Feb. 15, 2005
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ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. for the 2005 Indoor Atlantic Coast Conference Championships this Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 17-19, in the Eddie Smith Field House on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
The men’s track team will look to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish up in Clemson, S.C. The Jackets’ Montrell Person leads the way with the top time in the league in the 60-meter high hurdles (7.79) and ranks 10th in the 60-meter dash (6.91). The Merriville, Ind., native won his first ACC title in the 60m hurdles last season.
“To date, we are healthy, fit, and ready for the 2005 Indoor Championships,” said men’s head coach Grover Hinsdale. “We were a little slow in getting all the pieces of the team together this year, but we are now ready to go. This is the major indoor meet of the season for us. I like the attitude and competitiveness of this team and look forward to the competition in Chapel Hill this weekend.
“I know that Miami and Virginia Tech will be great additions, to what has always been a competitive conference championship.”
The 17th-ranked women’s team finished second at last year’s meet, 15.5 points behind North Carolina. The Rambling Wreck return 2004 ACC Performer of the Year Chaunte Howard and ACC Rookie of the Year Ashlee Kidd in search of their second ACC title in four seasons.
“We’ve had some very good meets leading up to the ACC Championships and the team is confident and anxious heading into the weekend,” said women’s head coach Alan Drosky. “Health wise, things are well with the exception of ACC champion Shanta Smith [triple jump] who won’t compete indoors this season, and sophomore Jenny Sims who was fourth in the 800m last year but has missed some valuable training and competition due to a shoulder injury.
“Both Miami and Virginia Tech add significantly to the competitiveness of the conference. Miami has a very good chance to win the team championship. Both Miami and Virginia Tech have some national class individuals who will compete for ACC titles as well. If we compete like we’re capable of, we will be in a tight race for second with several other teams. We have a chance to win it all, but in order for that to happen Miami will have to stumble a bit and we will have to have a tremendous meet. We go up there with every intention of doing just that.”
Howard leads the ACC in the high jump with a NCAA Automatic qualifying mark of 6’2″ in the high jump in search of her third straight indoor crown. The Riverside, Calif., native holds the seventh best mark in the league in the long jump with a leap of 19’11.50″.
Kidd is the defending indoor ACC champion in the 400-meter dash and ranks fourth in the 200 and 400 with times of 24.15 and 53.76. Junior Andriane Lapsley ranks second in the ACC in the 60-meter dash with a NCAA Provisional time of 7.43.
The Yellow Jackets have a stronghold on the 60m hurdles heading into the indoor meet. Senior Dana Rogers and freshman Shantia Moss rank first and second in the league with NCAA Provisional times of 8.27 and 8.43, respectively. Sophomore Fatmata Fofanah ran a NCAA Provisional time of 8.43 at Notre Dame and ranks fourth in the conference, while Lapsley holds the sixth-best time in the event with a mark of 8.54.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team of Brian Ford, Treamon Andrews, Derek Hoye and Kurt Kinkead ran the second fastest time in the conference this indoor season at the Niswonger Invitational, crossing the finish line with a time of 3:14.00.
Senior Zeb Sion won his first ACC crown at the outdoor ACC Championships in the men’s shot put and posted a new school record with a personal-record toss of 59’0.75″ at the Tiger Twilight Invitational earlier this indoor season, ranking him fourth in the ACC. Fellow senior Jonathan Spillman holds the 10th best mark in the ACC with a toss of 55’5″.
Ford, a senior from Ashland, Va., holds the second best time in the men’s 400 (47.34) and sixth best time in the 200 (21.81) for the Yellow Jackets. Senior Neil McDonagh ranks fourth in the men’s mile with a time of 4:09.56.
Senior All-ACC performer Kyle Rabbitt competed in his first indoor meet two weeks ago and ranks fourth in the ACC in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:15.55.
In the heptathlon and pentathlon events, the Jackets’ Greg McCormick and Alexandra Van Heuven rank third and fourth, respectively, with scores of 4,738 and 3,306.
-GT TRACK & FIELD-
