Jan. 31, 2003
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams will face their strongest competition of the young indoor season Saturday when they travel to the Carolina Fast Times Meet at the University of North Carolina’s Eddie Smith Field House. Field events begin at 10 a.m. with the weight throw, while the women’s 5000 meters opens the running events at 11 a.m.
Scheduled to join Jackets at the meet are conference rivals Duke, Florida State and North Carolina, as well as Southeastern Conference opponents Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. In all, 13 teams are slated to compete.
A quartet of NCAA provisional qualifiers lead the way for the Tech women. Sprinters Jessica DeFreitas and Amandi Rhett have met the standard in the 60-meter dash, while freshmen Jessica Graff (pole vault) and Chaunte Howard (high jump) have also provisionally qualified. Graff enters Saturday’s meet having won her first two collegiate pole vault competitions.
Rhett owns team-best performances in both the 60 (7.41) and 200 meters (24.25), while DeFreitas has leaped a Tech-best 19’10.75″ in the long jump. On the ACC level, Rhett ranks first in the 60 and second in the 200 meters, while DeFreitas stands second in both the 60 meters and long jump.
The Tech women also rank well in the ACC in the jumps. Howard leads the league in the high jump (5’11.25″), while Graff stands second in the vault (12’9.50″). Freshman Brandy Depland stands third in both the long and triple jumps.
Five conference leaders, two of which are slated to compete Saturday, pace the Yellow Jacket men. Sophomore Dennis Davis leads the conference in the 200 meters with a time of 21.69, while senior Chris Crawley ranks first in the long jump with a leap of 23’11.75″.
Crawley is joined on the long jump list by freshman I-Perfection Harris and senior Brian Fraser. Other talented Tech jumpers include sophomore Reuben Houston, who stands fourth in the triple jump, and junior Michael Massey, who is fourth in the high jump.
A pair of talented 400-meter standouts, senior Sharif Azim and sophomore Brian Ford, who rank third and fifth in the conference are also slated to compete.
Tech’s men are led in the throws by sophomore Ian Brewer, who ranks second in the ACC with a school-record weight throw toss of 55’4.75″. Classmates Zeb Sion and Jonathan Spillman rank among the league’s top eight in the shot put.
Following Saturday’s action, the Jackets head to the Florida’s Gator Invitational on February 9.
-GT-
