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Once again, the Georgia Tech men's and women's track teams used the University of Florida indoor track as a forum for showcasing their talents as they dominated the tough competition in the Barnett Bank Invitational last Saturday.
With both men and women scoring points in almost every event entered, the Yellow Jackets proved that they can run and jump with the best.
The high-profile meet was highlighted by more of the same for senior sprint sensation Andria King. King led the Lady Jackets with first place finish. She earned ten points for the Jackets with her NCAA provisional qualifying time of 7.59 seconds in the 55 meter hurdles. King snagged yet another NCAA provisional qualification and a Tech school record with her outstanding 24.05 in the 200 meter dash.
Women's Coach Alan Drosky acknowledged the national attention King has garnered in light of her breakthrough performances this season: "Andria King continued her hot streak and established herself as a top-three hurdler in the country."
Sophomore Ayana Grant also turned out stellar performances in the 55 meter hurdles and the 200 meters. Grant posted two personal bests with times of 8.00 seconds in the hurdle event and 26.21 seconds in the dash.
Tech women placed well in the field events at the Invitational as well. Freshman Alisha McClinton led the jumpers with an impressive leap of 5.91 meters for third place in the long jump. Coming off several personal best performances in consecutive meets this season, sophomore Tishanna Worthy jumped another indoor personal best 11.92 meters for fourth place in the hotly-contested triple jump. Worthy was followed by teammate junior Shadana Patterson in fifth place with a leap of 11.89 meters.
The Tech women's distance runners also fared well at the Invitational. Senior Beth Mallory, 1995 ACC Indoor Mile Champion, once again dominated the mile with her third place time of 4:54 in the event. Although the Jackets do not compete next weekend as a team, Mallory will travel to an invitational in Indianapolis, Indiana, in hopes of improving her NCAA provisional qualifying time in the event.
Sophomore Tina Frey captured fifth place with a personal best time of 10:15 in the 3000 meter run.
Not unlike the Tech women, the Yellow Jacket men were led by some nationally- recognized runners of their own. Senior David Krummenacker turned out yet another record-breaking performance at the Invitational, this time competing in the mile run. Krummenacker smashed Alan Drosky's 11-year old school record in the event with a time of 3:58.62.
This mark ranks him second fastest in the country and automatically qualifies him for the NCAA Championships. Krummenacker's was the first sub-4:00 indoor mile ever run in the state of Florida.
"We're all proud of David's accomplishments," commented Drosky.
The 400 meters, a race wrought with tough competition, was commanded by a couple of Tech standouts. Sophomore Angelo Taylor won the race with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 46.90. Fellow Jacket senior Thomas Motiejunas qualified provisionally for the NCAAs behind Taylor with his third place time of 47.3. These two runners teamed up with sophomore Michael Johnson and senior Jonas Motiejunas to grab an impressive second place finish in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:11.82.
T. Motiejunas, Johnson, J. Motiejunas, and Taylor will run the relay once again next weekend in Boston in a tune-up race for the conference championships.
A notable performance on the distance event side was that of junior Brad Mills in the 5000 meter run. Mills completed the 25 grueling laps around the 200 meter track in a time of 15:04 to capture first place in the event. Freshman Philip Gable finished just two places behind Mills with a time of 15:10.
Men's head coach Grover Hinsdale was proud of the Yellow Jackets' performances this season and optimistic about the upcoming ACC Conference Championships.
"This team every week has gone to meets with a purpose and competed well. Everything from here on out will be focused on the conference meet," said Hinsdale.