May 14, 2009
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track & field teams will host the Georgia Tech Invitational, Friday and Saturday, in the final meet of the season. More than 65 teams and over 1,000 athletes are expected to compete in the two-day meet which begins Friday with the hammer throw at 12 p.m. at Griffin Track.
“The Georgia Tech Invitational has been an outstanding meet for many years now,” men’s head coach Grover Hinsdale said. “Being held on the last weekend of the regular season adds a sense of urgency for many of those who have yet to qualify for the Regional Championships. The meet atmosphere will be intense which makes for great track & field competition.”
“It’s going to be an exciting weekend on the Flats with some outstanding track & field competition Friday and Saturday,” women’s head coach Alan Drosky said. “The Georgia Tech Invitational features a great combination of top collegians from around the country, as well as professional track & field athletes who are rounding into form approaching the USA Nationals in June.”
With two weeks until the NCAA East Region Championships, Both teams have combined to regionally qualify for the in 25 events, 13 on the men’s side and 12 on the women’s side. Freshman Mykhail Chambers, along with seniors David Ford and Mellany Stanislaus became the most recent Jackets to add regional qualifying performances with strong showings at the Seminole twilight last weekend. Chambers cleared a personal-best height of 6’10.75″ in the high jump, while Ford ran a personal-best 10.09 in the 110-meter hurdles. Stanislaus’ regional mark was a 40’6.75″ distance in the triple jump, her best of the season.
Also posting strong performances last weekend were seniors Jerome Miller and E.C. Gibbs. Miller broke the Tech outdoor high jump record with a clearance of 7’3.25″, while Gibbs ran a 3:41.56 in the 1500-meters — the ninth-fastest time in the nation and the third-fastest time in Tech history. He passed current distance coach Alan Drosky (3:42.33) on the all-time list.
“For our women, we’re focused on two things – first, adding to our number of NCAA East Regional qualifiers, which currently we have eleven women qualified; and second, taking advantage of being at home against top competition to improve as many personal bests as possible,” Drosky added.
Live results for the Georgia Tech Invitational will be provided by Delta Timing and will be available on RamblinWreck.com.
