May 25, 2004
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams will travel to Gainesville, Fla., for the NCAA Region Championships this Friday and Saturday, May 28-29. Eight Tech men and nine Tech women will try and qualify for the Outdoor NCAA Track and Field Championships, June 9-12, in Austin, Texas.
“This is the second year of using this method,” said men’s head coach Grover Hinsdale. “We’re going to a great facility in Gainesville and we’re very familiar with the track. The men have performed well there in the past and we feel that they are ready to go. In my opinion, this is the most difficult regional.”
The top-five in each event, along with six to eight at-large selections will make the national championships at the University of Texas. The at-large selections are based on top regular-season marks set during the course of the outdoor season.
“This is a great opportunity for our women,” said women’s head coach Alan Drosky. “We will have to compete at our best to advance to the NCAA Championships, due to the fact that this regional is one of the tougher ones. Our team has competed on this track several times and have had success here. Everyone is pretty much healthy entering this weekend.”
Tech’s Chaunte Howard, Brendon Mahoney and Montrell Person all currently have good enough marks to make the NCAAs, regardless of what transpires at the regional track meet.
Howard currently holds the top college mark in the women’s high jump and will compete in the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles, along with the high jump at the NCAA Region Championships. Howard currently holds the second best mark by an American this outdoor season in the high jump, with a clear of 6’4.75″.
Mahoney posted the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top mark in the 1500 meters at the Georgia Tech Invitational, crossing the finish line with a personal-record time of 3:41.43. That mark is currently ninth best in the collegiate ranks. Neil McDonagh will also run in the 1500 for Tech, posting a qualifying time of 3:46.15 at the Cardinal Invitational.
Person has been hampered by a fracture in his foot for most of the outdoor season, but he still managed to post the league’s top time in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.60. Person holds the sixth best mark in the nation in the 100mHH.
The women’s 4x100m relay team of Dana Rogers, Ashlee Kidd, Andriane Lapsley and Amandi Rhett broke the school record at the Georgia Tech Invitational with a time of 44.03. That time is currently eighth best in the NCAA.
Rhett will run the 100- and 200-meter dashes for the Jackets, along with the 4×100. The senior sprinter holds the 17th best mark in the NCAA in the 100 (11.44).
Sophomore Brandy Depland ranks 16th in the country in the women’s triple jump with a personal-best mark of 43’1.75″ at the Outdoor ACC Championships. The Katy, Texas, native will also compete in the long jump for the Yellow Jackets.
Running the 800 meters for Tech will be Barton Crist, Jennifer Lentz and Jennifer Sims. Crist posted a Tech season-best mark of 1:50.65 at the Georgia Tech Invitational. Sims and Lentz also tallied top times in the 800 at the GTI, finishing with times of 2:09.00 and 2:10.08, respectively.
Kidd will run the 400 meters, along with teammate Shanta Smith. Kidd ranks 18th nationally with a time of 52.40, while Smith stands 31st with a personal-best time of 53.38. Smith will also participate in the women’s triple jump for the Rambling Wreck.
Lapsley will join Rhett in the 100-meter dash for the Jackets. Lapsley qualified for the 100, 200, 100mHH and 4x100m for Tech, but will only run the 100m and 4×100. The sophomore set personal-best times this outdoor season in the 100 and 200, with times of 11.65 and 23.90, respectively.
Rogers posted qualifying times of 23.93 in the 200 and 13.38 in the 100mHH and stands 29th in the NCAA in the high hurdles.
Senior Michael Massey will jump in the men’s high jump for the Jackets. Massey tallied a NCAA Region mark of 6’11.75″ at the outdoor ACC meet.
Representing Tech in the throwing events will be juniors Marcus Canty, Zeb Sion and Jonathan Spillman. Canty has the top mark in the ACC in the javelin throw (227’01”), while Sion won his first ACC title in the men’s shot put with a mark of 58’01.00″. Spillman tallied a NCAA Region mark of 54’07.50″ in the men’s shot put at the Georgia Tech Invitational.
For more information on the NCAA Region Track and Field meet, please go to 2004 NCAA Men’s & Women’s Track and Field Regional Championships.
