CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Junior Amy Ruiz fell just shy of qualifying for finals, but led an impressive group in the women’s 1500m to open up action for Georgia Tech outdoor track and field as they battled in the first day of the 2018 ACC Outdoor Championships on Thursday night.
Ruiz finished one spot back from making finals, placing 13th overall with a time of 4:25.14 – all while running the final lap with only one shoe. Haley Anderson (4:28.37) and Hana Herndon (4:29.32) also impressed, turning in personal bests for the afternoon.
The Yellow Jackets’ pole vaulter, Ksenia Novikova, also finished eighth overall in the event, reaching a clearance of 4.05 meters – her fourth-straight competition that finishes above 4.00 meters.
Freshman Anthony Steets also had a fine day, running a 53.63 PR to finish just outside the top 10 in the 400m hurdle prelims.
Marinice Bauman and Maurice Simpson were both able to place in the top 15 of their respective events. Bauman took home 15th place in the women’s 400m hurdles (1:00.81) while Simpson ran a 21.32 to finish 15 th in the 200m. Meanwhile, Ryan Peck also took 15th in the 5K, running a 30:36.78.
Finishing off the night for the Yellow Jackets were Nahom Solomon and Mike Reilly in the men’s 1500m. Solomon finished eighth in his section and 20th overall with a time of 3:52.88 while freshman Reilly turned in a career-best 3:54.23 to finish three spots back.
Georgia Tech returns to action on day two of the ACC Outdoor Championships. Their first field event is the men’s long jump, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tech’s first running event is the women’s 100m hurdles, which is currently slated to begin at 5:45 p.m.
ACC Network Extra live coverage for the second day will begin at 5:30 p.m. eastern.
