Photos by Daniel Green, Clemson Athletic Communications
CLEMSON, S.C. – For the second straight day the Clemson University track & field team was led by senior John Lewis, who won the men’s 600m race Saturday at the Clemson Invitational, which was held at the Tigers’ Indoor Track & Field Complex. Lewis clocked 1:18.71 which was just shy of breaking Jeffrey Green’s program record of 1:18.07. Additionally, sophomore Kamryn McIntosh had a strong showing in the women’s 600m, competing against former Clemson standout and facility record holder Natoya Goule. McIntosh was the second collegiate finisher to cross the finish line at the 1:30.42 mark. Goule won Saturday’s 600m race with a time of 1:26.33.
“This weekend, we’re still in our training phase as it relates to John,” said Clemson head coach Mark Elliott. “After running a 4:05 mile [Friday] and to come back the next day to run 1:18 in the 600m and split 47-high or 48-low in the 4x400m is really impressive. Endurance and strength wise, he’s there. Now it’s just about getting him ready for his primary event [800m], which we’ll probably do next weekend. This was a great weekend for him. Kam was also impressive today. She’s been working really hard. Right after running her first race, she two laps of the 800m, and then ran impressive splits in the 4x400m.”
The Clemson women also saw strong performances from newcomer Andrea Foster and Logan Morris. Foster, a junior transfer from Essex County College, achieved a career best time of 2:08.74 to place second among collegiate competitors. Morris, who represented Clemson at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships, displayed her strength in the open 800m Saturday, shattering her PR by 11 seconds with a time of 2:09.59. Morris just missed etching her name in Clemson’s top-10 list by two seconds. The Inman, South Carolina native placed fourth among NCAA competitors.
“For Logan – whose primary event is the steeplechase and 5K – to PR in the 800m by 11 seconds, that’s spectacular. She’s shown that she really has some range and she’s going to be a good miler for us.”
The Clemson jumps squad had their best collective outing of the 2018-19 season Saturday. Sophomore DJ Ledell earned runner-up status in the men’s triple jump. Ledell registered a season-best jump of 15.06m [49-5] on his sixth and final leap of the day. In the women’s triple, sophomore Harleigh White reached her PR with a distance of 12.42m [40-9]. White’s previous indoor best was 12.31m [40-4.75], which she set at last year’s ACC Indoor Championships.
“I really think DJ and Harleigh are going to make an impact for us at the conference level. They both stepped up and had nice PRs today.”
Sophomore Anthony Hamilton also tacked on another PR for the Clemson jumps unit. Hamilton cleared a height of 2.08m [6-9.75] in the men’s high jump. Hamilton has achieved personal bests in a Clemson uniform in all three meets this season, including last week’s mark of 2.04m [6-8.25]. Hamilton placed seventh overall.
“I think altogether, we’re really starting to see how our team is shaping up, and I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
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