PHOTOS: Returning All-ACC XC/TF Athletes

#BestOfGT: The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track & field and cross country program amassed a total of nine All-ACC performers across seven separate events during the 2019 XC and 2020 indoor seasons. Nicole Fegans and Bria Matthews led the way for the Jackets as they each earned All-ACC honors in two events. Fegans made the list in the women’s 6K in XC (21:20.8, 20th-place) and women’s 3000m (9:06.92, 1st-place, First Team All-ACC), with Matthews making it in the women’s long jump (6.17m, 4th-place, Second Team All-ACC) and women’s triple jumps (13.42m, 1st-place, First Team All-ACC). Four other Yellow Jackets comprised of two men’s and two women’s athletes earned Second Team All-ACC honors in their respective events, while Olivia Moore joined Fegans and Matthews with First Team honors after taking the bronze in the women’s pole vault (4.25m//13′-11.25″, 3rd-place).

Nicole Fegans will enter her senior year of XC and indoor track heading into the 2020-21 school year. The 2019-20 season was a breakout year for Fegans in both XC and track.  In XC she moved up 10 spots from the 2018 ACC Championship meet. Her indoor track season was one for the record books as she set new women’s indoor school records in the women’s mile, 3000m and 5000m. Fegans 2020 indoor campaign was capped off as she took the gold in the 3000m and qualified for NCAA Indoor Nationals for the first time in her collegiate career.

The 2019-20 indoor season was business as usual for senior jumper Bria Matthews. Matthews captured her sixth overall ACC championship as she took first in the women’s triple jump. It would be her fifth conference title in that event throughout indoor and outdoor seasons. Matthews championship winning jump set at ACC’s earned her the ninth best mark in the country in Division I play prior to the shutdown of the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships.

Sophomore vaulter Olivia Moore earned her first ACC podium performance during the 2020 indoor conference championships. Moore took home the bronze after setting a new personal best in that event earning her First Team All-ACC honors. Throughout the 2020 indoor season Moore finished in the top-three at four meets and in the top-five in every single event she competed in. Moore was tied for the 18th best mark in the country prior to NCAA Division I Indoor Championships.

Junior Anthony Brooks made the All-ACC list for the first time in any individual event in his collegiate career during the 2020 indoor championships (member of 2nd-place men’s 4×400 squad at 2019 ACC Outdoor Championships). His sixth-place finish in the 400m dash earned him a new personal record of 46.84 and a spot on the Second Team All-ACC list. During the 2020 indoor season Brooks had three podium finishes, he also took first at the Clemson Orange & Purple Elite meet in the 600m with a time of 1:18.59 to kick off the year.

Freshman Anna Witherspoon made a name for herself at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships as she set a new personal best in the women’s 60m hurdles and took sixth-place to earn Second Team All-ACC honors. Her PR mark of 8.31 was set during the preliminary rounds, making her the youngest competitor in the conference finals for that event. Witherspoon was also the youngest Yellow Jacket to make any All-ACC list during the 2019 XC and 2020 indoor seasons.

Sophomore Taylor Grimes was consistently one of Tech’s top finishers in the long jump and 60m hurdles throughout the 2020 indoor season. Grimes shattered her previous long jump PR of 6.02m at ACC Championships, setting a new personal best of 6.15m to take 5th-place. Her conference long jump performance would earn Grimes her first All-ACC finish in her collegiate career.

Junior Andrew Kent earned his highest spot on the individual leaderboard at ACC Track & Field Championships as he placed sixth in the men’s 5000m at indoors. Kent, a prominent piece in the Jackets men’s distance crew, ran for a time of 14:06.78 to earn him Second Team All-ACC honors or the first time in his collegiate career. Throughout the 2020 indoor campaign Kent was a part of four podium finishes across two individual events and men’s DMR races.