May 15, 2003

CLEMSON, SC - The Clemson women'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.

Nine Lady Tigers have already qualified for the NCAA East Region Championships, and Lauren Nicholson is among the top-15 in the nation in the heptathlon. Shakirah Rutherford has posted qualifying times in four events, including the 400m, 400m hurdles, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay. Silja Ulfasdottir has qualified in the 400m hurdles, and as a member of the 4x10m and 4x400m relay teams. Keshia Haughton is a qualifier for the Lady Tigers in the 100m hurdles, and Shannon Murray and Danielle Whaley have qualified on the 4x100m relay team. Denise Cruse and Nicholson, along with Rutherford and Ulfarsdottir, comprise Clemson's qualified 4x400m relay team. In the field events, Gisele Oliveira has qualified in the long jump and triple jump, while Katie Pickett is a qualifier in the high jump. Joana Costa has qualified for the region meet in the pole vault, and Nicholson's 5,200 points in the heptathlon provisionally qualified her for the NCAA Championships.

This weekend, Shannon Murray will compete in the 100m dash, an event in which she is just .03 from qualifying for the region meet. Danielle Whaley will represent Clemson in the 200m dash, and Denise Cruse will compete in the 400m dash. Keshia Haughton is looking to improve on her region qualifying time of 13.97 in the 100m hurdles, and Marquita Dortch will also compete in the high hurdles. Rutherford, Ulfarsdottir and Dortch will compete in the 400m hurdles, an event in which Rutherford and Ulfarsdottir have qualified for the East Region Championships. The Lady Tigers' 4x100m relay team of Shannon Murray, Shakirah Rutherford, Denise Cruse and Danielle Whaley are looking to improve on their regional qualifying time of 45.61, while the 4x400m relay team of Denise Cruse, Shakirah Rutherford, Lauren Nicholson and Silja Ulfarsdottir will also try to improve on its qualifying time of 3:41.94.

In the field events, Katie Pickett will attempt to improve on her season-best and qualifying mark of 5'7" in the high jump, while Joana Costa will compete in the pole vault. Costa previously cleared 12'10" in the event to qualify for the region meet, and is currently ranked seventh in the region. Gisele Oliveira will compete in the triple jump, an event in which she leads the East Region, and Krystal Woods will represent Clemson in the discus throw. The Lady Tigers have three student-athletes competing in the javelin, including Elizabeth Lord, Krystal Woods and Katie Pickett.

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