Tigers Conclude Productive Weekend on the Track

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson completed a full weekend at two different meets by winning the men’s 4×400 relay at the Tiger Paw Invitational behind a raucous crowd.  Between the Tiger Paw meet and Virginia Tech’s Elite Meet, Clemson track & field won five events Saturday. In Blacksburg, Christy Gasparino established an indoor best after clearing the bar at 13’2.25” in the pole vault.  Her mark is No. 2 in school history, just one centimeter off teammate Lauren Terstappen’s record.  Terstappen cleared 12’8.5” on Saturday.  In the women’s triple jump, freshman Mimi Land had a season-best leap of 39’5” to place sixth. Marlena Wesh captured the 400-meter dash at Virginia Tech after clocking a time of 54.58, easily outclassing the field at Tech.  Nia Fluker was third (55.72).  Wesh then anchored the women’s 4×400 relay to a season-best time of 3:37.41 an hour later, running with Nnenya Hailey, Keni Harrison and Keisha Richburg.  The time keeps Clemson in the national top 12. In Clemson, Brunson Miller won the men’s 400 dash with a time of 47.84, consistent with his times from home this season.  He charged past La’Mont Jackson, who ran 48.35, in the final 50 meters.  The two later bookended the first men’s 4×400 relay of the season, a team that posted a time of 3:13.36, a half second off the facility record.  Spencer Adams and Tevin Hester comprised the middle two legs, but Miller’s kick over the last 100 plus meters propelled the Tigers to the win over a feisty Western Carolina relay. Ty McCormack earned another victory on the season, winning the men’s mile with a time of 4:09.32.  Martin Maloney was runner-up with a time of 4:11.91.  Brianna Blanton was fifth in the women’s mile, Clemson’s best finisher among 85 participants.  She had a time of 5:01.51 in the opening section. Justin Johnson, a newcomer to the program after enrolling mid-year out of St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, was runner-up in the 60 hurdles that were held Saturday.  Johnson, who set the NCAA Division III record in the 110 hurdles last spring, posted a time of 8.31. The Tigers now take the next week off to prepare for the 2013 ACC Indoor Championships, which are set for Feb. 21-23 in Blacksburg, VA.