Nine Tigers Earn Invitations to NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

May 29, 2007

Clemson, SC – Nine student-athletes from the Clemson men’s track & field team were officially selected to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships next week in Sacramento, CA. The meet will be held June 6-9 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex on the campus of Sacramento State University.

George Fields and Mitch Greeley earned automatic invitations by virtue of their top-five finishes last weekend at the NCAA East Region Championships. Greeley was runner-up in the pole vault with a 17’9″ clearance, while Fields placed fourth in the long jump with a season-best mark of 24’7″. Both earned their first-ever automatic bids to the national meet. Fields will compete in his first-ever national meet, while Greeley earned an at-large bid last outdoor season and is a former indoor All-American.

The Tigers’ 4x100m relay team also earned an automatic spot at the championships next week by finishing in the top three at regionals. Clemson was runner-up to Florida State in the event with a season-best time of 39.15 seconds. Making up the squad at last weekend’s final was C.J. Spiller ran with the team in the prelims, but was replaced by Mills in the final following soreness stemming from action the day before. All five members will make the trip, with the lineup to be determined at a later date.

Ford and Padgett both were accepted as at-large candidates for the 100m dash. Padgett is tied with Walter Dix for the nation’s top time (10.05) this season, while Ford posted a 10.23 at the ACC Championships last month. Padgett also qualified in the 200m dash after posting a personal best time of 20.67 last weekend in the prelims at regionals.

Matt Clark earned a spot in the field of 26 runners in the 5000m. A red-shirt junior, Clark will be making his first-ever trip to the national meet in track for the Tigers. He has previous NCAA Championships experience in cross country. Clark posted a personal best time of 13:57.27 last weekend and was sixth in the East Region with that time. He is the first Tiger to qualify for the NCAA meet in the 5000m since Cormac Finnerty in 1993.

Adam Linkenauger will be making his fourth trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The four-time ACC champion in the high jump had a season-best clearance of 7’1.75″ at the conference meet in College Park, MD last month. He is in search of his first-ever All-America honor.

The start lists for the meet will be available next week on NCAASports.com.