By: by Scott Lipsky
Full Results
ATLANTA- It was a day worth remembering for the Kennesaw State Owls men’s track team, as they rode eight event wins and three program records to impressive victories over Georgia Tech and Clemson in a two-way dual meet at Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon.
The Owls, who were competing in their first and only dual meet of the outdoor season, and were competing for the final time before the Atlantic Sun Conference Outdoor Championships, defeated Clemson by a score of 113.5 to 73.50, and bettered Georgia Tech by a 102.00 to 90.00 count.
Freshman Travis Benton solidified his freshman season with the Owls as one where he made his mark on program lore, setting new school records in the 100 and 200 Meter events with times of 10.58 and 21.74 seconds to finish first and second, respectively.
Also setting a new school record was the 4x100 team of Jemir Martinez, Benton, Antonio Logan and Frank Minton, who had held the 100 Meter school record going into Saturday before Benton’s performance. The squad ran the race in a time of 40.68 seconds, bettering their old best time of 40.95 seconds, which they achieved last month at the Florida Relays. They were able to edge out a Georgia Tech squad that featured top ACC athlete Alphonso Jordan by a handy .65 seconds. The time puts them closer to the coveted top-24 spot that they will need in the NCAA East Region in order to qualify for the NCAA East Region Championships, which take place in Greensboro, N.C. beginning May 27.
Hurdler Tremaine Grant also had a great day in his events. The freshman finished third and second in the 110 Meter and 400 Meter Hurdles, respectively, with times of 14.32 and 54.12 seconds, finishing right behind Owls teammate Josh James in the 400 Meter Hurdles, who won the race with a time of 52.99 seconds to come close to the 52.92 second time that would have put him in the top-48 in the East region for the time being. In the 110 Meter Hurdles, Grant came in right behind sophomore teammate Kendall Parks, who posted a time of 14.13 seconds in the event.
Freshman Nabil Hamid and junior Nathan Haskins also finished one and two in their event, pulling off the feat in the 3000 Meters with respective times of 8:31.37 and 8:32.13. The race was as close as it says on the score sheet, with the two going neck and neck during the stretch run before Hamid was able to pull out in front right at the end to win the race.
Perhaps most exciting was the day’s final race, the 4x400 Meters, which featured a thrilling finish highlighted by Kennesaw State sophomore Daniel Grass hustling all the way to the finish to pull out a tight victory for his squad with a time of 3:13.79 to beat Georgia Tech’s ‘A’ team by less than a second. Running in one of the outside lanes, Grass turned on the jets during his anchor leg of the event to just edge out Yellow Jacket Antonio McKay, Jr., to ensure victory.
The field events were represented by Owls extremely well, as seniors Jerome McKinzie, Josh McNair and Blake Lenane were all victorious in their events. McKinzie, who currently sits 19th in the region in the High Jump, won that event with a top leap of 2.10 meters (6’10.75”), falling just a little short of his season best 2.13 meters. McNair won the Discus Throw with a 46.46 meter effort (152’5”) and paired that with a runner-up performance in the Shot Put with a top toss of 15.94 meters (52’3.75”). Lenane, for his part, won the Javelin with a throw of 47.52 meters (155’11”).
Overall, the Owls notched 22 top-three finishes on the day. They hope to take the vibes from Saturday with them when they travel to North Florida on May 14 for the A-Sun Championships.
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Jemir Martinez discusses his performance at Georgia Tech |
Head Coach Don McGarey discusses his team's performance at Georgia Tech on Saturday
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