April 13, 2018
AUBURN, Ala. – Georgia Tech outdoor track and field broke out of the gates fast in the first day of the Tiger Track Classic on Friday afternoon, turning in multiple top performances in the ACC to start the two-day meet at Auburn.
The Yellow Jackets recorded eight PRs, 13 top-10 finishes and three golds on the first day of competition.
Tech returns to action tomorrow for the conclusion of the Tiger Track Classic, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.
Women’s Highlights
Georgia Tech was led on the evening by Amy Ruiz, who turned in a 4:24.00 PR to finish third in the ultra-competitive 1500m invitational heat -ranking in the top 5 of the ACC. In all, four Jackets turned in PRs in the top-10 as freshman Nicole Fegans finished fifth (4:26.49), Haley Anderson finished eighth (4:30.29) and Liz Galarza placed ninth (4:32.32). Hana Herndon also performed well, falling just outside the top 10 at 11th place with a time of 4:34.77.
Hailey Gollnick then raced to a gold finish in the 3000m steeplechase, turning in a season-best and top-5 conference time of 10:35.94. Teammate Courtney Naser finished just behind her in second at 10:49.19 – also ranking in the top 10 of the ACC – while Rebecca Entrekin also finished in the top 10 with an eighth-place finish (11:57.17).
Ksenia Novikova also had a great performance, tying her personal record in the pole vault to take gold with a clearance of 4.10 meters.
Raven Stewart also had a career night, finishing seventh in the long jump competition with a leap of 5.89 meters – a 0.12-meter increase over her previous PR.
Men’s Highlights
Avery Bartlett led the way for the men’s team on Friday night, taking first place in the competitive 1500m invitational meet. Bartlett turned in a career-best time, and second fastest time in the ACC this season, of 3:43.45 in the effort – shaving more than a full second off his previous record. Freshman Andrew Kent also turned in his first 1500m time, finishing just outside the top 10 at 12th-place with a time of 3:54.83.
Alex Grady followed up Bartlett with another first-place finish for the Yellow Jackets in the 3000m steeplechase. Grady won by almost eight seconds, turning in a top-5 conference time of 9:09.57 to take gold. Sam Costa also finished in the top 5, finishing fourth with a time of 9:21.69.
In the 5000m, sophomore Matt McBrien obliterated his previous personal best, taking fourth overall in the race with a time of 14:54.78. Right behind McBrien was Mitchell Sanders, who recorded a fifth-place time of 15:01.36 before Ryan Miller just missed the top 10 at 11th place with a personal-best performance of 15:13.28.
William Solomon also had an impressive night, turning in a season-best performance in the long jump by leaping to a mark of 7.50 meters – just 0.05 meters off his personal record and good for sixth-longest in the ACC this season.
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