May 30, 2009
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Georgia Tech men’s track & field team posted its highest-ever finish at an NCAA Regional with a fifth-place performance Saturday on the final day of competition at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T. Women place 18th.
“I am very pleased with the way this whole group competed this weekend,” men’s head coach Grover Hinsdale said. “We had outstanding performances across the board. For our men to finish fifth in a very tough region is just outstanding, so I am very proud of them.”
The men’s squad amassed a total of 41 points on the weekend while the women picked up 12 in their stance.
Highlighting the day’s dramatics was the incredible performance by Junior Alphonso Jordan, who broke a 20-year old Tech outdoor record in the triple jump. The Charlotte, N.C. native placed first in the event with the record mark of 53’9.25″ while qualifying for his third-straight NCAA Outdoor Championships. The previous Tech record mark of 53’7.25″ was set by Rich Thompson in 1989.
After qualifying for the NCAA’s in the shot put on Friday, Marcelle did it again in the discus on Saturday as he placed second with a mark of 182’3″. He accumulated 16 total points on the weekend for the men’s team in a strong effort.
Also breaking another Tech record on the day was freshman Bailey Wagner with a distance of 50’1.25″ in the shot put. Wagner placed seventh among the field and while helping the women’s team place 18th. The Lake Villa, Ill. native became the fifth Yellow Jacket to break a record on the weekend as she joins Jordan, Marcelle, senior Jerome Miller and sophomore Joanna Wright.
In a photo finish, Senior E.C. Gibbs narrowly missed an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships in the 1500-meter run as his pace of 3:42.01 was only two-hundredths of a second behind the fifth-place runner. Gibbs will most likely receive an At-Large bid to the championships with his strong run.
Jordan (triple jump), Miller (high jump), Marcelle (shot put, discus), Wright (pole vault) and Hern (hammer throw) all automatically punched their tickets to the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships, held June 10-13, at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark.
