Clayton State men finish fifth overall at Emory Classic

ATLANTA – March 31, 2012 – The Clayton State Laker men's track and field team recorded two individual victories and nine Top Five finishes in the process for a fifth-place finish at the Emory Classic on Saturday.

Clayton State finished with 71 points in the 21-team field, which was won by host Emory. The Lakers placed second amongst NCAA Division II participants.

The individual victories came from Ayrton Azcue and Russell Lawless. Azcue won the 1,500-meter run in a time of 3:59.04, while Lawless was victorious in the 3,000-meter run in 8:57.39. Azcue's finish was one of three Top Five finishes in the 1,500-meters for Clayton State. Albert Mong'ony placed third in 4:02.04, and Charles Anderson finished fifth in 4:03.03.

Freshman Devon Lawson turned in a strong third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles for the Lakers in 58.41 seconds, while Shelby Russell (50.44) and Ricky Fort (50.62) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 400-meter dash. In addition, Alex Foss placed seventh in the 3,000-meter run in 9:13.63, Ryan Pugh finished seventh in the 100-meter dash in 11.42 seconds and Dinero Nicholas placed 10^th in the 800-meter run in 2:00.19.

Clayton State had sterling performances in the relay events. The 4x400-meter team of Fort, Russell, Azcue and Anderson placed second in 3:20.36, while the 4x800-meter team of Russell, Lawless, Foss and Nicholas finished third in 8:11.82.

The next meet for Clayton State is the Gem of the Hills Invitational at Jacksonville State next Saturday (April 7).