Clemson, S.C. – Three members of the Tigers’ track and field program captured gold medals at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) U-23 championships in Queretaro, Mexico. Roje Stona was the lone Tiger to compete individually, representing Jamaica in the men’s discus throw, while Marcus Parker and Rebekah Smith dawned the red, white and blue, representing the United States in both 4x100m relays.
Stona, who recently completed one of the most impressive freshman seasons in Clemson history, lengthened his string of impressive performances as he captured the gold medal in the discus throw with a mark of 56.97m. This mark was Stona’s 22nd time eclipsing the 56-meter distance this season. Stona was in a class of his own within the competition, securing the gold medal by a comfortable two-meter margin.
Parker and Smith joined Stona atop the medal stand by each running a leg on their respective relay. Parker was the second-leg on the relay which crossed the line in a time of 40.03, a mere three-tenths of a second ahead of the Bahamas who captured the silver. Smith, like Parker, ran the second leg and helped her team to securing a gold-medal by a wide margin, creating a staggering 1.3 second gap back to second place Canada.
Parker and Morris were the first two men to represent the program at the competition, while Smith joins Clemson legends, Alyssa Kulik and Brianna Rollins, on the list of women to compete at the championships.
