May 30, 2002
BATON ROUGE, La. – With a 10th-place finish in the men’s javelin, Georgia Tech senior Chris Sinotte posted the Jackets’ top performance and earned All-America honors on day two of the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at LSU’s Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
Sinotte posted a mark of 226’08.00″, while Scott Russell of Kansas won the event with a toss of 262’00.00″. Despite finishing 10th, Sinotte was among the top eight Americans, which was good for the national honor. He is the first thrower to earn All-America honors since Mark White did so in the discus in 1990.
Tech junior Bryan Swarn also had a solid performance, placing 11th in the prelims of the 400 meters with a time of 45.73. The top nine finishers advanced to Saturday’s final. Tennessee’s Gary Kikaya clocked a time of 45.01 to qualify first.
Sophomore Brendon Mahoney finished 17th in the prelims of the 1500 meters, posting a time of 3:45.61. The top 12 finishers moved on to Saturday’s final led by Dan Wilson of Connecticut. He logged a time of 3:40.27.
A pair of women’s standouts just missed reached the semifinals of their respective events. Senior Alisha McClinton went 13.52 to place 17th in the prelims of the 100-meter hurdles. Sophomore Amandi Rhett also placed 17th in the 100 meters, just .01 second behind the 16th-place finisher. Rhett posted a time of 11.68. The top 16 in each event advanced to Friday’s semifinals.
The meet continues Friday, with the lone Jacket left to compete being sophomore All-American Renee Metivier, who will race in the 5000 meters. Her race is slated to begin at 9:10 p.m.
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