CLEMSON, S.C. – Led by freshman Simone Parker’s school record in the discus, the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams added three more NCAA regional qualifying marks Saturday at Clemson’s Orange and Purple Classic at Rock Norman Track. The Jackets now own a combined 25 regional qualifying performances.
Parker’s toss of 152’10.00″ topped her owns school record set last weekend. She is the first women’s thrower for Tech to qualify for the NCAA East Region Championships. Joining Parker as a new qualifier is fellow rookie Andriane Lapsley, who ran a season-best 11.78 in a seventh-place finish in the 100 meters. On the men’s side, senior Sharif Azim ran a season-best 47.26 to finish fourth in the 400 meters and meet the regional standard.
Additionally, four Jackets improved on existing regional marks, led by junior Amandi Rhett, who was second in the 100 meters with a personal-best of 11.38. She also took fourth in the 200 meters (23.92). Sophomore Dana Rogers clocked a season-best 13.63 in the 100-meter hurdles to finish fourth, while also taking seventh in the 200 meters (24.28). Improvements for the men came from senior Bryan Swarn, who ran 46.44 in the 400 meters to take third, and classmate Brian Fraser, who was second in the triple jump in 51’3.50″.
Other individual top-five finishes for the men in the field events came from sophomore Zeb Sion, who was second in the shot put, sophomore Ian Brewer, who placed second in the hammer throw, and junior Michael Massey, who was third in the high jump. On the track, freshman Rob Kuhn took fourth in the 1500 meters, and junior Barton Crist was fifth in the 800 meters. As for the women, sophomore Megan Byrd was fourth in the high jump, while senior Jessica DeFreitas finished fifth in the long jump.
In relay action, the men’s 4×400 team took first in 3:11.60, while the women’s 4×100 was second in 44.87. In addition, Greg McCormick is second in the decathlon, which wraps up Sunday.
Next weekend, the Jackets host the Georgia Tech Invitational, May 16-17. This meet is Tech’s final tune-up before the NCAA East Region Championships, set for May 30-31 in Fairfax, Va.
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