ATLANTA (July 31) – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s cross country teams enter the 2000 season with high expectations, a schedule that will bring the team chances to face top competition and a balance to allow the team to compete at its highest level throughout the year.
The Yellow Jackets will open the year by competing at the Georgia Invitational in Athens. “The Georgia meet will give us a great early season opportunity,” said head coach Alan Drosky. “When the people on the team see that we are running in that meet, it will certainly add intensity to their off-season training.”
The following week, Tech will compete in the Wolfpack Invitational, which will give the team a sneak peek at the course for the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in October. “The conference preview will give us a chance to see the course for the conference meet,” said Drosky. “Also we will get to see some of the other schools from the ACC there.”
Highlighting the schedule will be a trip to the Iowa State Classic, which will serve as the preview meet for the NCAA Championships in Ames, Iowa, in November. Tech will make that voyage following competition in the Georgia Intercollegiate at Georgia State in Atlanta.
“The Georgia Intercollegiate will give us a chance to get ready for the Pre-National meet,” said Drosky. “That (the NCAA Preview) is a meet we haven’t normally run in, but it will give us a chance to see the national meet course and to see some out-of-region competition.”
The Georgia Tech men’s cross country team will look to improve on its sixth-place finish at the 1999 ACC Championships with a solid group of returnees and key newcomers in place. Heading the list of returnees is redshirt junior Joe Stegall (Rydal, Ga.), who was the Jackets’ top runner in 1998 before an injury sidelined him in 1999. Topping the newcomers for the year is redshirt freshman Brendon Mahoney (Cumming, Ga.), who sat out the fall of 1999 to prepare for the track season, and responded by being named the ACC Freshman of the Year in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Following the best finish in school history at the NCAA District IX meet, a fourth-place finish, the Georgia Tech women’s cross country team will look to a solid corps of returnees to improve on last season’s success. A pair of sophomores, Amy Dock (Charlotte, N.C.) and Katie Griffin (Stone Mountain, Ga.), will be looked to for leadership this fall after turning in strong cross country and track seasons last year. Joining them will be redshirt junior Sara Pardue (Aurora, Colo.), who followed a strong fall with an even better track season as she garnered All-America recognition in both the 800 meters and the distance medley relay, while winning the ACC title in the indoor 800 meters.
