ATLANTA (May 8) – With NCAA qualifying opportunities winding down, the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track teams compete at Clemson’s Orange and Purple Classic Sunday at the Tigers’ Rock Norman Track Complex. After this week’s meet, the Yellow Jackets will have one final competition as they host the Georgia Tech/Reebok Invitational May 19-20.
Senior triple jumper Malcolm Leason (Wilmington, Del.) is enjoying an outstanding season, having won the event at three consecutive meets, including last weekend’s Jesse Owens Classic. He has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with a jump of 52-04.75 feet, but he had an even better mark of 53-00.75 disallowed by wind last weekend, one of several positive performances by the Yellow Jackets that were voided.
“It’s a shame that that jump didn’t count because Malcolm really seems to be on a roll,” said Tech head coach Grover Hinsdale. “I think he still needs to improve a little bit to be assured of qualifying, but he is capable of doing that.”
Hinsdale also looks for continued improvement from the 4×400-meter relay team of senior Michael Johnson (Littleton, Colo.) senior Tosin Tomori (Harare, Zimbabwe), freshman Sharif Azim (Marietta, Ga.) and sophomore Bryan Swarn (Englewood, Colo.), who ran a season-best 3:07.78 last weekend. The provisional standard is 3:07.00.
“We ran 3:07.78 into a horrendous wind and with one leg not performing very well,” said Hinsdale. “I know that with good weather conditions and everyone running his best, they are fully capable of running 3:06-flat or better.”
Swarn and Johnson are also looking to qualify in the 400 meters. Swarn own the ACC’s top time with a 46.07, which surpasses the provisional standard of 46.20, while Johnson’s best time is 46.66.
Brendon Mahoney (Cumming, Ga.), the ACC Freshman of the Year for both indoor and outdoor track,
For the women’s team, sophomore long jumper Mishanta Reyes (Bronx, N.Y.) had a potential qualifying jump of 20-07.00 feet disallowed by wind last weekend.
Junior Sara Pardue (Aurora, Colo.), an all-America in the indoor 800 meters, has a solid provisional performance of 2:06.61 in the 800, while senior Judy Johnson (Snellville, Ga.) has run a provisional time of 34:41.30 in the 10,000 meters.
Senior Ayana Grant (Oakland, Calif.) has run a provisional time of 13.62 in the 100-meter hurdles but likely needs to better that. Senior Becky Megesi (Jonesboro, Ga.), who earned all-America status in the 1,500 meters in 1999, has yet to qualify in the event.
