PHILADELPHIA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams found victory on Friday afternoon at the Penn Relays, winning the men’s distance medley relay race at 9:38.85 for the first victory of the weekend.
Alexander Arrambide opened the race for the Jackets in the 1200m leg, exchanging the lead back-and-forth with Maryland’s lead runner through the three laps before a clean exchange with Caden Terrell saw the junior put some distance on the lead. Arrambide’s time of 2:57.19 was the quickest of all runners in the 1200m.
Terrell sprinted away, flying away from the pack behind, and handed off to Kamren Kennedy for the third leg of the race. Terrell’s 400m time of 46.27 was also the fastest of all runners in the second leg as Tech swept the opening half of the race.
Maryland worked its way back into the fight for the lead as the Terrapins’ Jack Kinrade was even with Kennedy throughout the second lap of the 800m. Kennedy eked on the final curve before the final exchange as he passed the baton to John Jessup.
Jessup turned on the afterburners as he created real separation from Maryland, leading by a few meters through the first portion of the final 1600m. He worked up a three-second lead over the second-place and ran through the final curve, crossing the line at 9:38.85 to win the race.
Jessup’s 1600m was the fastest of all runners in the final leg at 4:03.97. Tech was quickest in three of the four legs of the distance medley relay as its range of short and medium distance speed was on full display for the country to see.
Tech will close out its incredible weekend with its women’s 4x800m relay squad of Lottie Chappell, Stella Chambless, Gracie Marston, and Claire Shelton. The women will race at 4:50p.m on Saturday.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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