Clemson Women’s Track and Field To Compete at NCAA Championships

March 6, 2001

Clemson Qualifiers Three Lady Tigers and the Clemson 4x400m relay team have qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships to be held in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Friday and Saturday. Cydonie Mothersill will compete in the 60m and 200m dashes. She posted the second-fastest time in the nation in the 200m at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 9 with an automatic qualifying time of 23.18. She has the 15th-fastest time in the nation in the 60m dash with her converted time of 7.36. Perry Fields automatically qualified in the mile run with a converted time of 4:42.66. She set that season-best time at the Nike Fast Times Meet on Feb. 28. Clemson’s 4x400m relay team of Michelle Burgher, LaShonda Cutchin, Shekera Weston and Mothersill recorded the seventh-best time in the nation (3:36.98) at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 9. Marcia Smith will travel with the team as an alternate for the relay. Jamine Moton will compete in both the shot put and the weight throw. Her mark of 52’8″ is the 10th-best mark in the nation this season. She posted an automatic qualifying mark of 68’0 1/2″ in the weight throw. That mark is second in the nation this year.

Lady Tigers At The Championships This will not be the first trip to the NCAA Championships for Clemson’s participants. Michelle Burgher, LaShonda Cutchin, Jamine Moton, Cydonie Mothersill and Shekera Weston are all making return trips to the NCAA Indoor Championships.Michelle Burgher competed in the 4x400m relay for George Mason University and earned All-American honors in 1999. Burgher was redshirted last season after transferring to Clemson. LaShonda Cutchin was a member of Clemson’s 1998 4x400m relay team that finished sixth and earned All-America honors. Jamine Moton qualified for the NCAA Championships in the shot put as a sophomore in 1999. She led the Lady Tigers in both the shot put and the weight throw that season, winning the shot put at the ACC Indoor Championships. Her mark of 50’11” at the USA Championships qualified her for the NCAA Indoor Championships in which she finished 18th. Cydonie Mothersill will make her second trip to the NCAA Championships as well. Mothersill competed in the 200m dash for George Mason University in 1999, posting a fifth place finish. She was also an All-American in the 4x400m relay that season. Mothersill was also redshirted last season after transferring to Clemson.Shekera Weston was an All-American in the 400m at the 1999 Indoor Championships with a ninth place finish. She was also a member of the 1998 Clemson 4x400m relay team that placed sixth and earned All-American honors. As a freshman, Weston competed in the 200m at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Lady Tigers Finish Second At The ACC Championships With a new coaching staff in place led by former Clemson Tiger All-ACC and All-American Marcia Fletcher Noad, the Clemson women’s track and field team finished second overall with 98 points at the 2001 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships. After placing eighth in the 2000 meet, this is the ninth time the Lady Tigers have finished as the runnerup at the ACC Indoor Championships. They were also second in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999.Jamine Moton set an ACC record in the weight throw with a provisional qualifying mark of 65’93/4″ as she claimed the 2001 individual title. Moton also set the ACC record in the shot put with a mark of 52’51/2″.Shekera Weston finished seventh in the 60m dash with a time of 8.96. In the 60m hurdles, Keke Elder posted a second-place finish with a provisional qualifying time of 8.40 while Nyjla Littlejohn was fourth with a time of 8.65.Cydonie Mothersill won the 200m dash with a provisional qualifying time of 23.58. The Lady Tigers took three of the top four spots in the 400m dash. Marcia Smith won the ACC individual title with a provisional qualifying time of 54.45. Michelle Burgher recorded a third-place finish with a time of 55.21 and LaShonda Cutchin was fourth with a time of 56.02. Perry Fields ran a time of 2:10.42 in the 800m run to finish sixth for the Lady Tigers. Jennifer Meador led the Lady Tigers in the 3000m run with a time of 10:14.69 while Renee Keydozsius was 27th (10:46.20) and Kristi Toothman was 28th (11:00.49). In the triple jump, Joana Costa led the Lady Tigers with a mark of 38’4″. Shannon Smith finished 11th with a mark of 37’10 3/4″ and Katrina Moultrie was 14th (36’10 1/4″).Mandy McLane received All-ACC honors with a second-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 12’7 1/2″. Her mark was a school record. The Lady Tiger’s 4x400m relay team of Marcia Smith, LaShonda Cutchin, Michelle Burgher and Cydonie Mothersill met the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 3:41.69 en route to the ACC title.

Moton Named ACC Women’s Track and Field MVP Clemson’s Jamine Moton was honored as the 2001 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships Most Valuable Performer after she helped lead the Clemson Women’s Indoor Track and Field team to a second-place finish at the 2001 Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Blacksburg, Va. North Carolina head coach Dennis Craddock was named ACC Coach of the Year, Moton earned Most Valuable Performer and UNC’s Shalane Flanagan garnered Rookie of the Year honors. The above awards were voted on by the league’s nine head coaches. Moton, a junior from Glassboro, N.J., was the ACC Champion in the shot put and weight throw. In the shot put, her throw of 52’05.25″ broke a 10-year-old ACC Indoor meet record of 51’04.25″ set by Virginia’s Kelly Bodiford in 1991. On the final day of competition, Moton posted a championship and NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 65’09.75″ in the weight throw. That mark broke the previous ACC Indoor weight throw record of 62’05.00″ set in 1998 by Florida State’s Lakeisha Mose.

Tigers In The Record Books Seven Clemson athletes and the 4x400m relay team have entered or moved up on the Clemson all-time best list in 2001.Mandy McLane is first on the all-time list in the pole vault after clearing 12’6 3/4″ at the Tyson Invitational.Jamine Moton is Clemson’s all-time leader in both the shot put and the weight throw. Moton posted a mark of 68’0 1/2″ at the Ikon Invitational in the weight throw and had a mark of 52’8″ at the Tyson Invitational.Cydonie Mothersill is the Lady Tiger’s all-time leader in the 200m dash. Her time of 23.18 in the 200m at the Tyson Invitational set a new Clemson record. She is also fourth all-time in the 60m dash with a time of 7.42 set at the ACC Championships. The 4x400m relay team of Michelle Burgher, LaShonda Cutchin, Shekera Weston and Cydonie Mothersill ranks first all-time after their time of 3:36.98 at the Tyson Invitational. Keke Elder improved her personal best time of 8.54 in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.43 at the Clemson Invitational. She currently ranks second all-time in the 60m hurdles. Perry Fields is fourth on the all-time list in the 800m with a time of 2:10.42 at the Ikon Invitational. She is also second all-time in the mile run with a time of 4:43.26. Katie Pickett is tied for fourth in the high jump with a mark of 5’5 3/4″ posted at the Tiger Classic.

Lady Tigers In The Rankings The 2001 Lady Tiger indoor track and field team began the year ranked ninth nationally by Gary Verigin’s Trackwire. Clemson has climbed as high as third in the rankings, but was sixth in the most recent (Feb. 27) poll.