SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Three Yellow Jacket student-athletes earned Second Team All-ACC honors to lead the way for Georgia Tech on day two of the 2020 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships in South Bend, Ind., on Friday.
Junior Andrew Kent, sophomore Taylor Grimes and senior Bria Matthews each finished within the top-six in their respective events on the way to being named Second Team All-ACC.
Kent took on the men’s 5000m racing to a 14:06.78 finish to take sixth place overall and earned him a new personal best time. His performance earned him the second-best time in indoor school history, only finishing behind Nahom Solomon’s time of 13:41.48 that was set during the 2019 campaign.
His late race effort was what earned him a spot on the All-ACC list. During the last 1000m Kent never took his foot off the gas. At the 4040m mark he recorded the fastest split in the field finishing in just 52.41. Kent powered through his final 320m in just 50.89 allowing him to widen the gap between himself and the seventh-place finisher by just under three full seconds.
Kent’s event was the second time at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships that Tech came close to breaking a school record as the women’s DMR team recorded the second-best time in indoor school history in that event on Thursday (11:21.60).
Matthews and Grimes took fourth and fifth place in the women’s long jump with marks of 6.17m and 6.15m, respectively. Grimes set a new personal best in that event on Friday. Both women propelled themselves to excellent marks during the first jump (Matthews-6.08m, Grimes-6.02) to ensure that the pair would be allotted three more attempts in the second half of the competition. Matthews recorded her best jump on her third attempt, while Grimes reached hers on her very last jump.
On the men’s and women’s side of things the Jackets set multiple PRs and had a total of three athletes qualify for Saturday’s finals in their respective events.
Freshman Anna Witherspoon got the day started off on the right foot for Tech as she qualified for the women’s 60m hurdles with a time of 8.31, setting a new PR in the process. Junior Sam Costa laced it up for the men’s mile run and finished with a time of 4:08.13, good enough for a new PR and spot on the line in finals. Fellow junior Anthony Brooks also set a new PR as he took on the men’s 400m dash. His time of 47.19 guaranteed that he would get a chance to race in one of the most talent 400m fields in the entire country on Saturday.
The 2020 ACC indoor Track & Field Championships will continue tomorrow with the final day of the meet getting underway at 11 a.m. (EST). Live results can be found here.
Other notable Tech athletes that will compete on Saturday include junior Nicole Fegans and a swarm of Jackets in the women’s 3000m run, as well as Matthews making another appearance in the triple jump. Matthews is the defending indoor conference champion in that event. Sophomore Olivia Moore will get a chance to show out in the women’s pole vault; she will enter that event with the fifth-best regular season clearing in the ACC (4.07m). The men will see juniors Braeden Collins and James Cragin take on the 3000m.
“We had some strong performances today,” said men’s head coach Grover Hinsdale. “On the men’s side I am very proud of Sam Costa for his PR in the mile and making tomorrow’s final. Equally proud of Ty Brooks for his 400m PR and for making that final. Andrew Kent put out a great effort in the 5000m final finishing 6th.”
Both the men’s and women’s 4×400 relay crews will compete in Saturday’s final event starting at 3:50 p.m. (EST).
MEN’S STANDINGS
(7 of 17 events completed)
- Florida State 46
- Virginia 45
- Louisville 40
- Notre Dame 37
- Duke 18
- Pitt 17
- Wake Forest 17
- Louisville 15
- NC State 12
- North Carolina 8
- Miami 6
- Syracuse 5
- Georgia Tech 5
- Boston College 1
- Clemson 1
WOMEN’S STANDINGS
(6 of 17 events completed)
- Louisville 34.5
- Duke 34
- NC State 26
- Notre Dame 26
- Virginia Tech 25.5
- Virginia 22
- Wake Forest 12
- Georgia Tech 11
- Miami 10
- North Carolina 9
- Clemson 9
- Pitt 5
- Boston College 5
- Florida State 3
- Syracuse 2
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
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