Clemson Track & Field Travels to Durham, NC for ACC Outdoor Championships

April 20, 2011

2011 ACC Outdoor Championship Notes

ACC Championships Primer The Clemson track & field teams will travel to Durham, NC to compete in the 2011 ACC Outdoor Championships Thursday, April 21 through Saturday, April 23 at Duke University’s Wallace Wade Stadium.

The Tigers will travel 49 student-athletes to Durham, 25 from the women’s team and 24 from the men’s squad. The action gets underway Thursday at 10:00 AM with the women’s heptathlon, followed by a 10:30 start for the men’s decathlon. Clemson will field four athletes in the heptathlon and one in the decathlon, with both multi-event competitions finishing on Friday.

Webcast of the event will be available on TheACC.com from approximately 4-8 PM both Friday and Saturday.

Live results for the event will also be available on FlashResults.com.

Women Set to Defend ACC Crown Clemson kept the ACC championship trophy at home last spring, as the Tiger women won the 2010 team crown in the conference meet held at the school’s very own Rock Norman Track.

The Tigers claimed three event titles and also won the 4x100m relay. April Sinkler, the ACC’s Most Valuable Field Performer, won the high jump and long jump titles. Liane Weber claimed her first ACC crown in the heptathlon. The team of Michaylin Golladay, Stormy Kendrick, Kristine Scott and Jasmine Edgerson won the 4×1 on the final day of competition.

The victory gave Clemson an indoor-outdoor sweep in women’s track & field for the first time in their ACC history. Clemson had a comfortable 53-point win over second place Florida State.

The Clemson women successfully defended their 2010 indoor crown this February, gaining a big victory at Virginia Tech’s Rector Field House. A team championship this weekend would be the fourth straight for Clemson women’s track & field.

Johnson First Among Tiger Coaches Director of Track & Field Lawrence Johnson already has more ACC championships than any previous women’s track & field coach in Clemson history, despite the fact he has been with the program only since 2008.

Clemson began a full women’s track & field program in 1985-86. Wayne Coffman, now an academic advisor at Clemson’s Vickery Hall, won a pair of ACC titles as women’s coach from 1984-97. Ron Garner followed him and led the 1999 team to an outdoor crown.

Johnson is responsible for leading Clemson to half of its six ACC team championships in women’s track & field. He looks to add to that collection this week.

Clemson in National Computer Ratings The Clemson women’s team was rated No. 6 nationally in the preseason computer poll released March 22 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Tigers moved up one spot to fifth in the ratings on April 5, and remain in that position heading into the ACC Championships.

The men’s team has yet to earn a rating for the 2011 outdoor season, but finished the indoor season tied for 22nd at the NCAA Championships.

Welcome Back Clemson was without the services of three standout student-athletes during the 2011 indoor season, but the Tiger women’s team still managed to win the ACC championship for a third consecutive conference meet.

This outdoor season, Clemson has been at full strength after the return of Michaylin Golladay, Patricia Mamona and Liane Weber. All three red-shirted the 2009 season. They will be competing in their final ACC meet this weekend in Durham.

Golladay is coming off her top 100 hurdle effort of the young season. She ran a wind-aided 13.07 in the invitational section at the Texas Relays, good enough for a fourth-place showing. Last year, Golladay ran lead leg for the Tigers’ ACC championship 4x100m relay.

Mamona, the defending NCAA champion in the triple jump, looks to earn her first ACC crown this weekend. She jumped 45’4.25″ from a shorter approach at the Texas Relays two weeks ago.

Weber had her most productive meet since returning from a tendon injury two weeks ago in Athens, GA. She jumped 19’4.25″ in the long jump and matched a personal best with a time of 13.94 in the 100 hurdles. Weber is the defending ACC champion in the heptathlon.

Moss Seeks First Decathlon Crown Clemson graduate Miller Moss is having the senior season he envisioned, but he would like nothing more than to complete it with an ACC and NCAA title in the decathlon.

His first attempt comes this weekend. Moss, the reigning NCAA heptathlon champion, has been the ACC’s runner-up two times in the decathlon (2008, 2010). He was consistent last season in the grinding 10-event competition, but he will try and take the next step this week in Durham.

Moss’ personal best in the event is 7,628 points, which he achieved last April at the ACC meet. Clemson’s most recent ACC decathlon winner was Ryan Koontz in 2006.