April 17, 2003
ATLANTA – Coming off strong showings at the league indoor championships, the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams hope to bring home their first-ever outdoor titles from the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which open Friday at NC State’s Paul H. Derr Track in Raleigh, N.C.
Action begins at 10 a.m. Friday with the heptathlon, men’s javelin and women’s hammer and concludes with the men’s 10,000 meters at 6:25 p.m. The meet resumes Saturday with the conclusion of the heptathlon and decathlon at 10:30 a.m. The final event of the championships is the women’s 4×400-meter relay scheduled for 5:40 p.m. Live results are available at www.flashresults.com.
The women placed second at the 2003 ACC Indoor Championships, while the men took third place.
The 21st-ranked Tech women enter the outdoor meet with conference-best performances in three events. Freshman All-American Chaunte Howard, the ACC Indoor Rookie of the Year and high jump champ, ranks the conference’s top high jumper with a 6’2.00″ performance. This mark is also tied for the best in the nation. Junior Amandi Rhett owns the top mark in the 100-meter dash (11.41) and anchors the ACC’s best 4×100-meter relay, which owns a school record mark of 44.70. Rhett is also second in the 200 meters.
On the men’s side, sophomore Ian Brewer is the league’s best in the hammer throw with a toss of 203’2.00″, which is nearly 13 feet better than his nearest competitor. Senior Bryan Swarn, the defending ACC champion in the 400 meters, enters with the second-best mark in the event (46.69), as does junior Brendon Mahoney in the 800 meters (1:50.07). Anchored by Swarn, Tech’s 4×400-meter relay also ranks second.
Other top competitors for the men’s team include sophomore Neil McDonagh, who ranks fourth in the 1500 meters, junior Michael Massey, who is fourth in the high jump, and senior Brian Fraser, who owns the league’s third-best mark in the triple jump. Sophomore throwers Zeb Sion, who is third in the shot put, and Anthony Hoover, who is fourth in the javelin, should also score well for the Jackets.
In addition to Howard and Rhett, the Tech women rank highly in several other events. Sophomore Shanta Smith is second in the triple jump and sixth in the 400 meters. Senior Jessica DeFreitas, who is fourth in the long jump, leads a group of four Jackets ranked among the league’s top 10 competitors. Additionally, sophomore Dana Rogers enters the meet fifth in the 100-meter hurdles, while Megan Byrd is sixth in the high jump.
Also, All-ACC distance runner Katie Griffin is expected to compete this weekend for the first time since suffering an injury during the cross country season.
Following the ACC meet, the Jackets turn their attention to the Penn Relays set for April 24-26. Tech also sets its sights on qualifying more student-athletes for the NCAA East Region Championships. The Jackets already own 18 qualifying performances.
-GT-
