University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Track and Field at Georgia Tech on Friday & Saturday
03.26.2015 | Track and Field
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's and women's track team will have its second outdoor meet this weekend when the Bulldogs travel to Atlanta to take part in the Yellow Jacket Invitational at Georgia Tech.
Both teams were originally supposed to go to the Raleigh Relays this weekend but have decided to go to Georgia Tech instead for this meet.
“We're looking forward to competing at Georgia Tech this weekend,” stated Bulldog coach Jesse Norman. “We had some good results last weekend in our first meet of the year and hopefully we can build on that success this weekend.”
Action begins Friday at 8:30 p.m. with the men's and women's 5,000 meters race. On Saturday, field events begin at 10:30 a.m. with running events starting at 12:30 p.m.
Asheville opened the season last weekend at Charlotte at the 49er Invitational and posted some solid results.
In the women's 800-meter finals, the Bulldogs saw five runners place within 26 seconds of the top pace, as Alyssa Lashway (11th, 2:17.94) and Kelsie Rubino (17th, 2:20.24) each finished less than ten seconds off the winner's pace. Lashway's time gave her a new personal-best time in the event.
The men's 800-meter finals featured seven Asheville runners, all within 17 seconds of the top pace. Patrick Osborne (11th, 1:56.09) and Chase Stevens (22nd, 1:57.39) both finished less than five seconds off the winner's pace. The finishes by Osborne and Stevens gave both new personal-best times in the event. Jacob Fink (2:08.80) finished first in his 800-meter heat.
Both Bulldog 4x400-meter relay teams also posted excellent times on Saturday. The Asheville men's 4x400-meter team of Sergeneno Rankin, Chase Stevens, Jason Perry and Osborne posted a time of 3:24.27 to finish fourth in the third heat, giving them a 12th place finish overall in the event. The pace was the third-fastest all-time in UNC Asheville history in the 4x400-meters.
Kassandra Pierre finished less than two seconds off the pace in the 400-meter hurdles with her time of 1:02.33, a time that finishes just off the Asheville record in the event. She finished in third place in the event against a strong field.
The women's team of Zoe Hickey, Anna Gelbach, Pierre and Lashway posted a time of 4:01.43 to finish third in the second heat, giving them ninth place overall in the event.
