ATLANTA (August 16) — Georgia Tech’s men’s and women’s cross country teams begin practice Monday in preparation for their first meet on Sept. 10 at the Tennessee-Chattanooga Invitational. The Yellow Jackets return 13 veterans on the men’s side and 12 on the women’s side to the Flats.
“We are excited and anxious to get going and have an extra week of practice this year due to the change to semesters,” said head coach Alan Drosky, who enters his ninth season of coaching the Jacket Harriers. “We return four out of our top five performers on both teams and with veteran experience on both sides, it gives us a very optimistic outlook this year.”
The top returnee on the women’s team is senior Becky Megesi (Jonesboro, Ga.), who became the second women’s participant in the NCAA Championship after finishing 10th in the NCAA District IX meet with a time of 17:36. She is joined by senior Tina Frey (Peachtree City, Ga.), and juniors Sara Pardue (Aurora, Colo.), Carolyn Krieger (Marietta, Ga.) and Rachel Caruso (Duluth, Ga.), to form an experienced returning nucleus.
The men’s squad brings back its top two returnees in senior Brad Mills (Toledo, Ohio) and junior Joe Stegall (Rydal, Ga.), who were the team’s top finishers in both the ACC and NCAA District IX meet. Junior Joey Zins (Atlanta, Ga.) brings experience to the top five and freshman Brendon Mahoney (Cumming, Ga.), the Georgia AAA boy’s high school cross country champion the last two years, should make an impact for the Jackets. The 1999 schedule:
SEPT. 10 – at Tennessee-Chattanooga Invitational, 3 p.m.
SEPT. 18 – at North Carolina Invitational, 10 a.m.
OCT. 1 – at Auburn Invitational, 3 p.m.
OCT. 2 – Georgia Intercollegiate Championships (Atlanta), 10 a.m.
OCT. 16 – at Clemson Invitational, 10 a.m.
NOV. 1 – ACC Championships at Chapel Hill, N.C., 10 a.m.
NOV. 13 – NCAA District 9 Championships at Auburn, Ala., 10 a.m.
NOV. 22 – NCAA Championships at Bloomington, Ind., 10 a.m.
