Feb. 3, 2018
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Ten top-10 PRs and four top-10 ACC finishes led Georgia Tech indoor track and field to an impressive finish at the Charlie Thomas Invitational on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets finished third in the women’s competition (72 points), while the men’s team finished fourth overall (68 points).
“The women are getting better every week and that is a big positive,” head women’s coach Alan Drosky said. “The hurdlers continue to impress and the distance group had a big weekend. The sprint group is coming around and just need more consistency. We have a lot of potential in the jumps so we need to see some good things in the next few weeks. So all in all, this was a very productive weekend.”
“I’m very proud of the effort put out by our team members this weekend,” head men’s coach Grover Hinsdale said. “Starting with the DMR victory last night through the 4x400m relay tonight and everything in between, we had some outstanding performances. I was really looking for the guys to be sharper this weekend and it was obviously we were.”
Tech returns to action next weekend when it splits up into two meets Feb. 9-10. The Jackets will compete in Nashville, Tenn., at the Music City Challenge while also hitting Clemson, S.C., for the Tiger Paw Invitational.
Women’s Highlights
Jeanine Williams and Raven Stewart once again led the field of competitors in the 60m hurdles. Williams turned in a first-place time of 8.25 while Stewart finished second with a time of 8.30. Stewart’s personal-best performance gives her the fifth-fastest time in the ACC this season.
Freshman Nicole Fegans led four top-10 finishers in the mile, placing first with a personal-best time of 4:54.62. Amy Ruiz finished second with a season-best time of 4:54.74, while Hana Herndon recorded a personal-best 5:00.88 to finish sixth. Finishing 10th, Hailey Gollnick ran a 5:04.27 mile time.
Haley Anderson had a fine performance in the 800 meters, running a 2:13.51 to finish second overall. Meanwhile in the 3000 meters, Mary Prouty ran a fourth-place time of 9:53.24, while Ellen Flood finished 10th with a personal-best time of 10:17.18.
In the final event of the day, Tech’s 4×400 relay team of Denise Woode, Shannon Innis, Kendria Edouard and Lindsey Wheeler finished sixth with a time of 3:53.59.
Woode also set a new personal record in the 400 meters, finishing seventh overall with a time of 57.03, while in the women’s triple jump, Dasia Smith jumped to a mark of 10.81 meters, finishing ninth overall.
Brianna Hayden set a new personal record in the 200 meters, finishing 12 th overall with a time of 24.33. Hayden also finished in the top 10 of the 60m prelims, finishing 10th with a time of 7.68.
Men’s Highlights
Georgia Tech owned the men’s mile as well, having Frank Pittman run a personal-best (4:06.60 – first) time to lead six top-10 finishers. Nahom Solomon (4:07.48) and Alex Grady (4:09.46) also set personal records, finishing third and fourth, respectively. Finishing sixth was senior Matt Munns, who turned in a personal-best 4:10.58, while Andrew Kent (4:10.92) and Christian Bowles (4:13.67) finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
Avery Bartlett paced the field in the 800 meters, finishing first with a season-best time of 1:49.64 – good for second-fastest in the ACC this season. Andres Littig also finished in the top-10, turning in a seventh-place time of 1:53.11. Littig’s time places him fourth in the league this season.
In the 60m hurdles, Andreas Ward finished third with a 7.99 time. Meanwhile in the 4×400 relay, the Yellow Jackets’ team of Anthony Brooks, Daniel Pietsch, Lionel Jones and Benjamin Jean finished fifth with a time of 3:10.66. Their season-best time is also good for fourth-fastest in the ACC.
Tanner Shaw placed seventh with a time of 8:33.36 in the 3000 meters.
Pietsch also finished 10th in the 400 meters with a personal-best time of 47.87 – ranking seventh in the ACC this season. Jean finished just outside the top-10 (11th) in the meet, but recorded the ninth-fastest time in the conference at 48.03.
In the triple jump, Preston Smith placed fourth overall, leaping to a distance of 14.63 meters, while William Solomon gave Tech another top-5 finish, finishing fifth in the long jump with a 7.13 meters.
In the 60m prelims, Tyson Spears recorded a time of 6.95, finishing 10th.
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