Cross country teams struggle at the ACC Championships

Cross country teams struggle at the ACC Championships

By Larry Memberg
Don't diss my family name
ATLANTA
November 6, 1998

The ACC Championships came and went for the men's and women's cross country teams, but unfortunately the Yellow Jackets missed their opportunity to gain some ground in the conference. Coach Alan Drosky anticipated Tech's chance to improve upon last year's seventh place finishes, but this year both the men's and women's squads ran to the same result.

Finishing in the latter half of a meet was new territory for the Jackets this season. The women's team went into the ACC Championships enjoying a three-meet winning streak, and the men had won two titles in their last three competitions. However, the Jackets weren't able to keep their dominance going. The Jackets placed seventh out of the ACC's nine schools, with the men scoring 201 points, and the women tallying 207.

"Let's look at the guys' results," said Drosky. "The difference between our first and third runner was about 1:24. For most of the season, we've had 10 guys within one minute."

Sophomore Joe Stegall led the men's team with a time of 25:29.8 in the 8 K race to place 18th overall. He was followed by senior Brad Mills (26:23.3) in 37th place and sophomore Todd Gandee at 47th overall.

For the first time this season, the women's top finisher was senior Judy Johnson. She ran the 5 K course in 18:21.2, the 22nd best time overall. Sophomore Carolyn Kreiger and junior Becky Megesi came in right next to each other at 45th and 46th places.

"I'm disappointed," said Drosky. "It certainly wasn't the performance I was expecting."

Tech won most of its meets easily, but their early season contests contained no ACC opponents.

Drosky feels that this lower level of competition affected Tech's readiness for the ACC meet.

"I think that's a big part of it. Looking at it now, it's definitely something we'll address next year. We need to face more ACC teams."

In fact, Tech expected to compete against Clemson and Wake Forest at the traditionally strong Furman Invitational on October 10. However, the two schools opted to participate in the NCAA Preview Meet, held on the same day in Lawrence, Kansas. Both Clemson and Wake finished ahead of Tech at the ACC Championships last Monday.

The cross country season is far from over. Tech still has the chance to qualify for the national championship at the NCAA District 9 Championships.

"I definitely don't view the season as ruined," said Drosky. "We made a lot of improvements, you just don't get another chance until one year later. One day goes a long way to how you think about the season."

Now Drosky is very anxious for the District meet, coming up next Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama. The men's and women's teams will hopefully bounce back from their disappointing seventh-place finishes and run well at District.

Tech did the same thing in 1997. They finished low in the ACC, but rebounded with a strong performance at the District meet.

Drosky and his crew will keep on training in an effort to break back into the top five in District 9. At this point in the season, they're cutting down on the number of miles run in a week. More emphasis is being put on tapering skills and resting. The men, who normally run 90 miles a week, will tone it down to 50 miles a week, while the women will lower their total to 40 miles a week from 65 miles a week.

"It's going to take a great race from all of them. You have to have an emotional attachment to the race,"stated Drosky.

The ACC Championships were the first time in 1998 that the men finished below third or the women's team placed lower than fourth, so the Jacket runners are eager to prove themselves again. They'll get their second chance, when Tech fights to add another title to this season's collection.

Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board

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