Ahead of the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., we’ll highlight each of Clemson’s six entries by recapping their spectacular indoor seasons thus far!
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Giano Roberts’ 2021 season can best be described as performing when it mattered most. Roberts arrived in Clemson this past summer as no stranger to the spotlight, as the junior transferred to Clemson as a decorated hurdler from his two years competing with Monroe College in Bronx, N.Y.
Roberts’ first action as a Tiger came during the team’s Orange & Purple Elite on Jan. 9. It wasn’t until Clemson’s second meet, the Clemson Invitational, that Roberts’ true talent started to show. During the meet, Roberts ran 6.90 seconds in the 60 meters and 34.32 in the 300m, a sign of promising form from the native of Maplewood, N.J.
The next time Roberts took the track was at the Tiger Paw Invite, nearly a month after the Clemson Invitational, where the hurdle specialist contested the 60m hurdles and 60m. A season’s best in the straightaway sprint proved to be the highlight of the day, as Roberts crossed the line in 6.88.
Entering the ACC indoor championships, Roberts was slated to once again contest the 60m and 60m hurdles in search of the top-class form that he arrived in Clemson with. A solid effort in the 60m saw Roberts finish 12th overall to start his championship campaign, but it was in the 60m hurdles that everything finally clicked for Roberts.
In his first two hurdle races with Clemson, Roberts, unfortunately, fell each time. However, Roberts glided over the hurdles in the prelims of the event at the ACC indoor championships, running right into the program’s record book with the No. 10 all-time mark of 7.78. The time made him the second-fastest qualifier coming out of the prelims and was a much-needed boost of confidence for the young hurdler. Walking off the track, Roberts found his coach, Lennox Graham, and shared a moment of gratitude and appreciation with him.
The final of the event saw Roberts duplicate his effort of 7.78 to finish second once again and earn first-team All-ACC honors. Now, with his sights set on nationals, Roberts is ready to capitalize on his excellent recent form as he eyes the prelims of the hurdles on Friday, March 12.
