As the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships draw near, we’ll take a look at the path that each of Clemson’s six individual qualifiers took to get to the meet in Albuquerque, N.M.
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LaFranz Campbell has become a name and face regularly associated with success at Clemson for the Track & Field program’s hurdle group. The junior, who is originally from St. Catherine, Jamaica and specializes in the short hurdles, entered the 2019-2020 indoor campaign with his sights set on improving his resume after an impressive sophomore season on the 60 meter straight away.
Campbell would open his season with a sizable personal best in the finals of the men’s 60 meter hurdles at the Clemson Opener, running 7.77 seconds to blow away his personal best of 7.82. Campbell would then remain consistent throughout the next four races, running a time of either 7.77 or 7.78 in three of his next four opportunities. The time of 7.77 moved Campbell into a tie for the seventh-best mark in program history, a testament to the hard work that he demonstrates in training on a daily basis.
The consistency ultimately paid dividends for Campbell, as the junior earned a personal best in the opening round of competition at the 2020 Tiger Paw Invitational, running 7.76 seconds. The new personal best would only last a couple of hours though, as Campbell earned another best in the event during the semifinals rounds that same day, this time earning the No. 5 mark in Clemson history by running a time of 7.72 seconds.
Campbell, who finished second in the ACC in the men’s 60 meter hurdles at the 2019 ACC Championships, would prove to score big points once again, this time in South Bend, Ind. for the 2020 edition of the Championships. Campbell entered the preliminary round with the fifth-best time in the ACC for the men’s 60 meter hurdles and would finish the competition in fourth place overall in both the prelims and finals, contributing six meaningful points towards the men’s team effort.
Campbell will be competing in his first NCAA Division I National Championships when he takes to the track in Albuquerque next week, but the seasoned veteran will certainly not look like a newcomer amongst the field when the gun is fired, as the tactician will look to execute to his best ability just as he has all season.
