October 3, 1998
ATLANTA - Georgia Tech's men's and women's cross country teams successfully defended their Division I titles at the Georgia Intercollegiate Championships on Saturday at the Georgia Regional Hospital grounds. Yellow Jackets Becky Megesi (Jonesboro, Ga.) and Joe Stegall (Ryder, Ga.) both captured individual Division I championships to lead the way.
Tech's men's team won its third consecutive championship and eighth in the last nine years. The Jackets also captured their 19th team title since 1966 by taking first place and the third through ninth places. Stegall, a sophomore, completed the 8,000-meter run in 25:11. Finishing third was Phillip Gable (Kennesaw, Ga.) in 25:28, Joey Zins (Atlanta, Ga.) was fourth in 25:51, Kevin Betts (Eufaula, Ga.) was fifth in 25:54 and Brad Mills (Toledo, Ohio) was sixth in 25:58 to round out the Yellow Jacket scoring. Todd Gandee (Peachtree City, Ga.), Michael Niederhausen (Peachtree City, Ga.) and Brian Hetherington (Gaithersburg, Md.) were seventh through ninth, respectively.
The Yellow Jackets' women's team won its third consecutive title and was lead by Megesi, a junior from Jonesboro, Ga., who finished the 5,000-meter run in 17:56 to capture the win. Senior Judy Johnson (Snellville, Ga.) was third in a time of 18:15, sophomore Carolyn Krieger (Marietta, Ga.) was fifth in a time of 19:01, junior Tina Frey (Peachtree City, Ga.) was sixth in a time of 19:09 and redshirt-freshman Rachael Caruso (Duluth, Ga.) was 10th in a time of 19:40.
