ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s cross country teams were unable to improve on their 1999 finishes at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships as they finished eighth and seventh respectively at the ACC meet, which was hosted by NC State in Raleigh, N.C.
The Yellow Jackets’ men’s team finished the team competition with 218 points, and was well off the pace of team champion Duke, which finished the event with 39 points and captured its first ACC cross country title since 1977. Sean Kelly, who captured the ACC individual title with a time of 25:00.40 over the 8K circuit, led the Blue Devils in the event.
Tech’s harriers were led by senior Brent Williams (Farmington, Mo.), who placed 35th with a time of 26:44.10. He was followed in the individual race by junior Phillip Gable (Kennesaw, Ga.), whose time of 26:49.8, put him in 39th place. Freshman Brendon Mahoney (Cumming, Ga.) finished the 8K race with a time of 27:22.80 and placed in a tie for 44th place.
Also in the field for the Jackets was freshman Neil McDonagh (San Francisco, Calif.), who placed 54th with his time of 27:55.90 and junior Matt O’Brien (Marietta, Ga.), whose time of 29:10.60 placed him in 60th place. Three of Tech’s top runners to this point in the 2000 season, freshman Kyle Rabbitt (Red Oak, Ga.), junior Joe Stegall (Rydal, Ga.) and junior Brent Johnson (Fayetteville, Ga.) did not finish the race for the Jackets.
In the women’s race, the Yellow Jackets finished in seventh place with 143 points, and finished 100 points behind team champion NC State, which placed four runners in the Top 10, en route to the team title.
Sophomore Amy Dock (Charlotte, N.C.) was Tech’s top finisher once again, as she placed 15th in the 5K race with her time of 19:06.10. Dock trailed individual champion Shalane Flanagan of North Carolina by just under a minute-and-a-half as she won with a time of 17:38.10.
Tech junior Sara Pardue (Aurora, Colo.) was the next Jacket in the field, as she placed 17th with a time of 19:07.70. Joining Dock and Pardue in the top 30 was freshman Renee Metivier (Highland Village, Texas), whose time of 1927.20 placed her in 27th. Junior Amy Edwards (Marietta, Ga.) was the next Tech finisher, placing 40th with a time of 19:49.80.
Rouding out the Yellow Jacket contingent was sophomore Eboni Crosby (Aurora, Colo.), who was 45th with a time of 20:04.50, also junior Rachael Caruso (Duluth, Ga.) was 55th with a time of 20:26.20. Following Crosby and Caruso, were junior Ashley Espy (Summerville, Ga.) in 64th place with a time of 21:10.80 and rookie Betsy Bulat (Moorestown, N.J.), who was 66th in a time of 21:35.30.
The Yellow Jackets will take a week off before returning to action on November 11, when they compete at the NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
