Clemson Women’s Track and Field Adds 12 to 2001 Roster

Sept. 6, 2001

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson women’s track and field team has added 12 student-athletes to its 2001-02 roster, head coach Marcia Noad announced today. Of the 12 signees, seven have claimed state championships in their respective events.

A freshman from Little Rock, AR, Antisha Anderson will compete in the multi-events for the Lady Tigers. Anderson was named the 2000 Gatorade Athlete of the Year and earned the AAU’s Joel Ferrell Outstanding Performance Award in 2000 and 2001 for her performances in multi-events. She also received Arkansas State Female Athlete of the Year honors from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazettte, and owns the most state track titles in Arkansas history with 29. She is also a four-time AAU National heptahlon champion. Anderson holds the state heptathlon record as well as the 300m hurdle record with a personal best time of 43.74. Anderson holds the Class AAA state record in the high jump, 55m hurdles and 200m hurdles as well as the Class AAAA state record in the 55m hurdles and 200m.

A native of Birmingham, AL, Ann Cade will compete in cross country and the distance events for Clemson. While at Mountain Brook High School, Cade helped lead the cross country team to 1998 and 2001 state championships, and the team finished as the state runner ups in 1999 and 2000. She also helped the indoor track team to state titles in 1998, 2000 and 2001. The outdoor track and field team finished second in 2001 at the state meet.

Shannon Day, a freshman from Marietta, GA, will compete in cross country and the distance events. At Alan C. Pope High School, Day received the 2000 most outstanding athletic and academic performance award for cross country. She also lettered in cross country, track and tennis.

A freshman from Powder Springs, GA, Marquita Dortch will compete in the hurdles for the Lady Tigers. Dortch is the 2001 region and state MVP and was nationally ranked in the 55m hurdles, 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles. She claimed the 2001 LSU 55m hurdles indoor championship and won the 100m hurdles at the 2001 GATFXC Coaches’ Invitational. Dortch also competed as a member of a nationally-ranked 4x100m relay team and won the 2000 region championship in the 100m hurdles.

Gisele de Oliveira, a freshman from Porto Alegre, R.S., will compete in the jumps for Clemson. De Oliveira was a member of the adult Brazilian team in 1999 and 2000 after competing as a member of the junior Brazilian team from 1997-1999. She was the Junior Pan American runner up in the triple jump in 1999 and placed third in the Junior Pan American games in the long jump in 1999. De Oliveira claimed the Junior South American championship in the triple jump in 1998 and 1999 and is a three-time Junior South American Champion in the long jump (1997-1999). She also finished 13th in the World Junior Championships in the long jump in 1998.

A junior from New Haven, CT, Keshia Haughton will compete in the hurdles and multi-events for the Lady Tigers. A transfer from Barton County Community College, she helped lead Barton County to two national championships and several region titles. As an individual, Haughton finished third at the indoor junior college national championship in the multi-events after taking second in the regionals. A 1999 graduate of James Hillhouse High School, she was ranked second in the nation in the 100m hurdles and set the state and New England records in that event. An all-state, all-area and all-star team member, Haughton also finished as the runner up in the multi-events as a senior in high school.

Randi Hinton, a freshman from Baton Rouge, LA, will compete in the sprints for the Lady Tigers. She was named to the all-district teams in 1997-2001 and was named a 2001 all-state and all-parish track team member. Hinton won the 2001 100m and 200m individual state championships, and helped her high school to the team state championship title. She was also a member of the state championship 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams.

A freshman from Hightstown, NJ, Jacqueline Hudgins will compete in the throws for Clemson in 2001-02. She finished fourth in the shot put at the 2001 Nike All-American Track and Field Indoor meet and was second in the shot put at the 2001 Adidas Track and Field Championships. She also recorded the 10th-best throw among high school student-athletes in 2001. Hudgins was the 2001 New Jersey state champion in the shot put, and was named the MVP of the 2001 Girls Outdoor Eastern States Championships after winning the shot put. She finished fifth in the shot put at the 2000 Penn Relays and was named the 2000-2001 Outstanding Athlete for Hightstown High School Female Athlete of the Year.

A native of Lansdale, PA, freshman Erica Jaros will compete in the high jump for the Tigers. She was named the 1999 and 2000 indoor high school team MVP and also earned honorable mention all-league outdoor honors in 1999 and 2000. Jaros holds the North Penn indoor high jump record (5’3″) and set the Whissachikon indoor meet record in the high jump with that same mark.

Kenya Reed, a freshman thrower from Columbia, SC, is a two-time South Carolina state champion in the shot put and was named to the all-state track team three years in a row. She is the Lower Richland high school record holder in the shot put and won the event at the conference and region meets all four years, earning all-region honors.

A freshman distance runner from Walhalla, SC, Laura Ann Rukat will compete in cross country and in the middle distance events in 2001-02. She was the recipient of the Wendy’s Heisman Award and was named the 2000 region MVP. She was a member of 4x800m relay team that set the Skyline AA conference and Walhalla school records as well as a member of the 4x800m relay team that won the 2001 upper state championships.

Danielle Whaley, a freshman from Columbia, SC, will compete in the sprints for the Lady Tigers. She was named all-state and all-region from 1998-2001 and won the state title in the 100m and 200m in 2001. Whaley won the 100m and 200m at the Taco Bell Invitational and holds the 100m and 200m school records. She was named the Azalea Classic most valuable sprinter in 2001 and claimed the High Point Award in1998, 2000 and 2001. Whaley was also a Coaches Classic Champion in 2001.

The Lady Tigers are coming off their most successful year in the program’s history. Clemson finished third at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and then placed seventh at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Clemson also enjoyed two individual national championship titles (200m indoor, 4x400m relay outdoor) during the 2001 season.