Mamona Qualifies for NCAA Championships in Triple Jump

May 31, 2008

Tallahassee, FL – Clemson sophomore Patricia Mamona earned her second straight trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships by virtue of a fifth-place finish in the triple jump Saturday at the NCAA East Regional. The Lady Tigers scored 7.66 points and finished 25th as a team in the largest of the NCAA’s four track & field regions. It was Clemson’s fifth top-25 team finish in the six years of the regional format.

Mamona was fifth in a very competitive triple jump final. She had a personal best mark of 43’11.25″ on her fifth jump, her second of the final round. Mamona placed third at last year’s meet and has advanced to each NCAA national meet, indoor and outdoor, of her two-year career with the Lady Tiger program. Her previous best in the triple jump outdoors had been a 43’4.5″ mark at this year’s ACC Championships. She was incredibly consistent Saturday, as she surpassed her previous personal best on four of the six jumps. She fouled the other two.

Under coach Gisele Oliveira previously won championships in 2004 and 2005, and was runner-up in 2003. Mamona advanced last year from the meet held in Gainesville, FL. She will be heading to Des Moines, IA on June 11-14 for the national championship.

Noad has now qualified at least one student-athlete for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in seven of her eight seasons in charge of the Clemson women’s track & field program.

Polly Hardy missed qualifying for her first-ever NCAA national meet by one position. She finished sixth in the final of the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.54. She was vying to become only the second high hurdler from Clemson to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Hardy ranks in a tie for second place in Clemson’s record books in the event. She will now await a potential at-large bid. Hardy ranked 32nd nationally in the event prior to regionals and shaved a hundredth off her personal best this weekend.

April Sinkler and Anastasia Wilson performed well in their first-ever regional meet. Both tied for eighth place in the high jump after clearing 5’7.25″. Sinkler and Wilson both cleared the opening height on their first attempt, and then fell short in three tries at 5’9.25″. Both rank in a tie for second in Clemson history in the school’s outdoor high jump records.