Nov. 13, 2003
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech cross country teams will travel to Auburn, Ala., to compete in the NCAA South Region Championships, which are being hosted by Auburn University at the Indian Pines Golf Course on Saturday morning. The men’s ten-kilometer is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., while the women’s six-kilometer event starts at 10 a.m.
The Jackets will be led on the men’s side by junior Kyle Rabbitt, the 11th-place finisher in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships two weeks ago. Winner of the Auburn Invitational a month ago, Rabbitt has been Tech’s top finisher in two of his three races this season. Joining Rabbitt will be senior Brendon Mahoney, who finished 9th at Auburn, freshman Cristan Duvall, the Jackets’ top runner at the Clemson Invitational, senior Neil McDonagh, the third-place finisher and top Yellow Jacket at the Wake Forest Alumni Invitational and freshman David Herren, whose top eight-kilometer time came at the ACC Championships. Rounding out the competitors for the men’s team are senior Barton Crist and sophomores Rob Kuhn and Clark Rivers.
Senior Katie Griffin will lead Georgia Tech on the women’s side, as she has been the Jackets’ top finisher in each of her three races this season. Her top race of the year came at the Clemson Invitational, when she finished third with a five-kilometer time of 17:56. Griffin will be joined at the Regionals race by freshman Kirby Cross, who has three top-10 finishes this season, senior Amy Dock, the ninth-place runner at the Clemson Invitational, freshman Mary Chind, who has finished in the top-20 in four races and senior Neta Ezer, the Jackets’ top competitor in the Wake Forest Alumni Invitational with a fifth-place overall finish. Senior Jennifer Lentz, sophomore Catherine Spoth, and freshman Jenny Sims will round out the lineup for the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech will be competing for one of the top two spots in the race, which will advance to the NCAA Championships. They will be held at Byres Park/Iry Warren Memorial Golf Course in Waterloo, Iowa on November 24th, which will be hosted by Northern Iowa. Thirty-eight individual runners will also qualify for the Championship as a total of 255 competitors will qualify or be selected by November 17. The Jackets will be competing against teams from around the Southeast.