Clemson Men’s Track And Field In First Place After Day Two Of ACC Championships

Feb. 18, 2005

Results

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Clemson men’s track and field team leads the ACC Championships after day two of competition. The Tigers have a league-high 58 points entering the final day of competition, leading defending ACC Champion Florida State by 18 points. North Carolina is currently third with 33 points to round out the top three teams. Clemson was paced by individual victories from George Kitchens and Itay Magidi, along with second-place finishes by Mitch Greeley, Brent Hobbs and Ronald Richards posted two provisional qualifying marks, one each in the 60m and 200m to finish as the top Tiger qualifier in both events. The Tigers also qualified 12 individuals for event finals on Saturday.

Kitchens and Magidi each claimed their first indoor ACC Championship honors in the long jump and 5000m run, respectively. Kitchens posted a season-best and provisional qualifying mark of 24’11.25″ to win Clemson its first ACC long jump title since 1989. With today’s championship, the senior from Hephzibah, GA, became only the second Tiger long jumper to win the ACC Indoor crown. Magidi won the 5000m with a time of 14:16.03 to claim his first ACC title. The sophomore from Yavne, Israel, is the first Clemson champion in the event since 1990, and the third Tiger to win a 5000m title at the ACC indoor meet.

Brent Hobbs earned All-ACC honors in the heptathlon for the second consecutive year, finishing as the runner-up with a provisional qualifying tally of 5,301 points. The junior from Stony Point, NY, posted a time of 8.15 in the 60m hurdles, then cleared 14’1.25″ in the pole vault. In the final event of the heptathlon, the 1000m, he recorded a time of 3:08.64. Teammates Ryan Koontz and Kyle Shaw scored for the Tigers and tied for sixth place overall with 4,821 points. Koontz crossed the finish line in 8.52 in the hurdles, then cleared 12’1.5″ in the pole vault. In the 1000m, he posted a time of 2:50.70. Shaw recorded a time of 8.53 in the 60m hurdles, and cleared 12’9.5″ in the pole vault. He finished the 1000m run with a time of 2:50.69.

On the track, three Tigers qualified for the finals of the 60m dash, led by Richards’ season-best and provisional qualifying time of 6.68. George Kitchens crossed the finish line in 6.86 to advance to Saturday’s finals. George Kitchens will join Richards in the finals. Hill posted a season-best time of 21.97, Ibeh recorded a 22.00 and Kitchens finished in 22.14. Brent Hobbs will join the final eight with a time of 8.07. Rashad Gardner ran a season-best of 8.30 and Scott Kautz posted a time of 8.38. As mentioned earlier, Magidi claimed the 5000m run, and teammate Matt Pimentel also competed in the 5000m, finishing with a time of 14:57.00. The Tigers’ distance medley relay team of Clay Pendleton, Acker, Brian Soder and Ryan Fenton placed ninth with a time of 10:21.62 in the final event of the day.

Mitch Greeley earned All-ACC honors in the pole vault with his second place finish. The freshman from Rock Hill, SC, cleared 16’4.75″ in his first ACC meet. In the long jump, the Tigers picked up additional points from Brent Hobbs finished 15th with a leap of 22’9.75″.

The ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships will conclude Saturday with the finals of the 60m dash, 200m dash, 400m dash, 3000m run, 60m hurdles, 4x400m relay, high jump, shot put and triple jump.

Men’s Standings (After 6 Events Scored) 1) Clemson, 58 2) Florida State, 40 3) North Carolina, 33 4) Virginia Tech, 31.50 5) Virginia, 20 6) NC State, 13.50 7) Wake Forest, 12 8) Maryland, 11 9) Georgia Tech, 8 10) Duke, 5 11) Miami, 2