Men’s Track Adds 14 Recruits

Aug. 5, 1999

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson head men’s track and field coach Bob Pollock announced today the addition of 14 recruits to the Tiger program. The team won the 1999 ACC Indoor Track Championship and placed third at the NCAA Indoor Championships after winning national championships in two events. Clemson was the ACC runner-up and finished 19th at the national meet during the 1999 outdoor season.

David Collins from Philadelphia, PA, won the state championship in the 100m (10.62) and 200m (21.44) while at George Washington Carver High. Garrick Copes comes to Clemson from Hayfield High in Fort Belvoir, VA. He clocked a 1:04.56 in the 500m last season, the second-fastest high school time in the country. Copes earned all-state honors after recording times of 48.30 in the 400m and 1:54.09 in the 800m.

Andy Giesler is a transfer from Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV, where he scored 6,995 points in the decathlon. He is a native of Loveland, OH, and attended Goshen High. Marcus Hodge attended Spartanburg High in Spartanburg, SC. An all-state selection, Hodge won the 800m championship with a time of 1:52.74 at the USATAF Junior Olympics last weekend in Omaha, NE. Hodge, the state champion in the 800m, has posted times of 49.80 in the 400m, 6:16 in the 2000m steeplechase and 16:17 on a 5000m cross country course.

High Jumper Grant Jones cleared 6’8″ as a student at Gahanna Lincoln High in Gahanna, OH, last season. Matt Kennedy is a transfer from East Tennessee State University, where he cleared 15’6″ in the pole vault last season. Kennedy is from Columbia, SC, and attended Irmo High. Adam Klotzback is also a vaulter out of Fairfield, OH. He was the state runner-up with a height of 15’0″ at Fairfield High last season.

Ryan Lewis is transferring from Western Carolina University. He was the Southern Conference Champion and a Junior National All-American in the pole vault with a height of 16’4 3/4″. A native of Roswell, GA, Lewis attended Roswell High. Matt Lombardi was the state runner-up in both the shot put (55’0) and discus (163’9″) as a student at Seekonk High in Seekonk, MA.

Peter Lukens of Springfield, VA, recorded times of 4:22 in the 1600m, 6:19 in the 2000m steeplechase and 15:21 on a 5,000m cross country course as a prep at West Springfield High. Malcolm Reynolds of Lexington Park, MD, was the state high jump champion after clearing 6’10” as an athlete at Great Mills High last spring.

David Schenek was a High School All-American after winning the state championship a throw of 175’4″ in the discus while at Lassiter High in Marietta, GA. He also earned All-America honors with a mark of 57’2 1/4″ in the 25 lb. weight indoors, and his throw of 194’10” in the hammer was the 10th-best in the country. Schenek has a personal-best of 53’0″ in the shot put.

Scott Shaw was the state runner-up in cross country after recording a time of 15:40 on a 5,000m course. He ran the 3200m in 9:24 at East Syracuse High in East Syracuse, NY, last season. Otto Spain of Irmo High in Columbia, SC, was the state champion in the 100m with a time of 10.33. His personal-best times include 21.46 in the 200m and 47.80 in the 400m.

“I am very excited about this incoming freshmen and transfer class, which will add quickness and depth to a strong nucleus of veteran upperclassmen,” said Pollock. They are an outstanding group of student-athletes, but more importantly, first-class individuals.”