LOUISVILLE – Redshirt-freshman Aaron Jones claimed All-ACC honors for the first time in his career with his performance in the men’s 400m hurdles final to close out the final day of the 2026 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.
Jones needed a career-best effort to advance out of the 400m hurdles prelims, claiming the ninth and final spot with a 51.69 time on Thursday. His prelims time was 0.22-second improvement on his personal best and only his second time running a sub-52 second mark.
He lined up for the finals event on Saturday and bolted away, coming home across the line with a brand-new personal best at 51.54. He finished sixth overall and claimed the final spot on the All-ACC Second Team. Jones shattered his two-day-old personal best by 0.15 seconds and became the first male hurdler to become an All-ACC recipient for Tech since 2017.
Later that evening, Taylor Wade raced in the 5000m and clocked in another sub-14-minute time at 13:57.23. His time has only been beaten by two other Tech racers in program history and short of his own school record set back at the Penn Relays.
In the field, the jumpers got the day started in the afternoon as Kendall Ward entered the field aiming for success in the women’s high jump. Ward was able to clear the opening two heights at 1.64m and 1.69m before facing the 1.74m mark.
Midway through the event, a three-hour weather delay halted the proceedings before resuming under the lights. On Ward’s final try, she leapt over the bar to secure her place among the top eight. She finished just ahead of Kelsey Chambers who finished ninth overall at 1.69m.
Adaora Tagbo enjoyed a strong performance in the women’s triple jump, registering a 12.34m mark on her second of three attempts to place 16th overall. The men’s 4x400m relay squad closed out the championships by finishing second in its section and eighth overall with a time of 3:11.39.
Georgia Tech will return to the Bluegrass State later this month for the 2026 NCAA East First Round from May 27-30 in Lexington, Kentucky.
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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