Jan. 10, 2015
CLEMSON, S.C. – Senior Nikita Kirillov won the pole vault and the Georgia Tech freshmen took home 12 top-10 finishes in the Yellow Jackets’ indoor season opener at the Orange & Purple Classic hosted by Clemson.
“It was a very solid day across the board,” head men’s track coach Grover Hinsdale said. “Nikita had a good opener with his vault win. I was pleased with Spencer Allen’s performances running 8.02 in the preliminary and 8.07 in the final – 8.02 being a personal best. Zachary Gunnz had a very solid day as well in both the 60m and 200m.”
Kirillov won the men’s pole vault for the second straight year at the meet with a height of 5.15m (16-10.75). Kirillov passed the first five heights before completing heights 4.85m and 5.00m on the first try.
The senior took two tries to get over the 5.15m bar, but couldn’t complete the 5.30m height. Junior Nathan Daniel placed third in the same event with a height of 4.55m (14-11.00).
Also in the field events, Carissa Tipler had a successful day with a second-place finish in the triple jump (12.31m; 40-04.75) and she took fourth in the long jump (5.82m; 19-01.25). Myles McDavid place third in the men’s long jump (7.19m; 23-07.25) and freshman Ryan Thomas placed seventh (6.78m; 22-03.00).
Thomas also competed in the triple jump, finishing third with a distance of 14.65m (48-00.75), while fellow freshman Preston Smith placed fourth (1424m; 46-08.75).
Freshman Bailey Weiland tied for second out of 19 competitors in the high jump. Weiland, the 2013 and 2-14 state high jump champion, completed the first five heights on the first try, including her final height of 1.73m; 5-08.00).
On the track, freshman Haley Anderson took sixth in the mile with a time of 5:08.26 and on the men’s side junior Justin Weaver placed fifth (4:22.70).
Freshman Zachary Gunnz placed third in the men’s 200 meters (22.44), just one one-hundredth of a second off the second-place finisher, and placed seventh in the 60 meters with a time of 6.95. Jamilah Middlebrooks took ninth for the women in the same event in a time of 25.37.
Junior Spencer Allen took fifth in the 60 meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 8.02 and crossed the line sixth in the finals with an 8.07 time.
Three Yellow Jackets placed in the top 10 in the 400 meters led by Ama Larbi’s fourth-place finish (57.56). Freshman Angelica Henderson (58.92) and senior Christina Pensock (58.96) followed in sixth and seventh places, respectively.
Samantha Kiblinger and Malin Trollsas took sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 800 meters with times of 2:20.62 and 2:21.24.
In the 3,000 meters, Sarah Bowles led Tech, placing third (10:49.42), while freshmen Charlotte Stephens (11:01.90) and Erin Gant (11:14.57) took fifth and sixth, respectively. On the men’s side, Witt Nix took second (8:54.01) and Miles Dayoub crossed the line in seventh (9:12.10).
The women’s 4×400-meter relay wrapped up the first day of indoor competition. The women’s team made up of Pensock, freshman Marinice Bauman, Henderson and freshman Domonique Hall took fourth in a time of 3:54.98.
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