April 14, 2010
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track & field teams are back in action this weekend at the 2010 ACC Outdoor Championships at the Rock Norman Track in Clemson, S.C. Action gets underway on Thursday morning and runs through Saturday evening.
Action on Thursday and Friday will begin at 10 a.m. with the javelin throw, decathlon and heptathlon, discus throw, and 10,000-meter run on Thursday. The remainder of the decathlon and heptathlon, as well as the long jump and shot put, 3,000-meter steeplechase, and the preliminary round of running events are set for Friday.
Action on Saturday continues in the field at 12 p.m. with the high jump, hammer throw, triple jump, and pole vault. The finals of running events are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., and the post-championship awards ceremony will follow all events at 7:10 p.m.
On the men’s side, Tech looks to improve on an impressive fourth place finish at last year’s ACC Outdoor’s. The finish was the best for the team since 2004.
“We are looking forward to this weekend’s ACC Championship,” men’s head coach Grover Hinsdale said. “I believe that we are healthy, fit, and ready to put up some great performances.”
Tech will be led on the weekend by the senior duo of Steve Marcelle and Alphonso Jordan, who both look to defend respective titles in two events.
Last season, Marcelle captured the shot put and earned All-ACC honors in the discus, in route to being named the ACC’s Outdoor Field Performer of the Year. Jordan captured the triple jump in 2009 and looks to duplicate the feat in 2010. Also, junior Antonio McKay Jr. looks to have an impressive weekend, as he comes in posting the fourth best time in the conference in the 200m and the third best mark in the 400m.
For the women, the Yellow Jackets look to better last year’s sixth place finish overall. Tech has finished sixth at the ACC Outdoor’s the last two seasons.
“The ACC Championships promise to be an exciting meet with outstanding performances,” women’s head coach Alan Drosky said. “Our women are healthy and ready to compete. We’ve made improvements each week throughout the season and this weekend we expect to be at our best.
“Every individual needs to focus fully on performing well in their events and we need to make sure as a team, we are supporting each other throughout the three days of competition.”
Tech will be led on the weekend by junior Joanna Wright, who finished fifth in the pole vault at last year’s ACC Outdoor Championships, while capturing the event at the ACC Indoor Championships in February and senior Alana Clooten, who posted the second best mark in the conference on the season in the hammer throw.
Fans are reminded that Portions of the championship will be video-streamed live via theACC.com on Friday and Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. Jerry Massey will call the action. In addition, live results will be available at the official championship website, http://www.theacc.com/championships/10-otf-championship.html.
Full recaps and results will be available once competition wraps up each night at www.ramblinwreck.com.
