Weber Notches Third ACC Pentathlon Title, Provides Strong Start for Women’s Track & Field at ACC Indoors

Feb. 25, 2010

BLACKSBURG, VA – Liane Weber got the women’s track & field team off to a strong start at the 2010 ACC Indoor Championships by winning her third pentathlon crown in four years on Thursday. In the heptathlon, Clemson’s Miller Moss leads through four of the seven events, with a total of 3,108 points. The final three events are scheduled for Friday.

Weber is the first female from Clemson to win the same indoor event at the ACC Championships three times since Jamine Moton won the shot put in 1999, 2001 and 2002. In doing so, Weber broke her own meet and conference record with an impressive total of 4,262 points. That point value also earned Weber automatic qualifying status for next month’s NCAA Indoor Championships.

“All season long we’ve kind of planned for this to be Liane’s first pentathlon,” said Lawrence Johnson, Clemson’s Director of Track & Field. “Last year we opened up a little earlier. But this year, we were much more confident in her training. She came in with the mindset of winning every event in the contest, and she came pretty close. I’m extremely proud of the way she performed today.”

Weber began defense of her crown with a season-best time of 8.57 in the 60 hurdles. She followed with a personal indoor best in the high jump, clearing 5’8″ on the second attempt. Weber finished strong in the shot put, putting forth her best effort on the final throw of the afternoon at 40’5″. It was yet another personal best for the senior from Wangen, Germany.

In the long jump, Weber had by far the top mark amongst the field with a distance of 19’5.25″. She then finished well after posting the third-fastest time in the 800 meters at 2:17.23.

Karine Farias finished fifth for the women’s team Thursday, earning four points for Clemson. She had a total of 3,709 points. She showed good recovery after a slow start in the hurdles. The freshman from Porto Alegre, Brazil was solid in the shot put at 37’5″ and in the long jump with a mark of 18’2.5″. Farias was solid in the final event, the 800 meter run. She posted a time of 2:24.76.

Linda Buchholz finished 10th (3,574 points) for Clemson on Thursday. After a slow start in the 60 hurdles, she boosted herself into contention with a 5’8″ clearance in the high jump. She then followed with strong marks in the shot put (39’7.25″) and long jump (18’7″) before struggling in the 800 meters (2:53.52).

In the heptathlon, Moss clocked the fastest time of the day in the 60m dash (6.97) to get things started. He was third in the field with a 22’9″ long jump, then second-best of the competitors in the shot put (43’2.5″). Moss cleared 6’4″ in the high jump, allowing him to hang onto the lead after day one at the league indoor meet.

Moss is bidding to become Clemson’s first ACC champion in the heptathlon since former All-American Ryan Koontz took the honors in 2006. Moss broke Koontz’ school record in the multi-event competition earlier this season. The final three events will be held Friday, beginning with the 60 hurdles at 12:00 PM.

“Miller is more focused than I’ve seen him in a long time,” Johnson said. “He’s competing against a great field. You’ve got the NCAA indoor champion in Gonzalo (Barroilhet) from Florida State, and a couple of other great guys behind him. He’s stepping up. He hasn’t established any personal bests yet, but he’s been really solid across the board.”

Preliminaries for the track events, as well as finals for multiple field events, get underway on Friday. Live coverage of the meet will be streamed on TheACC.com beginning at 3 PM and lasting through the duration of the day’s events.