KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Clemson track and field program collected four event victories and garnered six top-5 finishes while competing at Saturday’s Tennessee Challenge at Tom Black Track. The Tigers’ four event victories are the second-most at a single meet during the team’s outdoor campaign.
Ethan Cocco had a historic performance in the men’s javelin throw this afternoon, improving his positioning on Clemson’s all-time list for the event by going 61.61 meters (202 feet, 1 inch). Cocco’s best on Saturday served as the first time in his young career that the native of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., surpassed 200 feet. Entering this weekend’s competition, Cocco sat at No. 9 all-time after throwing 60.91m (199-11) on April 9 at the Tennessee Relays.
Roje Stona captured his fourth discus victory of the outdoor season by throwing 59.19m (194-02) to win Saturday’s competition by nearly four meters. Stona has yet to lose a discus competition during the 2021 outdoor season and has thrown further than 58 meters each meet. Veronica Fraley stepped into the throwing cage later in the day to contest the women’s discus and secured her second victory in the event this season by throwing 50.74m (166-5).
Harleigh White won the women’s triple jump after soaring to a mark of 12.87m (42-4.75) on her third trip down the runway. Saturday’s victory was White’s second in the triple jump and third overall during the outdoor season. On each of her three legal jumps Saturday, White surpassed 12.75m.
“This gives us big-time confidence going into our conference championship,” reflected Mark Elliott, Clemson’s Director of Track & Field. “These performances are going to give those individual performers a lot of confidence, and then of course it’s going to definitely help the team.”
Caroline Johnston got the runway warmed up for White after contesting the women’s long jump earlier in the day. Johnston finished 10th overall by soaring to a mark of 5.58m (18-3.75).
The women’s high jump saw Sofia De Coteau clear 1.67m (5-5.75) to finish fifth, while Jessica Johnson set a collegiate best after clearing 1.62m (5-3.75) on her first attempt at the bar. Johnson entered the meet with a previous collegiate-best of 1.61m (5-3.25) from the Tigers’ opening meet of the outdoor season.
Anna Brewer and Areya Campbell each made their collegiate debut in the women’s 100-meter hurdles this afternoon, with Campbell ultimately leading the way after finishing eighth in 15.10 seconds. Later on in Knoxville, Brewer returned to the track to contest the women’s 800m and lowered her personal best to 2:20.21, a time which allowed her to finish ninth overall and second in her heat. Campbell returned to the track for the 200m, crossing the line with a time 25.29.
Saturday’s action was the conclusion of the Tigers’ outdoor regular season, as the team will now set their sights on the 2021 ACC Outdoor Championships. The conference championships will be hosted by N.C. State in Raleigh, N.C., and will be contested from May 13-15.
For all of the most up-to-date information regarding Clemson’s Track & Field program, be sure to reference clemsontigers.com and follow @ClemsonTrackXC on Twitter.
