April 20, 2005
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for the 2005 Outdoor Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, hosted by Florida State, Thursday-Saturday, April 21-23.
The men’s team finished fifth at the indoor ACC meet with a point total of 50 points. The Yellow Jackets have finished in the top five in three consecutive outdoor seasons.
“We are looking forward to getting down to FSU for the 2005 edition of the outdoor Championships,” said men’s track coach Grover Hinsdale. “The ACC has always been an extremely competitive conference, and in my memory, it is at its highest level ever. We are excited about the opportunity to compete in this great meet.”
The women’s team enters the weekend ranked No. 18 in the nation and one of the favorites to win the conference title. The Jackets finished third at the indoor ACC meet with 98 points, behind No. 8 Miami (138) and No. 24 North Carolina (100).
“We’re looking forward to an exciting competition at the outdoor championships,” said women’s track coach Alan Drosky. “The women have performed well in our meets leading up to ACC’s and are ready to compete hard this weekend.”
Ashlee Kidd, Chaunte Howard and Montrell Person will all try and defend their 2004 ACC titles this weekend. Kidd, a sophomore from St. Petersburg, Fla., won the 200- and 400-meter dash events last year with times of 23.53 and 52.40, respectively. Kidd currently holds the ACC’s top time in the 400 (52.52) and ranks third in the 200 (23.63).
Howard, a junior from Riverside, Calif., has won five consecutive high jump ACC titles and will try and make it six this Saturday at 2 p.m. Howard holds the top mark in the nation with her 6 feet, 4 inches, last weekend at the Mt. Sac Relays.
Person, a senior from Merriville, Ind., won the 110-meter high hurdles last year with a time of 13.86. He ran a season-best time of 13.90 at the Clemson Invitational. That time stands as the top mark in the ACC heading into the championship.
Fresh off their ACC titles at the indoor ACC meet, Andriane Lapsley and Dana Rogers hold top marks in their respective events heading into this weekend. Lapsley, a junior from San Antonio, Texas, ran the league’s fastest time in the 100-meter dash (11.38). Rogers, a senior from East Point, Ga., clocked an ACC best time of 13.27 in the 100-meter high hurdles at the Yellow Jacket Invitational.
For more information, including a complete schedule of events, please go to 2005 Outdoor ACC Championships.
-GT TRACK & FIELD-
