MORROW, Ga. – For the fifth straight year, throughout the summer, the Clayton State Sports Information Office is counting down the Top-10 stories of the year following an impressive 2018-19 campaign.
Today, we release the No. 7 story of the season – Men's Track & Field Delivers Multiple Individual League Championships. Make sure to check
www.ClaytonStateSports.com every Friday to catch the latest release.
Story No. 7: Men's Track & Field Delivers Multiple Individual League Championships
A quiet indoor season would belie what would be an outdoor season that would see multiple Peach Belt Conference Individual Championships and numerous All-PBC honorees.
Competing in just two of the four meets, senior
T.J. Witherspoon (Thomasville, Ga.) led the way during
the indoor season. Competing primarily in the 800-meters, he won that event with a time of 1:55.51 and was part of the 4x400-meter relay team that finished 3-of-20 at the
season opening BSC Panther Indoor Icebreaker (11/30).
He would add a
4-of-38 finish in the 800-meters (1:57.68) in the indoor regular season finale at the Southern Indoor Challenge (2/11) before accomplishing something for the first time in his career. At the end of February he would be named a
United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region selection in the
800-meters for the first time in his career.
The
outdoor campaign would kick off with an impressive performance at the Savannah State Eye Opener (3/2) as freshman
Janei Sewell (Newnan, Ga.)
notched three Top-10 finishes. That outing, in his first collegiate outdoor competition, would earn
Sewell PBC Track Athlete of the Week, the program's first since 2015.
Witherspoon and junior
Chris Florence (Newnan, Ga.) would collect
strong third place finishes in the 800- and 400-meters, respectively, at the Emory Classic (3/29-30) before Witherspoon took home first place in the 800 at the Gulf South/Peach Belt Challenge (4/6/19). However, following that meet, freshman
Michael Gray (Pooler, Ga.) would become the
first Laker since 2014 to earn PBC Field Athlete of the Week honors.
That all built to a crescendo on the final day of the 2019 PBC Championships (4/20). That day would see
a pair of individual championships with Florence featuring prominently in both of them. Florence teamed with Witherspoon and freshmen
Churchill Ezeokonkwo (Riverdale, Ga.) and
Brian Sims, Jr. (Trussville, Ala.) in winning the 4x400-meter relay while Florence won his second straight 400-meter individual title. Each member of that relay would
earn All-PBC honors with Florence notching a pair with his 400-meter championship.
Following the championships, Witherspoon would go on to
notch a personal best in the 800-meters with a time of 1:52.20, just 0.17 seconds shy of an NCAA Provisional time, at the Don McGarey Invitational (4/27).
Just as he did during the indoor season, Witherspoon would then
earn USTFCCCA All-Southeast Region honors in the 800-meters, this time for the outdoor campaign. It would also be the first such outdoor award of his career. He, along with juniors
Evan Ortiz (McDonough, Ga.) and
Keldren Reddick (Thomasville, Ga.), were also
named to the PBC All-Academic Team.
The Schedule
Every Friday throughout the Summer and leading up to the 2019-20 preseason, the SID Office will release the list one at a time beginning with the No. 10 story on June 7. The No. 1 story in Clayton State Athletics, as chosen by the Sports Information Office, will be released on Friday, August 9.
Countdown to the Top-10 Clayton State Athletics Stories from 2018-19
No. 1 – Coming August 9
No. 2 – Coming August 2
No. 3 – Coming July 26
No. 4 – Coming July 19
No. 5 – Coming July 12
No. 6 – Coming July 5
No. 7 – Men's Track & Field Delivers Multiple Individual League Championships (June 28)
No. 8 – Undefeated Start Leads Women's Soccer Back to PBC Tournament (June 21)
No. 9 – Men's Basketball Garners Record-Setting Honors (June 14)
No. 10 – Men's Soccer's Late Run and Individual Accomplishments (June 7)
Honorable Mention (May 31)
