Feb. 28, 2015
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Seniors Nikita Kirillov and Jonathan Gardner broke Georgia Tech school records and four Yellow Jackets earned All-ACC honors on the final day Saturday of the ACC Indoor Championships at Rector Field House. The men’s team placed 14th with 20 points, and the women’s team placed 14th with 10 points.
“We had some outstanding individual performances, including Nikita and Jonathan,” head men’s track coach Grover Hinsdale said. “We had some young people really come through and compete well. We need to regroup and get ready for the outdoor season, and the ACC outdoor championships to have a different outcome.”
Jonathan Gardner broke the school record and earned All-ACC first team honors in the triple jump. Gardner placed third with a distance of 16.45m (53’11.75’) to not only break his PR of 16.15m (53’0”), but crush the old record of 16.26m (53’4.25”) set by Alphonso Jordan in 2010.
Nikita Kirillov earned first team All-ACC honors and set a new school record with a second place finish in the pole vault. The senior cleared a personal-best and Georgia Tech school record mark of 5.47m (17’11.25”) for eight team points. The height is an inch higher than the previous record of 5.44m (17’10.25”) set by Aaron Unterberger in 2013.
“Our women have made some great progress this indoor season,” head women’s track coach Alan Drosky said. “They are moving in the right direction even though it didn’t show up in the team points this weekend. We had two second-team All-ACC performers in sophomore Carissa Tipler and freshman Bailey Weiland, and also a good number of lifetime bests.”
Carissa Tipler earned All-ACC second-team honors with a sixth-place finish in the triple jump. Tipler logged a career –best distance of 12.41m (40-8.75) to earn three team points.
Spencer Allen earned All-ACC second-team honors with a sixth-place finish in the men’s 60-meter hurdles in a time of 7.94 and three team points. Freshman Zachary Gunnz placed seventh (6.98) in the 60 meters for two team points.
Andres Littig and Chris Burnett placed eighth and ninth in the men’s 800 meters, respectively. Littig recorded a time of 1:52.34 for one team point and Burnett posted a time of 1:54.52.
In the final events of the day, the women’s 4×400-meter relay team run by Domonique Hall, Jazmyne Taylor, Ama Larbi and Christina Pensock finished eighth to earn one team point in a time of 3:45.16. The men’s relay team comprised of Alexander Reese, Zack Fanelty, Nat Estes and Brandon Lasater finished 11th in a time of 3:19.82.
Melissa Fairey had a career-best in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:52.73. On the men’s side, Matt Munns ran a PR of 8:40.25 and Justin Weaver follow with a time of 8:45.88.
All-ACC:
Jonathan Gardner – First Team, triple jump
Nikita Kirillov – First Team, pole vault
Carissa Tipler – Second Team, triple jump
Spencer Allen – Second Team, 60-meter hurdles
Bailey Weiland – Second Team, high jump (Friday)
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