 19’09.75″.
Senior Brendon Mahoney has only competed in one event so far this outdoor season and ranks third in the 800 meters with a time of 1:50.65. Mahoney won the 800 ACC crown during the indoor season.
Fellow senior Michael Massey should also make a push for his first ACC title in the high jump. Massey stands second in the ACC with a clear of 6’10.75″.
Newcomers Marcus Canty and Holt McPherson should make an impact for the Yellow Jackets. Canty is second in the javelin throw with a mark of 218’08” and McPherson is third in the long jump with a mark of 24’00.25″.
Junior Zeb Sion broke the school record in the shot put last season and finished third at last year’s outdoor ACC meet. Sion stands third this outdoor season with a toss of 55’11.00″.
On the women’s side, senior Amandi Rhett and juniors Dana Rogers and Shanta Smith all should make a case for an ACC title. Rhett earned All-ACC honors in the 100-meter dash at last year’s outdoor championships and currently stands second with a time of 11.44, behind NC State’s Felicia Fant (11.43).
Rogers holds the league’s second best time in the 100-meter hurdles with a mark of 13.38. Smith is also second in the ACC in the triple jump (42’03.25″) behind Depland.
The women’s 4x100m relay team of Rogers, Ameca Williams, Andriane Lapsley and Rhett should also compete for an ACC crown this weekend. The team currently ranks second in the ACC with a time of 45.02.
