Padgett, Ford Advance to Saturday’s 60m Final at NCAAs

March 9, 2007

Fayetteville, AR – Clemson’s top two sprinters, Jacoby Ford and Travis Padgett, both advanced to Saturday’s final in the 60m dash at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. The meet, held at the Randal Tyson Center on the University of Arkansas campus, will conclude Saturday. The 60m final is scheduled for 7:25 PM.

Padgett topped his personal best time in the 60m by crossing the finish line in 6.59 seconds in prelim #2 Friday. He was edged by Demi Omole of Wisconsin in his heat. Ford was also edged in his prelim, by Florida State star Walter Dix. Ford’s time was 6.61, which was fourth-fastest on Friday.

Padgett moved into fourth place on Clemson’s all-time performance list in the 60m dash with his effort Friday. His previous best was a 6.65, which came last weekend at Virginia Tech. He was an outdoor All-American in 2006 in the 100m as a freshman. Clemson is bidding for its first-ever title in the 60m dash. The closest any Tiger has come was in 2000 when Michael Green did earn a pair of titles in the 55m competition in 1992-93, but that event is no longer held at NCAA Indoors.

Also in action on Friday was Ryan Koontz in the heptathlon. He stands 11th after four of the seven events have been completed. He moved up several positions after the last event of the afternoon, the high jump. He cleared 6’9.5″, which ranked best among the 14 multi-event athletes in that competition. The final three events will wrap up Saturday morning, beginning with the high hurdles. Koontz has 2,993 points at this juncture, just 150 points back of third place.

Mitch Greeley competed Friday but did not clear the opening height in the pole vault. He was an All-ACC performer during the indoor season for Clemson.