Men’s Track And Field Set To Compete At ACC Championships

Feb. 17, 2005

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The Clemson men’s track and field team will compete at the 2005 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 17-19 in Chapel Hill, NC. The Tigers will begin competition on Thursday, as the conference meet utilizes a three-day format for the first time. Thursday’s men’s events will include the heptathlon, as well as the weight throw.

The meet will continue on Friday with the final three heptathlon events, as well as the men’s long jump and pole vault. The running events will begin on day two, with the men’s mile run trials as the first event on the track.

On Saturday, the high jump, shot put and triple jump will wrap up the field events, and the finals of the running events will conclude this year’s championships.

Tigers At The 2005 ACC Championships The Tigers will begin competition on Thursday in the heptathlon. Brent Hobbs, Ryan Koontz and Kyle Shaw will attempt to sweep the heptathon, as Clemson did in the decathlon outdoor in 2004. Hobbs owns a career-best of 5,393 points and was an All-ACC honoree in the event a year ago. Koontz and Shaw have personal-bests of 5,107 and 4,683 points, respectively. The men’s weight throw will be contested on Thursday beginning at 3:30 PM and will feature Clemson’s Danny Alge and Derek Gilson. Alge enters the ACC meet with a season-best mark of 57’3.5″ set at the Notre Dame Invitational. This will be the first time in 2005 that Gilson competes in the weight throw.

The heptathlon will continue on Friday with the 60m hurdles at noon. The pole vault will begin at 12:45 PM, and the heptathlon will conclude at 3:00 PM with the 1000m run.

At 1:00 PM on Friday, George Kitchens, Jason Bell, Mickey Sheats and Robert Ibeh will represent Clemson in the long jump. Kitchens was the 2004 runner-up in the long jump, and owns a season-best mark of 24’10.5″ set at the Notre Dame Invitational. Bell enters the meet with a season-best mark of 22’11.75″, Sheats has a 2005-best mark of 22’10.75″ and Ibeh will make his ACC long jump debut at this meet.

Day two action begins for the Tigers on the track at 2:35 with the semi-finals of the 60m hurdles, featuring Clemson’s Brent Hobbs, Lydell Perry, Scott Kautz and Rashad Gardner. Cheney is the Tigers’ leader in the event with a time of 7.94 and was an All-ACC honoree in the hurdles a year ago. Hobbs, a multi-event athlete, turned in a season-best time of 7.96, and Perry has a 2005-best time of 8.09. Kautz posted a season-best of 8.35 at the Clemson Invitational and Gardner has a season-best time of 8.32 set at the Tiger Invitational. At 3:30 PM, the semi-finals of the 400m are slated to start. Michael Bolling, Warren Eure and Darius Acker will represent the Tigers. Bolling was an All-ACC honoree in the event in 2003 and leads the Tigers with a time of 48.04 this year. Eure posted his season-best time of 49.08 at the Clemson Opener, and Acker has recorded a season-best time of 49.25.

The pole vault is also slated to get underway at 3:30 PM. Clemson’s Mitch Greeley will contest that event. Greeley has cleared a season-best 16’8.75″ and ranks among Clemson’s all-time leaders in the event.

The semi-finals of the 60m dash are scheduled for 4:05 PM, with Clemson’s George Kitchens, Robert Ibeh in the field. Hill is the defending ACC Champion in the event and is the Tigers’ leader with a time of 6.73 set at the Clemson Invitational. Richards was an All-ACC honoree in the event last year and has a season-best of 6.75 in 2005. Kitchens recorded his best effort of the 2005 season at the Clemson Invitational, clocking a 6.77. Brown enters the meet with a season-best time of 6.86. Ibeh has recorded a season-best time of 7.05 at the Kentucky Invitational.

The men’s 200m dash trials are scheduled to begin at 5:20 PM, and the field will include Clemson’s George Kitchens. Richards and Hill were All-ACC honorees in the event a year ago. Richards enters the meet with a provisional qualifying time of 21.45 set at the Clemson Twilight meet, and Hill has only competed in the event once this year, posting a time of 22.25 at the Notre Dame Invitational. Brown turned in his season-best effort at Notre Dame with a time of 21.78, and Ibeh enters the ACC Championships with a season-best time of 21.84 set at the Kentucky Invitational. This will be Bolling’s first 200m race of the season, and Kitchens has a season-best time of 21.97 set at the Kentucky Invitational.

Itay Magidi, Matt Pimentel will take to the track for the finals of the 5000m at 6:05 PM. Magidi has a season-best and provisional qualifying time of 14:03.60 set at the Notre Dame Invitational. Pimentel enters the meet with a season-best time of 14:53.19, and this will be Wyatt’s first 5000m race of the 2005 season. The Tigers’ distance medley relay team of Clay Pendleton, Darius Acker, Brian Soder and Ryan Fenton will conclude day two competition at 6:50 PM.

Three Tigers will open day three competition for Clemson in the high jump at 11:30 AM. Ryan Koontz has a 2005-best clearance of 6’4″. At 1:00 PM, Jason Bell and Mickey Sheats will compete in the triple jump. Bell is the Tigers’ leader with a provisional qualifying and season-best mark of 51’5″ set at the Notre Dame Invitational. Shats has a 2005-best effort of 49’9.25″ set at the Clemson Opener.

The 60m hurdles finals are slated to begin at 1:20 PM, and the Tigers’ Derek Gilson will compete in the shot put at 1:30 PM. Gilson was the 2004 ACC Champion in the event with a mark of 59’11”. He enters this year’s meet with a season-best and provisional qualifying mark of 58’4.5″ set at the Clemson Twilight meet. Finals of the running events continue at 1:40 PM with the 400m dash, followed by the 60m dash final at 2:00 PM. Clemson will compete in the finals of the 200m dash at 2:40 PM.

At 3:10 PM, Roy Cheney and Darius Acker will wrap up competition for Clemson at the 2005 ACC Championships at 4:15 PM.