March 29, 2003

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Clemson women's track and field team qualified four student-athletes for the East Region Championships at the Raleigh Relays held this weekend. The Lady Tigers won the pole vault and triple jump, and finished second in the long jump and 1500m run.

Joana Costa set a personal-best en route to her win in the pole vault. Costa cleared 12'4" in the event, a mark that qualifies her for the regional championships. Gisele Oliveira was also an event winner for Clemson, posting a Lady Tiger record leap of 43'6.5" in the triple jump. Oliveira qualified for the region meet with that mark, and also qualified in the long jump. She recorded a mark of 19'10.75" in the long jump, another personal-best mark. She is Clemson's all-time leader in the triple jump and ranks fifth in the long jump. Silja Ulfarsdottir and Shakirah Rutherford also qualified for the East Region Championships in the 400m hurdles with times of 1:00.49 and 1:00.72, respectively. With those times, Ulfarsdottir placed fourth, while Rutherford took fifth.

In the 100m, Ramera Nero posted a time of 12.73 in the preliminaries of the 100m dash, and Denise Cruse and Marquita Dortch ran times of 56.34 and 59.57 in the 400m, respectively. In the 100m hurdles, Lauren Nicholson finished in 14.46, and Dortch posted a time of 14.60. Casey Phillips placed second in the 1500m run with a time of 4:40.69, and Laura Ann Rukat recorded a time of 4:58.00 in the event. Jennifer Hooten ran a time of 21:10.79 in the 5000m, and Katrina Moultrie competed in the 400m hurdles, recording a time of 1:10.48. The Lady Tigers' 1600m sprint medley relay team finished in 4:02.42 to take third-place, while the 4x200m relay team placed fourth in 1:36.84. Clemson's 4x400m relay team recorded a time of 3:45.93 to place fifth.

Off the track, Katie Pickett cleared 5'5" in the high jump to finish in eighth-place, while Allison Bradshaw recorded a mark of 42'8.75" in the shot put. Krystal Woods posted a throw of 147'5" to place eighth in the discus, and Mary Gosselin recorded a personal-best throw of 152'11" in the hammer throw. Gosselin's mark in the hammer moves her into third on Clemson's all-time list in that event.

Clemson women's track and field returns to action next Saturday, Apr. 5, at the Clemson Invitational.