ATLANTA (March 30) – The Georgia Tech track squads travel to the Clemson Invitational for their first scoring meet of the spring, a four-way competition that also includes Kansas and Western Carolina Saturday (4/1) at the Tigers’ Rock Norman Track Complex. Field events begin at 11 a.m., followed by running events at 1 p.m.
Last weekend the Yellow Jackets competed at the Florida Relays, in which the men’s squad turned in an outstanding effort, led by sophomore Bryan Swarn (Englewood, Colo.) and freshman Brendon Mahohey (Cumming, Ga.), who both achieved NCAA provisional standards and ran on winning relay teams.
“We’re coming off a very good team performance at the Florida Relays, despite the fact that some of our key performers were not really factors,” said men’s head coach Grover Hinsdale. “This will be a very competitive scoring meet, so we’ve got to get a few guys back to 100 percent and have a total team effort.”
Swarn ran 46.07 in the 400 meters and was the top collegiate finisher in a very strong field, finishing second to former Tech all-America Angelo Taylor. Swarn also anchored Tech’s first-place finish in the invitational 4×400 meter relay.
Mahoney, who led off Tech’s victory in the distance medley relay, ran 1:48.42 in the invitational 800 meters, also good for second place.
In the field events, freshman Chris Crawley (Philadelphia, Pa.) finished second in the triple jump and seventh in the long jump, while senior Jamie Traylor (Snellville, Ga.) surpassed the school record in the pole vault for the second straight week, clearing 15 feet-9.25 inches.
Hinsdale looks for improved performances from veterans Clayton Porter (Chesapeake, Va.) in the high jump, Malcolm Leason (Wilmington, Del.) in the triple jump, Michael Johnson (Littleton, Colo.) in the 400 meters, who have all been battling nagging injuries.
Women’s head coach Alan Drosky was somewhat disappointed in his squad’s results at the Florida Relays but looks for improved performances this week.
“This meet has a slightly different scoring format that places a premium on depth in all events, which is not necessarily our strong point,” said Drosky. “We will try to score well while working to prepare ourselves for the conference meet in a few weeks.”
A bright spot for the women was senior Becky Megesi (Jonesboro, Ga.), who finished fourth in the invitational 1500 meters with a time of 4:26.84. She will compete in the 800 meters this week. Other top performers for the women’s team include senior Ayana Grant (Oakland, Calif.) in the hurdles, Mishanta Reyes (Bronx, N.Y.) in the long jump and freshman Jessica DeFreitas (Lanham, Md.) in the 100 and 200 meters.
Sophomore Sara Pardue (Aurora, Colo.), an indoor all-America in the 800 meters, got off to a slow start in her first outdoor meet of the season but looks for improvement this week.
