Clemson Invitational Cross Country Meet Scheduled For Saturday, October 18

Oct. 16, 2003

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The Clemson men’s and women’s cross country teams will host the 2003 Clemson Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 18, on the campus of the University. The races are scheduled to begin and end in the grassy area in front of the new indoor track and field facility. The women’s 5K race will commence at 8:45 AM, followed by the men’s 8K competition at 9:15 AM. Following the collegiate races, four varsity and junior varsity high school races are slated to begin at 10:15 AM.

This year’s collegiate field includes men’s and women’s teams from Appalachian State, Charleston Southern, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Lees-McRae, South Carolina State and Western Carolina. East Tennessee State, Georgia Southern and South Carolina will field women’s teams only, while Morehouse will compete in the men’s race. The Clemson Invitational will also serve as the South Carolina Collegiate Championships. On the women’s side, Clemson, Charleston Southern, South Carolina and South Carolina State will compete for the state title, while Clemson, Charleston Southern and South Carolina State will vie for the South Carolina Championship. In 2002, the Clemson men won the Clemson Invitational and the South Carolina Collegiate Championships, while the women placed second in the South Carolina Collegiate Championships and fifth in the Clemson Invitational. Clemson’s Casey Phillips, Laura Ann Rukat and Jennifer Barton earned all-state honors on the women’s side, while Scott Shaw, Derrick Wyatt and Ryan Fenton were all-state honorees for the men. Alabama’s Tim Broe set the men’s 8K record of 24:17 on Oct. 18, 1997, and Donna Garcia holds the women’s 5K record of 16:39, also set on Oct. 18, 1997.

In conjunction with the collegiate races, Clemson will host a 24-team high school meet, with teams from Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina competing on Saturday. Last year, Walton High School swept the Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity races. The varsity boys’ race is scheduled for 10:15, followed by the varsity girls’ race at 10:45 AM. At 11:15, the junior varsity boys will take to the course, and the junior varsity girls will compete at 11:45 AM. Teams competing in this year’s high school races include: Battery Creek HS (Beaufort, SC), Beaufort HS (Beaufort, SC), Central Gwinnett HS (Lawrenceville, GA), Daniel HS (Central, SC), Eastside HS (Taylors, SC), Fort Mill HS (Fort Mill, SC), Greenwood HS (Greenwood, SC), Irmo HS (Columbia, SC), James Island HS (Charleston, SC), LaGrange HS (LaGrange, GA), Liberty HS (Liberty, SC), Mauldin HS (Mauldin, SC), McEachern HS (Powder Springs, GA), Murphy HS (Murphy, NC), Ninety-Six HS (Ninety-Six, SC), Pope HS (Marietta, GA), Seneca HS (Seneca, SC), Sprayberry HS (Marietta, GA), Stephenson HS (Stone Mountain, GA), Tamassee-Salem HS (Salem, SC), T.L. Hanna HS (Anderson, SC), Walton HS (Marietta, GA), Wando HS (Mt. Pleasant, SC), West Oak HS (Westminster, SC), Westside HS (Anderson, SC), Wren HS (Piedmont, SC).