ATLANTA, Ga. - The Clayton College & State University men's track & field team won four events and had two athletes provisionally qualify for nationals, en route to a third place finish out of 15 teams Saturday at the Emory Classic in Atlanta, GA.   

Sophomore Rother Heard (Conyers, GA) and freshman Brian Etelman (Marietta, GA) provisionally qualified for nationals in the triple jump and in the 200m events, respectively, with record-setting performances.

As a team, the Lakers finished with 61.5 points, trailing winner Calvin University and Emory University, two of the top NCAA Division III track & field programs in the country. Calvin won the meet with 85.5 points, followed by Emory with 77.5 points. Slowed by injuries, the women's squad also had several top performances.

"The men came up with our highest finish at Emory and our ladies improved over last season's team finish," said head coach Mike Mead. "Our guys did it with only eight healthy bodies and six of them scored the points.  Had we been healthy, I think we would have been in the team title hunt."

In addition to Etelman and Heard's performances, the Lakers also got record-setting and top efforts from senior Tony Juarez (East Hazel Crest, IL) and freshman Eric Simmons (Carrollton, GA).  

"Another incredible day for Clayton State track and field," said Mead. "We came away with six team records, two NCAA provisional qualifiers, four firsts and a slew of personal bests."   

Heard won the triple jump competition with a leap of 48-feet-1 ¼ inches, provisionally qualifying for the national meet and setting a new school record. He also placed second in the long jump at 22-1 ¼, also setting a new school record. Etelman placed third in the 200m with a time of 21.47, provisionally qualifying for nationals and setting a new school mark in the process.  

Juarez came 12-hundredths of a second from provisionally qualifying for nationals in the 1500m, winning the race with a season best time of 3:54.12. Simmons finished third in the 400m race, setting a new school with a time of 48.25. The 4x400m relay team of Etelman, Juarez, Simmons and junior Carlos Guyton (Thomasville, GA) also set a new team record, winning the race with a time of 3:15.87.  

On the women's side, senior Penny Tinker (Mesa, AZ) had the top finishes for the Lakers placing fourth in the 800m race with a time of 2:20.94 and fifth in the 1500m with a time of 4:56.86. Sophomore Heather Krehbiel (Peachtree City, GA) broke school record in the 5000m, placing fifth with a time of 19:04.19.