THE FLATS – Georgia Tech cross country recorded a second-place finish in the men’s 8-kilometer race and a third-place finish in the women’s 3-mile race. The men’s team finished with 40 points, which was 10 points behind first-placed North Florida. The women totaled 62 points and were 20 points behind Vanderbilt, who finished in second place.
“Both the men and the women had good results today,” said head coach Alan Drosky on today’s performance. “They raced hard, getting a good look at the regional course for later in November.”
Zach Jaeger was the top performer in the men’s group for the Yellow Jackets, with a time of 24:11.9, finishing in third place. John Higinbotham followed behind Jaeger, finishing in fourth place with a time of 24:14.3. Devin Wade rounded out the top 10 for Tech in the men’s 8k with a sixth-place time of 24:28.5.
“The men ran a typical race for our team when we run well. Out a little conservatively, but chasing people down throughout the race,” Drosky added about the men’s team’s performance. “Our upperclassmen had a much better day than two weeks ago. We expect them to get stronger over the season. So today was a good place to be. We came up a little short for the overall win, losing to a strong North Florida team. It seems like every time we line up against them, it is a battle. Today, they got the better of us.”
The men’s group had three runners finishing in the top 10 and seven among the top 40 finishers. The women’s team finished with two Jackets in the top 10 and six in the top 50.
Grace Driskill was the first to cross the finish line for the Tech women with a third-place time of 17:12.3. Katy Earwood was the eighth runner to cross the finish line, running a 3M time of 17:31.2. Erin Fegans finished 13th (17:42.8) and Abigail Green finished 17th (17:48.7).
“We did not get the team result we wanted for the women, but we were really proud of their effort,” Drosky said. “Overall, we are dealing with sickness. On top of that, Grace Driskill was tripped and went down in the first hundred meters. She gets up at the back of the race and proceeds to work her way to a third-place finish. Many others stepped up and had great days. It was a day where many things went wrong. But they hung in and competed hard. So, while not the team finish, we wanted, I think a lot of them learned a lot about themselves today.”
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech will hit the road for their next meet in Fairburn, Ga. at the Alexander/Asics Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7:50 a.m.
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