Jan. 6, 2018
CLEMSON, S.C. — Georgia Tech indoor track and field wrapped up its first meet of 2018 on Saturday evening, having a strong showing in the Orange and Purple Classic at Clemson.
“Competing after the holiday break with only three days of practice is always a challenge,” head women’s track and field coach Alan Drosky said. “We had a few really good performances today. Jeanine Williams opening up with a personal best of 8.20 was outstanding, Raven Stewart had two near personal-best efforts in the hurdles, and Dominque Hall’s race in the 300 meters was really strong. Beyond those three we saw a number of promising performances, as well as a whole lot we need to work on.”
“Considering we had the guys back for only a couple of days this week, I think we had a solid day and got some things accomplished,” head men’s track and field coach Grover Hinsdale said. “Andreas Ward opened his season with a personal record in the 60-meter hurdle and looked good. Daniel Pietsch and Ben Jean put up a good fight in the 600 meter as well. We have some work to do but we’re going to be fine. I look forward to getting everyone back into a good training mode on Monday as we prepare for Vanderbilt next weekend.”
The Yellow Jackets return to action next week when they head to Nashville, Tenn., for the first of three indoor meets in the Music City, Vanderbilt’s Commodore Invitational. Action begins on Friday, Jan. 12, and concludes on Saturday, Jan. 13.
Women’s Highlights
Jeanine Williams took the title in the 60m hurdles finals with a personal-best 8.20 performance — a full six-tenths of a second faster than the second-place finisher — after a first-place 8.22 time in the prelims. Raven Stewart finished sixth in the finals (8.46) after an 8.49 seventh-place prelims time.
In the 5000m run, Tech had four top-5 finishes with Hannah Petit leading the pack in second (18:23.88). Closely behind her was Rebecca Dow in third (18:52.35),Rebecca Entrekin in fourth (19:13.54) and Gabrielle Gusmerotti in fifth (19:28.35). In the 1000 meter run, freshman Nicole Fegans led three top-9 finishes with a sixth-place 3:01.14 time. Freshman Hana Herndon finished eighth with a 3:04.16 time in front of Brittany Powell who recorded a ninth-place 3:19.59 mark.
Lindsey Wheeler paced the Jackets with a sixth-place (2:23.41) finish in the 800m run while Marinice Bauman also turned in an eighth-place 2:24.69 time.
Georgia Tech had two teams running in the 1600m relay. The team of Angelica Henderson, Domonique Hall, Wheeler and Denise Woode paced the Jackets as they placed sixth overall (3:58.12). Tech’s team of Shannon Innis, Kendria Edouard, Bauman and Anika Carter finished just two spots back with a time of 4:05.07.
Senior Courtney Naser led Georgia Tech in the 3000m run, turning in a 10:31.83 ninth-place time. Right behind her, freshman Marie Repasy finished 10th with a time of 10:37.05 before fellow frosh Corrie Smith finished 12th with a 10:58.46 time. Rounding out the top 15 was freshman Samantha Folio, who finished 14th with a time of 11:12.23.
In the mile, freshman Kendall Nelson represented Tech with a 16th-place 5:34.80 time, while Brianna Hayden turned in an 11th-place time of 7.62 in the 60 meter dash prelims. Freshman Edouard paced the Jackets in the 600 meter run with a 1:41.41 time (12th). Amy Ruiz also finished in the top 15 with a 14th-place 1:43.80 performance.
In the 60m hurdles Olympic development heat, Kenya Collins ran unattached, but finished fourth with an 8.36 time.
In the 400m dash, senior Henderson led Tech with a 12th-place time of 57.43. In the 300m, senior Hall finished 11th with a time of 39.38 while Woode finished 16th with a 40.26 time.
In the long jump, senior Dasia Smith andBria Matthews led Tech with 10th and 11 th placings, respectively. Smith finished with a 5.57 meter performance before Matthews turned in a 5.41 meter effort. Freshman Madeline Hammond finished in 16th in the high jump with a distance of 1.55 meters.
Senior Marinice Bauman placed 18th in the shot put, finishing with a 7.47-meter performance.
Men’s Highlights
Daniel Pietsch paced Tech in the 600m run, finishing third with a time of 1:20.55. Benjamin Jean and freshman Ty Brooks finished sixth (1:20.89) and seventh (1:22.80), respectively, while Dwayne Watkins rounded out the top 10 finishers with a ninth-place 1:24.27 finish.
The Yellow Jackets tallied three runners in the top 15 of the 3000m run. Sam Costa recorded a sixth-place time of 8:38.29 before freshman Braeden Collins finished seventh with an 8:39.26 time. Matt McBrien then finished 13th with a time of 8:51.47.
Seniors William Solomon and Ryan Thomas led Tech in the long jump, both finishing in the top 10. Solomon finished eighth with a distance of 7.16 meters while Thomas finished 10th with a 6.97-meter distance.
In the 1000m run, Avery Bartlett paced Tech with a fifth-place 2:27.24 time while John Lyons turned in a 2:28.61 time (seventh). Freshman Tyler Whorton also finished in the top 10 with a ninth-place 2:32.32 time. Nahom Solomon finished just outside the top 10 with a 2:35.29 time — good for 11th overall.
In the 60m hurdles prelims, Andreas Ward finished seventh with an 8.09 time. Ward then went into the finals round and moved up to sixth-place with a personal-best 8.07 time. Wesley Watkins, Jr. also ran unattached in the 60m hurdles Olympic development, finishing fifth with an 8.15 time.
In the 60m dash prelims, Ryan Thomas and Tyson Spears led the way for Tech with 11th and 13th place performances, respectively. Edging each other by the slimmest of margins, Thomas finished with a time of 6.961 while Spears turned in a 6.963 time. Later in the 300m, Spears placed 17th with a time of 36.80.
Senior Preston Smith finished 11th in the triple jump when he hit a distance of 14.30 meters.
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