Clemson Men’s Track And Field Team Completes Day One At East Region Championships

May 27, 2005

RANDALLS ISLAND, NY – The Clemson men’s track and field team completed competition at day one of the NCAA East Region Championships held Friday at Icahn Stadium in Randalls Island, NY. The Tigers were led by Ronald Richards, as he qualified for three event finals to be contested on Saturday. Other Clemson qualifiers included the 4x100m relay team and Scott Kautz in the 400m hurdles.

In Friday’s finals, George Kitchens became the first Tiger NCAA qualifier. The senior from Hephzibah, GA, finished third in the long jump to automatically qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. His mark of 24’11” was his second-best leap of the year and was good for his third consecutive appearance at the national outdoor meet.

Derek Gilson and Derek Gilson posted marks of 158’0″ and 160’2″ in the discus throw competition. A senior from Red Bank, NJ, Gilson completed the competition in 17th place. He concludes his Clemson career ranked fourth on the all-time list in the discus with a lifetime-best mark of 170’10”. Gilson also ranks third on the career list in the shot put with a mark of 58’3.75″.

In the high jump competition, Adam Linkenauger cleared 6’9″ on his first attempt at that height, but could not clear the next bar set at 6’11”. The sophomore from Fincastle, VA, finished in a tie for 10th in his second regional appearance. Linkenauger was the ACC Champion in the high jump with a season-best mark of 7’1″, but suffered an injury the following weekend at the Penn Relays that hampered his training and competition efforts for the remainder of the outdoor season.

In the first running event of the day, the 4x100m relay team of Ronald Richards and George Kitchens got the meet started on the track for Clemson. Starting out of lane seven, Cheney handed off to Bolling in third place, and Bolling maintained that order heading into the second hand-off. Richards held third for Clemson, then Kitchens ran a strong 100m to help give Clemson its second-place finish in the heat on the anchor leg. Clemson posted its second-fastest time of the season, crossing the finish line in 40.27 to qualify for Saturday’s finals. The Tigers enter the finals with the seventh-fastest time and will start in lane two.

Roy Cheney represented the Tigers in the 110m hurdles. Perry clocked a season-best time of 14.01 to place third in his heat. Cheney, a junior from Grovetown, GA, crossed the finish line in 14.26, off his season-best time of 13.95.

Running out of lane five, Ronald Richards automatically advanced to the finals of the 100m as the heat winner. The senior from Alexandria, VA, crossed the finish line in 10.30, only six-hundredths off his season-best time of 10.24. His time was the third-fastest posted in the 100m preliminaries. In his third race of the day, the 200m dash preliminaries, Richards again won his heat with a time of 20.83. It was his second-fastest performance of the year and the fourth-best time recorded in the event on Friday.

Scott Kautz was an automatic qualifier for Saturday’s 400m hurdles finals. The junior from Charleston, WV, won his heat with a time of 51.00, the second-fastest time he has recorded this year, as well as the fifth-fastest time of the day. Joining Kautz in the preliminaries of the intermediate hurdles were Michael Bolling and Rashad Gardner. Bolling, a senior from Willingboro, NJ, was third in his heat with a time of 52.38. A junior from Chesapeake, VA, Gardner crossed the finish line in 52.44 to finish fourth in his heat.

Clemson NCAA Outdoor Championships Qualifiers George Kitchens (long jump)

Clemson Qualifiers For Saturday’s Finals 100m dash – Ronald Richards 200m – Ronald Richards 4x100m relay – Ronald Richards, George Kitchens 400m hurdles – Scott Kautz

Clemson Results 100m – Ronald Richards (q) – 10.30 200m – Ronald Richards (q) – 20.83 110m hurdles – Roy Cheney (p) – 14.26 400m hurdles – Scott Kautz (q) – 51.00; Michael Bolling (p) – 52.38; Rashad Gardner (p) – 52.44 4x100m relay – Cheney, Bolling, Richards, Kitchens (q) – 40.27 High Jump – Adam Linkenauger (T10) – 6’9″/2.06m Long Jump – George Kitchens (3) – 24’11″/7.59m Discus Throw – Derek Gilson (17) – 160’2″/48.82