Yellow Jacket Roundup: Runs Tallahassee Ragged

I’d say there are few surprises this week, but, well, there actually might be a couple of interesting results. In the meantime, we’ll talk cross country, plug the home opener for volleyball, and hit some of our usual haunts like Tech general news and COVID numbers.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA— First, I’d like to apologize to all of the Falcons fans for my lack of content warning last week. Fortunately, the Falcons don’t roll out their special befuddling brand of football until tonight, so we’re all spared the trauma of reading about National Football League tragedy in our Georgia Tech non-revenue sports news update.

Much as I’ve taken to broadening my non-revenue chops from the world of swimming and the bats-hitting-balls sports in terms of “practice what you preach” via playing tennis during quarantine, today I found myself on the links at Candler Park for the second time. It was not easy.

I would also say it helps put things I’ve had to write in better perspective. So there’s that.

On with the column.

Last Week on the Flats:

Schedule via RamblinWreck.com, Compiled by Jake Grant

Cross Country:

I’ll admit, I was slow to believe the quality of the men’s team after their showing against a smaller field a few weeks back in Gainesville. However, they have commanded our attention now. Led by a stellar second place overall finish in the 8000m by senior Andrew Kent, the men really appear to be on the up-and-up, especially when this meet is put into context. Tech was running against some of the best teams in the SEC and ACC, so notching wins over eight conference and regional major schools is always something that is worth talking about. Additionally, the majority of the scoring was done by Tech’s depth of underclassmen, as they once again saw three freshmen score, all of whom were in the top 20 in the race. I’d say that’s another good weekend in the books for them.

As for the women, they did alright. A third place finish against the same type of field the men were up against is a respectable showing. However, I would be inclined to believe they could score better, had star senior Nicole Fegans run/finished the race. She was marked as a DNF on the score sheet - not really sure what happened there. However, it was encouraging to see Tech’s third place finish buoyed by their depth, as all of the scoring Jackets placed from 13th to 26th. Not only that, but their scorers were evenly distributed between the four classes, with the juniors doubling up between Liz Galarza and MK Knott.

All in all, one of the more solid weekends we’ve seen from the two teams since I’ve started this column.

Around Campus:

Numbers via Georgia Tech, Analysis by Jake Grant

Best of the Week:

1. Advanced Stats Check In
2. Tuesday Thoughts
3. Mailbag 9/30

This Week on the Flats:

Schedule via RamblinWreck.com, compiled by Jake Grant

Quick Hitters:

Tech’s got live sports on the Flats Wednesday through Friday this week. Almost feels unreal. Obviously, you should watch football under the lights at Bobby Dodd on Friday, but you should also pick up a volleyball game, as well. If you have to pick one, the Wednesday 6:00 PM game on ACC Network is probably most conducive to your work schedule. Go Jackets.

Poll of the Week: