Track & Field Teams Travel to Charlottesville, VA for ACC Outdoor Championships

April 18, 2012

CLEMSON, SC – The men’s and women’s track & field teams will head to Charlottesville, VA this week to compete in the ACC Outdoor Championships at Lannigan Field on the University of Virginia campus Thursday, April 19 through Saturday, April 21. The women’s team, No. 3 in the latest national rankings, is in search of its sixth consecutive ACC championship, which would represent one of the longest streaks in ACC women’s track & field history. The men’s team is coming off a fourth-place finish a year ago at the ACC outdoor meet and was fifth during the 2012 indoor season.

“Through the process of having five championships under our belts, winning has become the standard,” said Lawrence Johnson, Clemson’s Director of Track & Field. “There are no other options, and our women relish the opportunity to be in the spotlight. For the men’s program, the goal is to keep sticking our nose in there and grinding it out. We’ve added depth in the jumps and throws, and if those youngsters can come through for us the way they did during indoor season, it only increases our chances of being better.”

Live streaming of the event will be available on theACC.com on Friday, April 20 from 4:00 – 8:00 PM, and on Saturday, April 21 from 1:15 – 5:30 PM. Live coverage of the event will also be available on FlashResults.com.

Clemson will travel 45 student-athletes to the meet, which begins Thursday with three events for the Tigers. The opening competition will be the women’s heptathlon at 12 PM, featuring Karine Farias and Whitney Fountain, and it will conclude Friday. Also on Thursday, Brittney Waller looks to earn her first career ACC outdoor championship in the hammer throw at 3:00. At 7:15, distance runner Kim Ruck looks to defend her 2011 ACC crown in the women’s 10K.

Friday’s action features the qualifying rounds for the majority of the running events. The prelims for the men’s 110 hurdles, featuring indoor conference champion Spencer Adams, is scheduled for 4:40 PM. The women’s 100 hurdles, featuring NCAA indoor silver and bronze medalists Brianna Rollins and Bridgette Owens, will follow at 5:00. Other front-runners competing in Friday prelims are Marlena Wesh in the women’s 400 (5:30), Warren Fraser and Justin Murdock in the men’s 100 (5:55), Dezerea Bryant and Jasmine Edgerson in the women’s 100 (6:10) and 200 (7:40), and Chris Slate in the men’s 800 (6:25).

Running finals will be held Friday night as well in the men’s and women’s steeplechase. Ty McCormack runs in the men’s race at 7:55, followed by last year’s ACC runner-up, Alyssa Kulik in the women’s competition at 8:20. Kulik was an All-American a year ago and is Clemson’s record-holder in the event.

Friday’s field action will include the pole vault, long jump and javelin throw on the women’s side, as well as the men’s long jump and shot put. Kim Graham and Jamine Moton. She and Jasmine Brunson compete at 3:00, the same time Christy Gasparino leads a group of three in the pole vault. Three freshmen are slated for the men’s long jump at 6:00, while transfer Marcus Brown leads a group of three in the shot put at the same time.

Saturday’s track action will feature all running finals, including the men’s and women’s 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Clemson’s women have won the past two 4×100-meter relays, while last season the men’s team took home gold in the 4×400. The 4×1 relays begin at 1:30, while the 4×4 races will conclude the meet action at 4:55 and 5:05. The men’s and women’s 5K races will also be held Saturday, just prior to the 4×4.

The field events get underway Saturday at 12:00 noon, with Torian Ware in the high jump and Waller in the discus throw. Also on the docket for the final day is the men’s discus and the triple jump, all at 3 PM. Sinkler and Brunson are among the ACC and national leaders in the triple jump, while Mauldin, SC native Shai Carpenter set the Clemson men’s freshman record in the event earlier this season in Arizona.