WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After trailing North Carolina by three seconds entering the final leg of Friday’s distance medley relay at JDL’s DMR Invitational, Clemson University sophomore Logan Morris registered a split of 4:50.33, which pushed the Tigers ahead of UNC by just 0.20 seconds at the finish line. The combination of Morris (1600m), Riley Coggin (1200m), Markeeta Thomas (400m) and Imani McGowan (800m) clocked 11:44.06, which converts down – due to the flat track – to 11:36.60 on the NCAA performance list.
“We got what we came for,” said Clemson Track & Field head coach Mark Elliott. “We came up here to try to put ourselves in the fast section of next weekend’s DMR at the ACC Championships, and we think we’ve positioned ourselves to do just that. That’s an event that we placed in second last year, and with today’s performance, we think we have an opportunity to score big points again this year.”
Clemson’s converted time of 11:36.60 is a season best for the Tigers, having only ran the DMR on one other occasion this season – at South Carolina’s ‘Carolina Challenge’ on Jan. 31.
The JDL DMR Invitational resumes Saturday, Feb. 16. Six Tigers, including Morris, are set to take to the track Saturday for one final day competition before heading to ACC Indoor Championships (Feb. 21-23) in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Morris will continue her bid to qualify for the upcoming NCAA indoor championship in the mile. Morris ran Clemson’s No. 4 all-time mark – 4:43.10 – in the event at the Bob Pollock Invitational on Jan. 25. As it currently stands, Morris would only need shave less than eight seconds off her current best to crack the nation’s top-16, which would advance her to the national championship meet.
Newcomer Marcus Parker is slated to compete in Saturday’s 60m dash. On the women’s side, Aliyah Mallard (200m), Kendra Clarke (400m), Lakeisha Warner (400m) and Thomas (400m) are also set to race Saturday.
This weekend’s meet will stream live and all races will be captured for on‐demand viewing as part of RunnerSpace’s +Plus subscription package. Fans can subscribe by going to www.runnerspace.com or www.jdlfasttrack.com. The RunnerSpace video will serve as the official race video in the event of a protest.
For complete coverage of the Tiger track & field team, follow @ClemsonTrackXC on Twitter and Instagram, and ‘Clemson University Track & Field’ on Facebook.
