2012 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championship – Clemson Notes

April 22, 2012

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Team Notes • The Clemson women’s track & field team earned its third straight indoor/outdoor sweep of the ACC Championships. It marks the first time any ACC school swept three consecutive track & field team championships since the North Carolina women accomplished the feat from 1996-98. • Clemson’s victory was the school’s sixth straight ACC championship, the longest streak by any conference program since North Carolina won 14 straight from the 1992 outdoor meet through the 1999 indoor season. • The women’s streak of six ACC championships in a row is the second longest in Clemson track & field history, trailing only the seven straight won by men’s program from the 1989 indoor meet through the 1992 indoor season. • The Tiger women won by an 85-point margin (185-100) over runner-up Virginia, making it the largest margin of victory at the ACC Outdoor Championships since 1994. • Clemson’s women won nine out of 21 events, the program’s second-highest number of winners. The 2001 team had nine individual champions and both relays for a total of 11. • With the women’s championship, Director of Track & Field Lawrence Johnson is now second in ACC history with three outdoor championships as a head coach. Dennis Craddock, North Carolina’s legendary head coach who was honored Saturday due to his upcoming retirement, is the all-time leader with 17. • The women’s 4×100-meter relay won for a third consecutive season, the longest streak in the ACC since Georgia Tech won from 2005-07. • The 4×1 team won Saturday with an ACC Championships meet record time of 43.58. • The women’s 4×400-meter relay won its first ACC crown since the 2005 team of Silja Ulfarsdottir, Randi Hinton, Tia Perry.

Women’s Individual Notes • April Sinkler was named the ACC’s Most Valuable Field Performer, her sixth career MVP honor. That is two more than any other student-athlete in Clemson women’s track & field history. • Sinkler won the high jump Saturday, her third straight outdoor title in the event. She is the first ACC athlete to win three women’s high jump titles at the ACC Outdoor Championships since former Georgia Tech star Chaunte Howard. • Sinkler concluded her Clemson career with eight ACC individual titles, third-most in school history. Only Kim Graham (10), both members of the Clemson Hall of Fame, had more. • Sinkler was All-ACC in three events this weekend, giving her a total of 14 for her career. That also ranks third in school history behind Graham and Moton. • Marlena Wesh was named the ACC’s Most Valuable Track Performer, her first career MVP honor. She won the 400-meter dash and was a member of both victorious relays. • Wesh broke the all-time ACC record in the women’s 400 with a time of 51.43 in Saturday’s final. The previous record of 51.44 was held by 1996 winner Monique Hennegan. • In just two years at Clemson, Wesh has four individual ACC titles and a total of seven overall, including relays. • Dezerea Bryant swept the short sprints for a second time in 2012, as she won the 100 and 200 on Saturday. She also won the 60 and 200 at the indoor league meet in February. She is the first athlete to sweep all four short sprints in the same season since Miami’s Murielle Ahoure in 2009. • Bridgette Owens’ victory in the 100 hurdles was her first individual ACC title, and it was also Clemson’s first in that event since Kyana Elder won it in 2001. • Keni Harrison’s victory in the 400 hurdles was her first individual ACC title, and it was also Clemson’s first in that event since Michelle Burgher won it in 2001. • Alyssa Kulik won the first 3000-meter steeplechase ACC title in Clemson history on Friday, and did so in record-setting fashion. It was a meet, facility and Clemson record time of 9:52.90. • Jasmine Edgerson was ACC runner-up in the 100 and a member of the winning 4×1. She is the only athlete to run in each of the three consecutive ACC championship 4×100 relays for Clemson. • Edgerson now has a total of 10 All-ACC accolades in her career, one of just 12 females in Clemson history with double digit honors. • Whitney Fountain is three-for-three in earning All-ACC honors in her young career. The red-shirt freshman is a two-time all-conference performer in the pentathlon, and on Friday earned her first All-ACC accolade in her first collegiate heptathlon. • Christy Gasparino earned her first All-ACC honor with a third-place finish in the pole vault. • Three females combined to produce five “A” standard U.S. Olympic Trial qualifying performances. Dezerea Bryant achieved it in the 100 and 200, Marlena Wesh in the 200 and 400, and Alyssa Kulik in the steeplechase.

Men’s Individual Notes • Spencer Adams was ACC runner-up in both hurdle events, earning all-conference in both for the second time (2010) in his career. • Adams ran personal bests in both events, including an “A” standard U.S. Olympic Trial qualifying 13.39 in the 110 hurdles. • Adams’ time in the 110 hurdles ranks second in Clemson history to Duane Ross’ 13.32 in 1995. • Adams has a total of seven career All-ACC honors, matching him with the likes of former Tiger greats Ronald Richards. • Chris Slate earned his fourth consecutive All-ACC accolade in the 800 meters. He is the first men’s athlete at Clemson to accomplish that feat since Davidson Gill in 1998-99. • Slate hit a U.S. Olympic Trial “B” standard qualifying time with a 1:48.30 in Saturday’s 800 final. • Marcus Maxey earned All-ACC honors in the high hurdles both indoor and outdoor in 2012, the first two all-conference accolades of his career. • Maxey (13.83) and Charlton Rolle (13.91) both hit a U.S. Olympic Trial “B” standard qualifying time in Saturday’s 110 hurdles final. • Shai Carpenter further extended his Clemson freshman record in the triple jump with a mark of 15.75 meters, or 51’8.25″. He has surpassed the qualifying standard for the USA Junior Championships in the event. • Marcus Brown was fifth in the men’s shot put with a throw of 56’9.5″, the sixth-best performance in Clemson men’s outdoor history.