April 27, 2018
Results: Penn Relays | North Florida Invitational
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech outdoor track and field had another record-setting outing as it completed the second day of the Penn Relays and kicked off the North Florida Invitational on Friday afternoon.
Highlighted by one school relay record, the Yellow Jackets also turned in six personal bests over the two meets and 26 top-10 finishes.
Women’s Highlights
Penn Relays –
Georgia Tech was led by a record-setting outing in the 4x1500m relays. The team of Amy Ruiz, Nicole Fegans and Haley Anderson and Liz Galarza ran an 18:15.33 to take seventh place overall and eclipse the previous record by 11 seconds.
The 23-year-old record was set in 1995 by Beth Mallory, Mary Sullivan, Colleen Stroud and Elizabeth Stewart.
North Florida Invitational –
Down in the Florida, the Yellow Jackets were also led by a relay team, this time in the 4x100m. The squad of Kenya Collins, Jeanine Williams, Brianna Hayden and Raven Stewart turned in an impressive time of 44.98 to finish first overall.
Williams then set a personal record in the 200m, finishing second in the race with a time of 23.86 – good for 16th-fastest in the ACC. Not far behind was teammate Hayden who also finished in the top 10, taking sixth place with a time of 24.38.
Continuing her recent success was Ksenia Novikova in the pole vault. The senior turned in a clearance above 4 meters for the third-straight week, hitting a mark of 4.00 meters to finish second. Anna Hightower also had a fine day, matching her season-best effort of 3.85 meters to finish fifth in the flight.
In the 400m hurdles, Shannon Innis was also able to record a top-5 finish, placing fourth overall with a time of 1:01.80. Meanwhile, Hayden continued her busy day by running an 11.78 PR in the 100m to finish seventh while Collins fell just 0.01 second shy of her personal record in the event, placing 10th with a time of 11.96.
Angelica Henderson (56.69) and Domonique Hall (56.80) turned in fine days, finishing seventh and ninth, respectively, in the 400m, while Dasia Smith held down the fort in jumps, placing eighth (5.54 meters) in the long jump and 13th (11.23 meters) in the triple.
Men’s Highlights
North Florida Invitational –
The men’s team was led by a strong showing in the 200m, where Maurice Simpson took the title with a 21.30 PR – good for 17th-fastest in the ACC. Daniel Pietsch then turned in a third-place time of 21.43 before Tyson Spears (21.73) finished sixth. Rounding out the five top-10 finishers was Ty Brooks (21.76) and Benjamin Jean (21.82), who finished seventh and eighth, respectively.
Representing the Yellow Jackets in the field was William Solomon, who didn’t disappoint, taking home first place in the long jump with a leap of 7.20 meters.
Back on the track in the 400m, Pietsch continued his fine season by winning gold with a time of 46.82 before Benjamin Jean finished second at 47.28. Ty Brooks (47.92) was able to finish sixth in the race, while Lionel Jones finished 12 th, turning in a season-best time of 49.36.
Anthony Steets continued to lower his PR in the 400m hurdles, setting the personal-best time of 53.71 to finish second overall – a top-10 ACC performance. Then in the 110m hurdles, Andreas Ward finished third by running a 14.11 PR – good for eighth-fastest in the ACC – while Wesley Watkins, Jr. turned in a seventh-place time of 14.49.
Georgia Tech’s 4x100m relay group of Watkins, Spears, Simpson and Ward teamed up to finish third overall in the race, recording a time of 40.67.
Finishing out the day for the Jackets was Simpson, who finished sixth in the 100m dash with a time of 10.66 while Spears ran a 10.77 to finish eighth.
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