Six Tigers Headed to NCAA Indoor Championships

March 7, 2007

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The Clemson men’s track & field program will send six representatives for the NCAA Indoor Championships, set for this weekend in Fayetteville, AR. The meet gets underway Friday. Clemson’s first competition will be the heptathlon, which begins at 9:00 AM Friday and will be completed Saturday. Clemson is ranked 11th in the latest coaches’ poll, and is also 11th in the latest Trackwire calculations.

Jacoby Ford has certainly been the highlight of the indoor season for the Tiger track & field team. The football standout was most recently honored as Southeast Region Track Athlete of the Year and ACC Indoor Freshman of the Year. Ford posted a national-best time of 6.52 in the finals of the 60m dash at ACCs two weeks ago, winning in a rout.

He will be joined in the 60m dash by sophomore Travis Padgett. The Shelby, NC native is participating in his first-ever NCAA Indoor meet. He was an outdoor All-American in the 100m last season. Padgett qualified via a great time of 6.17 last weekend at Virginia Tech in the 55m dash, a time that ranks fourth in school history. The prelims for the 60m dash will be held Friday at 6:30 PM, with the final held Saturday at 7:25.

Itay Magidi has qualified for his first-ever NCAA Indoor Championships as well. The fifth-year senior from Yavne, Israel holds one of the nation’s top times in the 3000m run. He ran a 7:54.11 at Notre Dame in January. Magidi is a three-time NCAA qualifier in the outdoor steeplechase. The 3000m is scheduled for Saturday at 7:50 PM.

Jason Bell nearly matched his personal best in the triple jump last weekend at Virginia Tech. He improved dramatically on his season-best and qualified for the NCAAs in that event. He also competed at the 2005 indoor national meet. Bell is ranked ninth in the latest `Dandy Dozen’ report by Trackwire. His event will be held Saturday at 6:15 PM.

Mitch Greeley is competing in his second straight NCAA Indoor meet in the pole vault. He is the school record-holder indoors with a clearance of 17’8.5″, which came this season at the Tyson Invitational at the same facility he will be competing in this weekend. Greeley is fourth in the `Dandy Dozen’. The men’s pole vault is set for Friday at 5:35.

Ryan Koontz is also making a return trip to nationals in the heptathlon. Fresh off a runner-up effort in the ACC Championships, Koontz is the school record-holder in the multi-event competition. He is also ranked among the `Dandy Dozen’ this week.