CLEMSON, S.C. – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams set five total top-five program performances on the first day of the Tiger Paw Invitational.
Dalen Penson stepped into the starting blocks for the men’s 60m hurdles prelims, making his first-ever collegiate track appearance following his first campaign on the gridiron for the Jackets. He flew past the two conference runners in his heat and crossed the line at 7.87, registering the third-fastest 60m hurdles performance in program history.
His debut sprint put him into the semifinal heats and the Peachtree City native put his first run in the rearview within just two hours. His new time of 7.77 elevated Penson to the second-fastest mark in school history, just 0.01 seconds off the all-time Tech performance. Both times recorded ACC standard marks and his semis mark would clock in as the fifth-fastest time in the conference this season coming into the day.
Penson’s performance set the tone on track for the Jackets as the momentum carried into the 1 mile races. Lottie Chappell and Claire Shelton were side-by-side leading the women’s 1 mile as they recorded a 1-2 finish for the white and gold.
Chappell earned the victory and improved on her second-best mile time for the Jackets, shaving off 2.2 seconds at 4:42.18 while Shelton smashed her personal best to register the third-fastest Tech performance at 4:42.26. Both marks were well clear of the ACC standard marks and were a second clear of the pack.
Billy Carlton was the next Tech runner to heed the call, winning the race and setting his new personal best at 4:03.16, recording the fifth-fastest men’s mile time in Yellow Jacket history. Taylor Wade finished just behind Carlton, secured second-place and registered an ACC standard mark.
Notable conference standard marks included Tahir Hines launching a 19.34m weight throw in his first attempt of the day while Caden Terrell set his new personal best at 46.78 in the 400m. Kushan Patel opened the track events with a race win in the men’s 5000m race at 14:43.36.
The Jackets enjoyed their most successful day on the track this season accumulating three race victories, five top-five program performances, five podium finishes, eight ACC standard marks, and 10 personal bests.
Georgia Tech is set for the final day of the indoor regular season on Saturday with field events beginning at 9 a.m. with the remaining track events commencing at noon.
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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