Sept. 15, 2007
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – David Herren and Elena Linn led the way on a beautiful Saturday morning as the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s teams each finished in second place at the Vanderbilt Classic on the Vaughn’s Creek Course in Nashville, Tenn.
Herren, a senior from Rome, Ga., crossed the line second overall with a time of 25:23.69 to lead the men’s team on the 8K course. Sophomore Iain Turnbull placed 11th overall and was the second Jacket to finish with a time of 26:09.59. Senior Cristan Duvall finished the race 13th in a time of 26:10.45.
Also placing in the top 25 for the men were juniors E.C. Gibbs (22nd) and Greg Johnson (24th) and sophomore Casey Gramling (25th).
“It was a very solid race for the men in their first 8K race of the season,” Head Coach Alan Drosky said. “The men are really coming around as a team. We had a bigger gap between Herren and our No. 5 runner but that should improve over time. We have a really solid group of guys who are pretty interchangeable at the No. 5 through No. 8 positions in our line up.”
The Tech men’s team totaled 67 points at the meet, ahead of the University of Missouri (76 points) and host Vanderbilt (123 points) and behind the meet winner Belmont (21 points).
“I was really happy how the men ran today,” Drosky added. “We beat Vanderbilt, a team we lost two a few time last season, and Missouri. Belmont has a very talented team and just ran very well today.”
Leading the way for the women was Linn, a senior from Marietta, Ga., who placed second overall with a time of 18:13.11. She was followed by senior Jenny Sims, who crossed third in a time of 18:19.71. Another senior, Nisha Kurian, finished the 5K race in sixth place with a time of 18:28.34.
Junior Katina Zuganelis finished the 5K race 19th overall with a time of 18:57.92. In 25th place was sophomore Lindsey Pickens, who ran a great race with a time of 19:18.32.
“Katina (Zuganelis) ran a very strong race today and Lindsey (Pickens) stepped up big time for us,” Drosky said. “We need our No. 5 through No. 8 spots to run a little stronger as the season goes on.”
The women’s team finished the day with 55 points, just behind Missouri, who finished first with 50 points. The Jackets finished ahead of host Vanderbilt (59 points), the No. 4 team in the South Region, and ACC foe Clemson (102 points).
“It was a really close race between three similar teams,” said Drosky of the women’s race. “It was nice to top Vanderbilt, a team ranked ahead of us in the South Region.”
The Jackets will take a week off before traveling north on Sat., Sept. 29 to the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky. Last season, the women’s team, led by Kurian and Linn, placed first among 31 teams in the 5K race. The men placed 13th overall on the 8K course as Herren crossed the line 41st overall.
