Clemson Women’s Track & Field – Outdoor Season Review

June 13, 2007

Two Lady Tigers Compete at NCAA ChampionshipsPatricia Mamona and Liane Weber, both first-year freshmen, competed at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships for the Lady Tiger track & field team. Mamona participated in the triple jump, while Weber took part in the heptathlon.

Mamona was the fifth student-athlete from Clemson to earn an invitation to the national outdoor meet in the triple jump, joining Marcia Fletcher (1991), Nanette Holloway (1992), Gisele Oliveira (2002-05). She and Oliveira both earned automatic spots through the regional format, which was created in 2003. Mamona advanced to the final of the triple jump after a preliminary mark of 43’0.25″. She finished 11th in the final.

Weber did not finish the heptathlon due to injury. She competed in the first five events, but did not want to risk further injury. Weber was the third Lady Tiger in school history to compete in the heptathlon at the NCAA Championships, joining Katja Pettinen (1995) and Lauren Nicholson (2003).

Clemson Finishes 21st at East Region Championships In the largest of the four outdoor track & field regions, Clemson took home a solid 21st-place finish in Gainesville, FL at the East Regional. The Lady Tigers scored nine points and were in the top-25 at regionals for the first time since the 2005 season and fourth time in the five-year history of the format.

Patricia Mamona headlined Clemson’s effort with a third-place finish in the triple jump. She set an outdoor personal best at 43’2.5″ on her final attempt of the afternoon to earn the automatic bid to nationals. Mamona’s top-five finish in the event was Clemson’s fourth in five years. Oliveira achieved the feat three consecutive years (2003-05).

Caroline Kennedy was impressive with an outdoor personal best clearance of 12’6″. After clearing the opening height on her final attempt, she went up and over 12’6″ on the first try. She ranks fourth in school history with that clearance.

Other participants from Clemson at the East Region meet were Della Clark (hammer throw), Rochelle Kokayko (hammer throw), Linda Buchholz (javelin throw), and Bethanie Wachna (javelin throw).

Four Lady Tigers Earn All-ACC Honors Clemson improved on its 2006 outdoor league finish with an eighth-place showing in 2007. Four student-athletes from Clemson earned all-conference honors, also an improvement from the previous year.

Liane Weber was runner-up in the heptathlon with a school record 5,337 points. She was also the indoor pentathlon champion in the league. Weber improved three spots in the standings on the final day of competition. Patricia Mamona earned her first outdoor honor in the triple jump after a second-place finish. She jumped 42’1.25″ at the meet.

Della Clark finished third in the hammer throw and earned her second All-ACC honor in the event and fifth overall with Clemson. Clark had a mark of 183’5″. Linda Buchholz was third in the javelin throw, earning her first All-ACC honor in the event. She had a mark of 143’0″. She was the first All-ACC performer in the javelin for the Lady Tiger program since Kammie Blount in 2000.

Lady Tigers in the Outdoor Record Books A number of student-athletes on the 2007 women’s track & field team were ranked in the school’s top-five performance lists for various events. Two newcomers to the squad, Linda Buchholz and Liane Weber, established school records in the javelin and heptathlon, respectively. Buchholz had a toss of 152’5″ at the Yellow Jacket Invitational, while Weber gathered 5,337 points at the ACC Championships. Buchholz also ranks third on Clemson’s all-time list in the heptathlon.

In the high hurdles, Polly Hardy and Krystal Barringer both made their way into the school’s all-time top-five performance list. Hardy posted a time of 13.57 in the event at the Clemson Relays, while Barringer tied for fourth with a 13.69 at the ACC Championships.

The shuttle hurdle relay team of Hardy, Barringer, Michaylin Golladay, and Weber recorded a time of 57 seconds flat at the Penn Relays in 2007. That time ranks second in school history.

Mamona concluded her season with a mark of 43’2.5″, second-best in school history in the triple jump. Anastasia Wilson tied for fifth in the high jump after just one year with the program, as she cleared 5’7″ at the Clemson Invitational.

In the pole vault, newcomer Beth Jordan, a senior in 2007, jumped 12’1.5″ at the ACC Championships and ranks fifth all-time in the event at Clemson.

Rochelle Kokayko improved on her third-place ranking in the hammer throw. Though she did not move up a spot, the sophomore from Canada improved on her personal best with a mark of 184’6″ at the Clemson Relays in March.

In addition to Buchholz, two other freshmen moved into the top-five on Clemson’s all-time javelin performance list. Bethanie Wachna had a throw of 142’7″ on her final attempt at the Georgia Tech Invitational in May. That mark ranks fourth in school history. Weber ranks fifth in the event after she recorded a throw of 140’6″ at the Yellow Jacket Invitational.