Clemson’s Kitchens Places 14th At USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

June 22, 2003

PALO ALTO, CA – Clemson’s George Kitchens placed 14th in the long jump at the 2003 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Cobb Track and Angell Field on the campus of Stanford University. Four other former Tigers, including Shawn Crawford, Duane Ross, Todd Matthews and Andy Giesler also continued competition over the weekend. The meet is scheduled to conclude on Sunday night.

Kitchens, a rising junior from Hephzibah, GA, recorded a leap of 24’7″/7.49m on his second jump of the competition. Most recently, Kitchens earned All-America honors in the event at the NCAA Championships. He is also the Tigers’ all-time leader in the event.

Shawn Crawford, who competes for Mizuno, recorded a time of 10.34 in the semifinals of the 100m, but did not advance to the finals. In the preliminaries of the 200m, Crawford clocked a 20.83 to win his heat and advance to the semifinals. The semifinals and finals of the 200m will be contested on Sunday afternoon and evening.

In the 110m hurdles, Duane Ross advanced to the finals, but did not finish the race. He recorded the second-fastest time in the preliminary round (13.36), then broke the tape in 13.21 to post the fastest time in the semifinals. Todd Matthews also competed in the high hurdles, advancing to the semifinals. Matthews posted a 13.51 in the first round, then clocked a 13.72 in the semifinals.

Andy Giesler, Clemson’s all-time leader in the decathlon, began competition in that event on Saturday. He is currently in seventh place, with 3,954 points. Giesler ran an 11.26 in the 100m, then posted a mark of 23’11.75″ in the long jump, the seventh-best mark of the 18 competitors. Giesler’s 50’8″ throw in the shot put was the third-best in the field, and he cleared 6’0.5″ in the high jump. In the final event of the first day, he recorded a 50.68 in the 400m.