April 2, 2011
ATLANTA – After two days of competition at the Tiger Track Classic, the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams earned four victories and had nine top-3 times at the Hutsell-Rosen Track on the campus of Auburn University.
Joanna Wright started things off on the right foot for the Yellow Jackets earning the victory in the pole vault, her second of the season. Wright dominated the field earning a height of 4.22 meters, besting her school record height of 4.10 meters set at the Georgia Intercollegiate Meet earlier this season. No one came close to Wright’s height as she beat the closest competitor by more than half a meter.
Also succeeding in the pole vault was Erica Penk who finished in fourth place with a height of 3.55 meters while Aaron Unterberger earned a second place showing with his height of 5.05 meters in the men’s pole vault.
Also earning a victory on the day for the Jackets was Jonathan Gardner who took first in the triple jump with a distance of 14.69 meters, a season best for the freshman. On the women’s side of things, Julienne McKee finished in sixth place with a jump of 12.47 meters.
Georgia Tech’s two other victories came on the track side of things. Shawn Roberts earned his third victory of the season, second in the 1,500 meter run, setting a new career best time with a finish of 3:47.19, while also improving his time in the nation and moving up to the eighth best in the country.
Three other Jackets earned top-10 times in the race as Mark Mendrek-Laske took third place with a time of 3:48.09, while Morgan Stephenson and Alec Clifford went 8-9 in the race with times of 3:52.27 and 3:52.57 respectively. On the women’s side, Mary Kownack, Mary Kate DuBard and Maureen McMeekin all earned top-10 finishes in the 1,500 meter race. Kownack and Dubard finished 4-5 with times of 4:37.76 and 4:37.98 while McMeekin crossed the line in 4:43.09.
Leslie Njoku earned the final victory of the weekend for Tech with her first place performance in the 400-meter hurdles. Njoku finished in under 1:00 for the second time this season, crossing in 59.05 Jasmine Isley also did well in the race finishing in sixth place with a time of 1:02.11.
The Jackets rounded out the weekend with a couple of second place finishes in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Lauren Young led the way among the Lady Jackets finishing in second place with a time of 11:49.69 as Megan Breitbach took third crossing in 11:56.29. On the men’s side of things, Joe Fulton recorded a second place, 9:12.27 finish while Patrick Barron took fifth (9:26.97) and Nathan Tew finished eighth (9:42.07).
The Jackets will be back in action next Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9 at the Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla.
