Tigers Head to New York City for Prestigious Armory Collegiate Invitational

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson men’s and women’s track & field teams will travel to New York City to take part in the prestigious Armory Collegiate Invitational for a second straight indoor season. The Tiger women – ranked No. 1 nationally in all three USTFCCCA polls this season – look to defend their team title from a year ago. Last winter, Clemson won the team competition at New York’s famous Armory Track with 93 points, beating out runner-up BYU (64) and third place LSU (60) in the standings. This year’s meet features several of the nation’s top 25 ranked teams across both genders.Clemson’s women won four events last season at the New Balance Invitational – the 60 dash, 60 hurdles, 400 dash and 4×400 relay. All of the competitors responsible for the victories will be in action this weekend, along with a slew of top student-athletes from the improving men’s team.The action gets started with the men’s shot put on Friday at 2:15 PM, featuring veterans Marcus Brown and Cory Thalheimer. Also in the field Friday, Whitney Fountain and Mimi Land are slated for the championship section of the long jump (4:00) and Christy Gasparino and Lauren Terstappen in the pole vault (5:00).On the track Friday, both heats and finals will be held for the 60 dash and 60 hurdles. Clemson boasts several of the nation’s top performers in both genders. Brianna Rollins is the defending champion of the women’s 60 hurdles, and will be one of four Tigers entered in the prelims at 5:01 PM. Spencer Adams will be one of three male participants in the 60 hurdles just prior to that. Both finals are scheduled later that afternoon.Dezerea Bryant will be joined by seniors Jasmine Edgerson and Stormy Kendrick in the women’s 60 dash heats at 5:43 PM. The final for that event is set for 7:36. Tevin Hester and Reggie Lewis will compete in the men’s 60 dash, which starts with prelims at 5:25.Other finals slated for Friday are the championship section of the men’s 5K, which will feature Clemson red-shirt sophomore Ty McCormack (7:48 PM). The action gets underway on Friday afternoon with the qualifying rounds of the championship section of the 400 dash for the women – which will feature four Tigers, including 2012 Olympian Marlena Wesh.Saturday’s events start well earlier in the day, with an 8:45 time slotted for Brittney Waller in the women’s weight throw championship. Also in the morning, the championship heats for the 200 dash will be held. Bryant and Kendrick will take part in that short sprint as well, whose finals are in the afternoon.The championship finals for the 400 will be held Saturday afternoon at 4:20 (women) and 4:32 (men). Clemson will have one representative apiece in the women’s 800 (Brianna Blanton) and men’s mile (Aaron Ramirez) on Saturday as well. Clemson’s field athletes will see plenty of afternoon work Saturday. Mimi Land will return to action in the championship section of the high jump, followed by Jasmine Brunson in the triple jump at 1:35. Shai Carpenter is the lone men’s triple jumper slated to compete at 2:30, while Torian Ware will close out the field action for the Tigers in the high jump at 3:15.