Clayton State men place sixth overall at Gem of the Hills Invitational

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – April 7, 2012 – The Clayton State Laker men's track and field team enjoyed a strong meet on Saturday, recording eight Top Five finishes and placing sixth overall at the Gem of the Hills Invitational at Jacksonville State.

The Lakers accumulated 53 points in the 14-team field. Morehouse won the event with 157 points.

Of the eight Top Five finishes for Clayton State, three were second place. Junior Ayrton Azcue placed second in the 800-meter run in 1:54.23, while sophomore Russell Lawless continued his impressive run in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing second in 10:01.09. And the Laker 4x400-meter relay team of Azcue, Edlin Veras, Shelby Russell and Ricky Fort finished second with a time of 3:18.70, 0.03 seconds behind winner Morehouse.

Clayton State had multiple Top 10 finishes in numerous events. In addition to Azcue in the 800-meter run, sophomore Charles Anderson placed fifth in 1:56.13, while Lawless placed 10^th in 2:01.20. In the 1,500-meter run, senior Albert Mong'ony placed third overall with a time of 4:03.88, followed by freshman Alex Foss finishing eighth in 4:14.60.

Foss also placed fourth in the 5,000-meter run in 16:4215, while fellow freshmen Tanner Thomason (17:30.69) and Preston Valencia (17:54.81) finished sixth and eighth, respectively. In addition, freshman Devon Lawson placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in 56.97 seconds, and Fort placed 10^th in the 400-meter dash in 50.37.

Clayton State's next meet is the Division II Southeast Regional on April 20-21 at Lenoir-Rhyne.