Results
ATHENS, Ga. — Clemson’s track and field program concluded action at the University of Georgia’s Torrin Lawrence Memorial on Saturday by recording 11 top-5 finishes and winning three events.
Devon Brooks produced an all-time effort in the men’s 110-meter hurdles midway through Saturday afternoon, sprinting to victory with a wind-legal time of 13.58 seconds in the opening heat. Brooks, who currently occupies the No. 4 position in Clemson’s record book for the indoor 60m hurdles, set a personal best in the 110m hurdles by nearly three-tenths of a second to assert himself into the Tigers’ all-time rankings.
Lafranz Campbell (13.69) and Giano Roberts (14.24) joined Brooks in the opening heat and finished behind Brooks in second and fifth, respectively. Campbell’s time served as a season’s best.
Antoinette van der Merwe showed her top-class talent in the sprints by running 11.72 to win the 100m less than 24 hours after winning the 200m on Friday in 23.53. Van der Merwe’s victory in the 100m came after running 12.77 to win the 110m approximately 30 minutes earlier. The unusual race distance was caused by an error in determining the proper start and finish line.
Samuel Garringer led Clemson to a strong start on Saturday morning, as the freshman dipped under the 15-minute barrier for 5,000 meters for the first time in his career after finishing third in 14:48.27. Marlin Young joined Garringer amongst the event’s top 5 finishers after running 14:58.42 to narrowly beat Jackson Leech (14:58.66) at the line. In total, three of Clemson’s seven runners in the event registered personal bests, while two others ran season bests.
During the women’s 400m, Courtney Williams crossed the line in third overall and was the top collegiate finisher. A freshman from St. Louis, Mo., Williams ran 54.91 to go sub-55 for just the second time this outdoor season. Leah Disher (56.42) and Olivia Cooney (58.31) each ran personal bests in their respective heats of the quarter-mile.
In the men’s 400m, Terryon Conwell finished fifth in what was a loaded opening heat of the men’s quarter-mile. Conwell finished in 46.54 and has now gone sub-46.60 in the event on two occasions this outdoor season. Keco Morrison (47.78), Jevon Williams (47.85), and Rayan Holmes (47.96) finished 8-9-10 in the event and all earned season’s bests.
Riley Coggin finished fourth overall in the women’s 1,500m by running a personal-best time of 4:38.22. In the men’s edition of the metric mile, Colt Griffith ran 3:57.19 to set a new personal best after entering the weekend with a best from 2018 of 3:57.85.
In the women’s 5,000m, Lauren Hayes made her collegiate debut at the event by running 17:45.93 to finish fifth. Hayes was joined in the event by Brianna Hartley, as Hartley ran 19:06.06 for a season’s best.
“This is the meet before ACC’s and we saw some good performances,” reflected Clemson’s Director of Track & Field Mark Elliott. “Now it’s about getting ready and sharpening up to compete against the conference, and we’ll do our best there and see where the results take us.”
The Tigers will now set their sights on the 2021 ACC Outdoor Championships in two weeks. The conference championships will be hosted by N.C. State in Raleigh, N.C., and will be contested from May 13-15.
For all of the most up-to-date information regarding Clemson’s Track & Field program, be sure to reference clemsontigers.com and follow @ClemsonTrackXC on Twitter.
