Solid Saturday Results Posted by Men’s Track & Field Team

April 5, 2008

The men’s track & field team competed in three separate locations Saturday and the venues certainly yielded positive results for Clemson. Mitch Greeley’s runner-up finish in the pole vault at the Texas Relays highlighted a full day of action for the Tigers. Matt Clark was scheduled to compete late Saturday evening in the 10,000m in Palo Alto, CA at the Stanford Invitational. Most of the squad waited out a weather delay in Auburn, AL at the Tiger Track Classic.

Greeley headed to Austin, TX with position coach Josh Langley this weekend with the hopes of competing against some of the nation’s best pole vaulters. In a strong field, the Rock Hill, SC product placed second after clearing 17’10.5″ on his first attempt. He failed to clear 18’2.5″, which would have been a personal best, on three tries. However, he improved on his outdoor school record, which was 17’9″ set at the 2007 East Region Championships.

The meet at Auburn was delayed significantly by rain, however the events got started in the early part of the afternoon. The first running event proved to be a good one for the Tigers, as the 4x100m relay team clocked a season-best 40.07 which also stands as a facility record. Trenton Guy, Corey Brown, Cowin Mills, and Travis Padgett made up Clemson’s lineup Saturday.

Padgett had a slip-up in the 100m dash, his specialty event. The junior, who owns one of the top times in the country so far this season, was guilty of a first start in the first section and was disqualified. Gwantaveus Anderson (11.08) finished 24th.

Brown was the team’s top performer in the 200m dash, clocking a time of 21.40 which was good enough for eighth place overall. Padgett rebounded somewhat in the 200 and posted a time of 21.62 to finish 14th. Mills was 19th overall (21.92) in the 200m and finished 15th out of 45 participants in the quarter mile.

Jasen Turnbull had a time of 1:55.92 in the 800m Saturday, good enough for 21st place. Matt Bruce was 15th overall in the 1500m run after posting a season-best time of 3:57.85. Sam Bryfczynski clocked a 4:00.92 which was 23rd fastest out of 38 competitors.

Travis Swaggard performed well in the 400m intermediate hurdles, turning in a regional-qualifying performance. The Lorton, VA native was fifth overall with a personal best time of 52.48 seconds. Andrew Porter was 12th with a season-best 53.57, as he continues to improve following a recent sickness.

The 4x400m relay team got on track Saturday, turning in its best performance since last outdoor season when it won the ACC championship. Mills, Porter, Swaggard, and Brown crossed the finish line with a time of 3:10.88, good enough for third place and just shy of the regional-qualifying standard.

Miller Moss competed in a pair of events Saturday. He clocked a 15.66 in the high hurdles, then had a mark of 22’0.25″ in the long jump. He was 17th overall in that event.

George Fields had easily his best meet of the entire 2007-08 track & field season, indoor or outdoor. The junior from Columbia, SC qualified for regionals via a first-place effort Saturday in the long jump. He had a season-best jump of 24’1.5″ in the prelims, and the mark held steady through the finals.

Josh Fowler finished eighth in the triple jump. The red-shirt freshman hit a mark of 46’7.5″, but fouled on his final three jumps to prevent him from improving his mark.

Chris Spear cleared 16’0.75″ on his first attempt Saturday, but he was unable to improve on his performance after falling short on three attempts at 16’6.75″. Spear tied for second.

In Friday action at Auburn, Zach Berg and Alex Padgett competed in the hammer throw. Berg finished eighth with a mark of 177’7″, after fouling on his first two attempts. Padgett placed ninth and improved on his top mark of the season and had a throw of 177’3″. Padgett had a mark of 45’5.5″ in the shot put, but fouled on two preliminary attempts.

The Tigers return to action next Saturday, April 12 to participate in the Solid Orange Classic. The meet will get underway at 10:00 AM at the Rock Norman Track.