Men’s Track & Field Claims Clemson Invitational Saturday

Jan. 20, 2007

The men’s track & field team won the Clemson Invitational on Saturday. The Tigers totaled 136 points and finished ahead of second-place Auburn, who had 83.5 points. Wake Forest was third with 80 points. Jason Bell each posted NCAA provisional qualifying marks and also won their respective events Saturday.

Travis Padgett claimed the 60m showdown over freshman Jacoby Ford. The Shelby, NC native ran a 6.68, which was a personal best, to win over Ford’s time of 6.71. Both times were NCAA provisional qualifying marks. In the 60m hurdles, Andrew Porter turned in the 12th-best time at 8.69.

Padgett was fourth in the 200m after posting a season-best time of 21.95, while Cowin Mills finished seventh (22.48). In the 400m dash, Corey Brown was second with a time of 48.87 seconds. Brown’s time was a season-best effort in that event. Mills was fourth overall at 49.14, while Porter crossed the finish line in eighth place (49.76).

Brenton Shelton was 10th overall to lead Clemson’s effort in the 800m. He posted a time of 1:59.71. Fellow freshman Tyrone Gayle was 13th with a time of 2:00.59. In the mile, Sean Reilly was 13th overall in the 3000m run with a time of 8:53.58.

The 4x400m relay team of Travis Swaggard, Cowin Mills, Andrew Porter, and Corey Brown finished runner-up Saturday to Wake Forest. The Tigers, strong during the middle portion of the event, battled to the end but came up just behind the Demon Deacons. The Tigers had a time of 3:17.39, best of the season so far in the 1600m relay.

In the pole vault, Joey O’Rourke was fifth with a 15’1″ clearance.

Jason Bell posted his first NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the season after he hit a mark of 51’3.75″. He won the triple jump over James Lemons of Georgia Tech, who cleared 50’0″.

Clemson returns to action next weekend for the multi-event challenge. Clemson’s multi-event athletes will compete in the heptathlon at the school’s indoor track & field facility.