Sept. 12, 2002
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s cross country teams kick off their 2002 seasons Saturday, as the Jackets travel to Athens for the University of Georgia’s third-annual Bulldog Stampede at the UGA Golf Course.
The five-kilometer University Women’s race is slated for an 8:50 a.m. start, followed by the eight-kilometer University Men’s race at 9:30 a.m. In addition to the collegiate competition, four high school races will be run.
Scheduled to compete in the university races are Tech and the host Bulldogs, as well as Clemson, South Florida, Tulsa, UNC Greensboro, South Carolina State and Ashland.
The Tech women’s squad, rated 24th nationally, is the only ranked team in the competition. South Florida’s women received votes in the Finish Lynx preseason poll.
Headlining the competitors for the Jackets’ women’s team will be senior Katie Griffin, who earned all-region honors in cross country and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 10,000 meters a year ago. Junior Neta Ezer is also expected to perform well.
Running their first races for Tech will be freshmen Catherine Spoth and Carly Matthews, who was a national finalist at the 2001 Footlocker High School Cross Country Championships. Junior Jenny Lentz, who spent the past two seasons running track and swimming for the Jackets, is also expected to make her cross country debut.
On the men’s side, six freshmen, led by Rob Kuhn and Clark Rivers, will compete for Tech for the first time. Veterans slated to compete are senior Jimmy DeYonker, sophomore Adam Jones and junior Daniel Moss.
Moss competed in three races a year ago, while DeYonker and Jones each ran in a pair of events.
Many of Tech’s top runners will not race Saturday.
The course will be the home of the 2003 Southeastern Conference Championships.
-GT-
