Meet Central
CLEMSON, S.C. — The Clemson track and field program is set to compete at the 2021 ACC Outdoor Championships from May 13-15 in Raleigh, N.C., at the Paul Derr Track Facility on the campus of NC State. This week’s competition will begin on Thursday, May 13, at 11 a.m. with the men’s javelin and will conclude on Saturday, May 15, following the men’s 4x400m relay at 8:40 p.m. All three days of this year’s outdoor championships will be broadcast live on ACCNX.
“We’re feeling good about the meet,” said Clemson’s Director of Track and Field Mark Elliott. “Coming off of an off-week, we hopefully healed up all of the little aches and pains you get throughout the season, so we’re ready to go. We’re looking for points from every direction, and we have some people with the ability to win. We’re looking for some conference champions!”
Thursday’s action will get underway on the javelin runway as Ethan Cocco and Luke Pauldine contest the event at 11 a.m. Cocco enters the meet as Clemson’s eighth-best performer in program history after throwing 61.61 meters (202 feet, 1 inch) at the Tennessee Challenge on May 1.
Anna Brewer and Areya Campbell will embark on a long seven-event journey as the duo contests the women’s heptathlon for the first time in either athlete’s career during Thursday and Friday’s competition. Thursday will see the athletes contest the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m. On Friday, the competition will conclude as the athletes compete in the long jump, javelin and 800m.
Thursday’s evening session will get underway with the 400m hurdles, as Lakeisha Warner, Kori Carter, Nicolee Foster, and Olivia Cooney will represent Clemson in the women’s edition of the event. On the men’s side, Rayan Holmes is the Tigers’ lone entry and enters the meet after earning his undergraduate degree in Communications on May 6. Warner, Foster and Holmes all sit within their respective event’s top-10 list entering this weekend’s meet.
Trishauna Hemmings will start her journey towards sweeping the conference’s indoor and outdoor women’s 200m crowns on Thursday during the prelims of the event at 6:40 p.m. Hemmings captured the 2021 indoor conference title after crossing the line with a dominant showing of 23.12 seconds. After winning the 2020 indoor conference championship for the men’s 200m, Marcus Parker will return to championship competition as he leads the Tigers through the prelims of the men’s 100m and 200m.
Friday’s competition on the track starts with the prelims of the women’s 100m hurdles at 6 p.m. Hemmings will lead the way for Clemson after running 13.29, the ninth-fastest time in program history, during the USC Open back in April. Devon Brooks will lead Clemson’s trio of entries on the men’s side, all of whom are indoor All-Americans in the men’s 60m hurdles, through the first preliminary heat of the 110m hurdles at 6:25 p.m. Brooks will be joined in the event by Lafranz Campbell and Giano Roberts.
The Tigers enter this weekend’s championships as the favorite to win both the men’s and women’s 800m titles. Kameron Jones currently sits atop the conference’s standings on the men’s side after running a blistering time of 1:47.33 to finish second at the Miramar Invitational on April 10. On the women’s side, Laurie Barton will look to continue her excellent form after running a conference-leading time of 2:01.57 during the UCF Knights Invite. Barton finished the indoor season as the national runner-up at 800m after setting a new school record of 2:01.21 during the NCAA final.
Jones will be joined in the heats of the men’s half-mile by Cole Myers and Carson Tillman, while Barton will toe the line alongside Leah Disher and Sydney Collins. In the same women’s 800m race during UCF’s Knights Invite, Disher ran into the Tigers’ record book for the event after crossing the line in 2:06.98, which placed her in a tie for tenth-best in program history.
Notably on Friday in the field events, Caroline Johnston and Harleigh White will contest the women’s triple jump, while Veronica Fraley and Danielle Sloley will contest the women’s shot put. White entered Clemson’s top 10 list for the triple jump following her historic leap of 13.07m (42-10.75) at the Florida Relays. In the shot put, Fraley occupies the No. 2 position on Clemson’s all-time list after throwing 16.30m (53-5.75), while Sloley sits at No. 6 following her toss of 15.10m (49-6.5) earlier this season.
Saturday will be a banner day as all events are finals, and a men’s and women’s team champion will be crowned following the meet’s final event.
In the field on Saturday, Roje Stona and Fraley will look to sweep the men’s and women’s discus titles after entering the meet as two of the best in program history for their respective events. Stona will aim to defend his conference title from 2019 and aims to set a new school record after entering the weekend as already the second-best performer in program history. Fraley returns to Raleigh, her hometown, looking to improve upon her school-record mark of 56.70m (186-0) set during the 53rd Tennessee Relays earlier this season.
Live results for all events can be accessed here, while fans can find specific information about Clemson’s participation this weekend in our Meet Central.
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.
