May 15, 2003

CLEMSON, SC - The Clemson men's track and field team will compete at the Georgia Tech Invitational this Friday and Saturday in Atlanta, GA. The meet gets under way Friday with field events at 7:00 PM, as well as the 1500 meters, 3000-meter steeplechase and 5000 meters on the track beginning at 8 PM. Saturday's field events begin at 11 AM with running events opening at 5 PM. This year's field includes ACC rivals Georgia Tech, Florida State and North Carolina.

Eighteen Tigers have qualified for the Southeast Region meet, and Rick Hill is a provisional qualifier in the decathlon, ranking among the top-15 in the nation in the event. Airese Currie has posted regional qualifying times in the 100m and 200m, and as a member of the Tigers' 4x100m relay. Currie ranks eighth in the East Region in the 100m, and seventh in the region in the 200m. Larry Griffin is a qualifier in the 100m and as a member of the 4x100m relay. Otto Spain has qualified for the region meet in the 200m, 400m and as a member of the 4x100m relay team. Spain is fourth in the region in the 400m, eighth in the 200m and the 400m relay team ranks ninth in the East. Ronald Richards and Tye Hill are also members of the Tigers' qualifying 4x100m relay team. Itay Magidi currently ranks fourth in the East Region in the 3,000m steeplechase, and Jason Meany is a region qualifier in the 5000m run. In the field events, Terrance McDaniel ranks sixth in the East Region in the high jump, and is also a qualifier in the long jump and triple jump. George Kitchens is second in the region in the long jump, and Kai Maull is a qualifier in both the long jump and triple jump. Three pole vaulters have qualified for the region meet in that event, as Ryan Lewis, Ryan Hunter and Adam Klotzbach have all cleared at least 16'0.75". Derek Gilson and Matt Lombardi are qualifiers in the shot put, and Hill's 7,327 points in the decathlon provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships.

This weekend, Kai Maull and George Kitchens will compete in the long jump, while Matt Lombardi and Derek Gilson contest the shot put. Itay Magidi is slated to compete in the 1500m run, and Ryan Fenton will represent Clemson in the 3,000m steeplechase. Ryan Lewis and Adam Klotzbach will compete in the pole vault, and Terrance McDaniel will compete in the high jump. In the 110m hurdles, Roy Cheney will look to improve on his time in the high hurdles, and Scott Kautz and Marcus Hodge will compete in the 400m hurdles. Four Tigers will run in the 100m dash, including Larry Griffin, Airese Currie, Tye Hill and Jacey Harper. Harper, Hill, Currie and Ronald Richards will compete in the 200m, and the Tigers' 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams will be in action this weekend.

Following this weekend's meet, the Tigers will take next weekend off to prepare for the East Region Championships to be held on May 30-31 in Fairfax, VA.