Clemson Closes Out First Day of Action at NCAA East Preliminary Round

May 24, 2012

CLEMSON, SC – Marlena Wesh ran the fastest time of the qualifying round for the women’s 400 dash to lead Clemson’s efforts on day one of the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, FL. In all, 10 Tiger men and women advanced to the next round of qualifying in their bids to make it to Des Moines, IA for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Warren Fraser had the fifth-best time in the men’s 100 dash preliminary round at 10.33, advancing to Friday’s 6:30 PM quarterfinal. He will compete alongside teammate Justin Murdock, who ran a 10.48 in the same qualifying heat Thursday. He moved on based on time and was 13th fastest.

Three females moved on to quarterfinals in the women’s 100 dash. Jasmine Edgerson had the best time of the three, who all faced a headwind, despite moving on based on time. She ran 11.66, while Monique Gracia (11.69) and Dezerea Bryant (11.77) advanced by placing the top three of their respective heats.

Wesh won the fourth qualifying heat of the women’s 400-meter dash Thursday. She posted a time of 52.46 to win comfortably and move on to Friday’s 6:15 PM quarterfinal, where she will be joined by Brittany Pringley. The red-shirt sophomore from Miami, FL qualified on time after crossing the finish line in 54.06 in his section.

Chris Slate advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal round in the men’s 800 meters. He was one of three Tigers in the event, and moved on by virtue of a third-place finish in the fifth heat. He posted a time of 1:49.62, the ninth-best time of the evening.

Keni Harrison and Sonni Austin both moved on to Friday’s quarterfinals (7:45 PM) in the women’s 400 hurdles. Harrison cruised to victory in the first heat, winning with a time of 57.51, the second-fastest time of the first round. Austin (59.56) advanced on time, and is bidding to make it to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for a second straight season.

Kim Ruck took the lead about four laps into the women’s 10K and held it through the first third of the race, and then remained in the top five of the lead pack over the middle third as well. In the final 3K, she fell to a finishing position of 15th, just three positions shy of the automatic berth to Des Moines. Ruck is scheduled for the 5K on Saturday.

April Sinkler finished 19th in the long jump (19’11”) and did not earn three additional attempts after placing outside the top 16 in the prelims. She will have a chance to earn a bid to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump Friday and triple jump on Saturday.

Day two gets started at 11:00 AM with Christy Gasparino in the women’s pole vault. The first running event will be the qualifying round of the men’s 110 hurdles at 5:00 PM.