April 18, 2003

RALEIGH, NC - The Clemson men's track and field team is in third place after the first day of competition at the ACC Outdoor Championships held at NC State's Paul Derr Track. Florida State leads the meet with 74 points, NC State is in second with 40 points, Clemson is third with 39 points and Virginia is fourth with 34 points. North Carolina tallied 28 points for fifth place, Georgia Tech is sixth with 26 points, Duke has scored 20 points, and Wake Forest has tallied 12 points. The Tigers qualified 17 athletes for Saturday's finals, and three Tigers earned All-ACC honors on Friday.

In Friday's finals, Itay Magidi was the runner-up in the 3000m steeplechase with a season-best and regional qualifying time of 8:52.30, a time that moves him into fifth on Clemson's all-time list in the event. Ryan Fenton recorded a personal-best time in the steeplechase and scored for Clemson with a time of 9:16.87. In the pole vault, senior Ryan Lewis placed third with a mark of 16'0.75" to earn all-conference honors. Adam Klotzbach was a scorer in the pole vault with a clearance of 15'7". Terrance McDaniel was the runner-up in the long jump with a mark of 24'7.75", while George Kitchens and Kai Maull were fourth and fifth for the Tigers in the long jump. Kitchens recorded a mark of 24'1", while Maull had a best mark of 23'9.5". Derek Gilson was a scorer for Clemson in the shot put, recording a mark of 50'5.5". Matt Pimentel scored for Clemson in the 10,000m, posting a personal-best time of 31:20.52 to place eighth.

Rick Hill is leading the decathlon with a day one score of 3,633 points. Chris Gross has 3,453 points for fifth place, while Brent Hobbs is seventh with 3,244 points. Ryan Hunter has scored 3,079 points to currently hold 10th place.

In the preliminaries of the 100m, Larry Griffin was the Tigers' top qualifier with a time of 10.65. Airese Currie recorded a qualifying time of 10.73, and Grafton Ifill ran a 10.78. Michael Bolling was the Tigers' fourth qualifier in the event with a time of 10.78, and Tye Hill advanced to the finals with a time of 10.99. Otto Spain was the top Clemson qualifier in the 200m with a time of 21.31. Airese Currie clocked a 21.60 and Grafton Ifill rank a 21.62 to advance to the finals. In the 400m, Otto Spain was Clemson's qualifier for the finals with a time of 47.35. Magidi qualified for the finals of the 1500m with his season-best time of 3:51.90. Michael Bolling led four Tiger qualifiers in the 400m hurdles with his time of 53.08. Marcus Hodge recorded a time of 53.28, Rashad Gardner finished in 53.44 and Roy Cheney posted a time of 53.57 to advance to Saturday's finals. In the 110m hurdles, Rashad Gardner, Roy Cheney and Scott Kautz will compete in Saturday's finals. Jason Meany, Scott Shaw and Ryan Fenton will compete in the 5000m, and the 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay will be contested on Saturday. Derek Gilson and Matt Lombardi will compete in the discus throw, and Terrance McDaniel and Kai Maull will contest the triple jump. Terrance McDaniel will also compete in the high jump on Saturday.