SEWANEE, Tenn. – Senior
Nia Elmore (Hinesville, Ga.) and Clayton State women's indoor track & field rose to the occasion as multiple program records fell, including the first meet victory in program history, as the Lakers finished 1-of-11 at the Tiger Indoor Invitational on Saturday, February 1. It is also the first meet victory in the career of head coach Chris "Fireman" Brown.
Already having broken program records 19 times in her illustrious career, Elmore pulled off the trifecta at Sewanee as she took out the 12-year old 55-meter mark on three consecutive runs on her way to a 1-of-29 finish. Set by Jon Taylor in 2008, the original mark of 7.30 went down not once but twice in the preliminaries as Elmore set the record at 7.20 and sophomore
Kayla Williams (Decatur, Ga.) followed at 7.22.
The semifinals would see Elmore lower it once again, this time to 7.18 before blazing to yet another record at 7.16 in the finals. Williams would finish third with a finals time of 7.30 – the old record – while junior
Chaviya Jackson (Albany, Ga.) came in 11
th at 7.65. Those three, along with junior
Na'ilah Allen (McDonough, Ga.), also notched a 1-of-3 finish in the 4x400 relay with a mark of 4:19.16.
Individually, Allen would excel in the 800-meters as she posted a 1-of-8 run with a time of 2:30:00 while Jackson was 3-of-18 in the 200-meters (27.06). Another current program record holder, although not on this day, would add another two impressive performances among the day's individual outings.
Those would come from senior
Jasmine Radford (Lawrenceville, Ga.) who won the 200-meters (26.53) ahead of 17 other competitors and placed 2-of-17 in the 400-meters at 1:04.74. She would be joined by freshman
Ny'Asia Green (Martinez, Ga.) who finished 3-of-8 in the triple jump (10.39m) and 4-of-12 in the long jump (5.05m).
Freshman
Jayda Daniels (Hinesville, Ga.) followed a similar path with a 5-of-17 performance in the 400-meters (1:05.82) and was 6-of-18 in the 200-meters at 27.80 while sophomore
Kiara Green (Ty, Ty, Ga.) placed 5-of-14 in the hammer (13.16m) and 7-of-17 in the shotput (10.31m).
It would be another pair of freshmen that would round out the top performances for Clayton State as
Kimberly Fernandez (Buford, Ga.) came in 5-of-17 in the shotput at 10.56-meters and
Shania Riles (Columbus, Ga.) notched two Top-10 finishes. Those would be a 6-of-14 outing in the hammer (12.58m) and an 8-of-17 finish in the shotput (10.28m).
The Lakers will likely add another meet prior to their next currently scheduled outing three weeks from now but are slated to return to action on Saturday, February 22. That will come at the USC Indoor Open in Columbia, S.C.
CLAYTON STATE WOMEN'S COMPETITORS (13)
Na'ilah Allen – 800-meters (1-of-8, 2:30.00), 4x400-meters-A (1-of-3, 4:19.16)
Dalania Clardy – Long Jump (9-of-12, 4.70m)
Jayda Daniels – 200-meters (6-of-18, 27.80), 400-meters (5-of-17, 1:05.82), 4x400-meters-B (3-of-3, 4:54.85)
Nia Elmore – 55-meters (1-of-29, 7.16% - 7.18% Semis – 7.20% Prelims), 4x400-meters-A (1-of-3, 4:19.16)
Kimberly Fernandez – Hammer (12-of-14, 8.64m), Shotput (5-of-17, 10.56m)
Kiara Green – Hammer (5-of-14, 13.16m), Shotput (7-of-17, 10.31m)
Ny'Asia Green – Long Jump (4-of-12, 5.05m), Triple Jump (3-of-8, 10.39m)
Chaviya Jackson – 55-meters (11-of-29, 7.65), 200-meters (3-of-18, 27.06), 4x400-meters-A (1-of-3, 4:19.16)
Bianca Kamara – Long Jump (6-of-12, 4.85m), Triple Jump (4-of-8, 9.70m), 4x400-meters-B (3-of-3, 4:54.85)
Sasha Knowles – 800-meters (4-of-8, 2:43.30), 4x400-meters-B (3-of-3, 4:54.85)
Jasmine Radford – 200-meters (1-of-18, 26.53), 400-meters (2-of-17, 1:04.74), 4x400-meters-B (3-of-3, 4:54.85)
Shania Riles – Hammer (6-of-14, 12.58m), Shotput (8-of-17, 10.28m)
Kayla Williams – 55-meters (3-of-29, 7.30 – 7.22^ Prelims), 4x400-meters-A (1-of-3, 4:19.16)
&Indicates Program Record
^Indicates Program Record
