Women’s Track & Field Ranked 10th Nationally in Latest USTFCCCA Poll

March 4, 2009

Clemson, SC – The Clemson women’s track & field team is ranked 10th in this week’s USTFCCCA national indoor rankings, according to the organization’s release Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers had an sizeable jump of 22 spots in the poll from the previous week after the team placed third at last weekend’s ACC Indoor Championships at Virginia Tech.

“It’s an exciting time here at Clemson for our women’s program,” said Lawrence Johnson, the school’s Director of Track & Field. “We have a relatively young group, so we hope to continue to build until we sit on the #1 spot.”

The women’s team has five student-athletes that rank among the national top 10 in each of their respective events. Leading the way among the national ranks is Liane Weber, who holds the second-highest pentathlon total in the NCAA this season. She produced a school-record 4,218 points last weekend in winning the five-event competition at the ACC Championships. Not far behind in the pentathlon is junior Patricia Mamona, who ranks sixth with 4,081 points. Both are automatic NCAA qualifiers.

April Sinkler, who won a pair of individual titles last weekend for Clemson, moved to the #4 spot in the national long jump rankings. She hit an automatic qualifying jump and broke the school record in the event with a 21’4.25″ distance. Sinkler also ranks seventh in the NCAA in the high jump, as she cleared a school-record 5’11.5″ last weekend to take first place in that event as well.

Mamona is the fifth athlete to rank among the top 10 of an event. The native of Portugal ranks seventh in the triple jump, having hit a mark of 43’7″ earlier this season at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet. She was just two centimeters shy of an automatic NCAA qualifying mark in the event.

The Tigers also have student-athletes ranked among the top 35 in various events, led by Sinkler in the triple jump. She jumped a personal best 42’8.75″ last weekend at the ACC meet, a mark that ranks 17th in the nation. Others ranked highly for Clemson include Nikola Lomnicka (30th, weight throw), and Michaylin Golladay (31st, 60m hurdles).