THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech track & field teams are set to begin the 2022-23 season at the Clemson Opener on Friday, Dec. 2. The meet will start with the pole vault, high jump and shot put at 10 a.m. The first track event will be the women’s 5000m which is set to start at 11:30 a.m.
Tech will have 16 women and 10 men competing in both track and field events at the meet. Several Jackets are returning to the meet after recording top three performances at the 2021 Clemson Opener.
This is the second consecutive year that Tech has started its season at the Clemson Opener. Last season, the Jackets totaled two first-place performances and five podium finishes. Shanty Papakosta and Riley Perlakowski were Tech’s champions of the meet. Papakosta claimed first place in the women’s high jump when she was the only participant to clear the highest bar (1.76m/5-9.25). Perlakowski dominated the women’s 1000m with a time of 2:56.18 which was more than seven seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
Three Jackets rounded out the podium finishes with earned second-place performances in their respective events. McKinley Thompson took home second in the men’s high jump (1.98m/6-6), Taylor Grimes placed second in the women’s 60m hurdles (8.36) and Haley Unthank ran a time of 1:35.11 to finish second in the women’s 600m.
Participating Teams: Bethune-Cookman, Clemson, Erskine College, Fayetteville State, Furman, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, Life University, Limestone University, Montreat College, North Greenville, South Carolina, Southeastern University, Southern Wesleyan, Tennessee, TCU
Competitive Drive Initiative
In a unified endeavor, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Georgia Tech athletics and the Alexander-Tharpe Fund have come together to accelerate funding for student-athlete scholarships with the launch of the Competitive Drive Initiative. The initiative kicks off with the Accelerate GT Match Program, where any new gift to the A-T Fund’s Athletic Scholarship Fund made through Dec. 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Georgia Tech Foundation, up to $2.5 million. Should Accelerate GT reach its $2.5 million fundraising goal, the matching gift would result in a $5 million impact for Georgia Tech athletics. To learn more and to contribute online, visit atfund.org/accelerate.
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