Men's Track & Field | December 1, 2023
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Clayton State University track & field teams opened its 2023-24 season at the BSC Indoor Icebreaker at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Friday. The Lakers saw some standout performances by some of their veterans in the first meet of the season.
MEN'S SIDE
The Lakers saw an early standout performance from
Christopher Hart in the 60m prelims as he placed 13
th with a time of 7.08. That time was good enough to qualify for the finals. In the finals, Hart finished in 25
th place with a time of 7.10. In the 60m hurdles, newcomers
DeVaughn Thornton and
Jamiel Robinson qualified for the finals placing in 8
th and 16
th place, respectively. In the finals, Thornton finished in 11
th place with a time of 8.65 while Robinson finished in 23
rd place with a time of 10.10.
The Lakers also saw a good effort from
Titus Hand. Hand crossed the finish line in 11
th place in the 200m with a time of 22.48 and followed that up with a 15
th place finish in the 400m with a time of 50.25. In the 800m run, newcomers
Nehemiah Horton finished in 17
th place with a time of 2:03.26. The Lakers also saw a great performance from
Camron Gaddis and
Rakiem Barnes in the mile run. Gaddis was the lone male individual runner to finish in the top-10 with an 8
th place finish. Gaddis ran his mile in 4:32.28. Barnes finished 12
th, in the race, with a time of 4:38.48.
In the relays, the team of Gaddis, Horton,
Nevin Swanson, and Barnes finished in third in the DMR (Distance Medley Relay) with a time of 11:08.91. The Lakers closed out events on the track in the 4x400 meter relay as the team of Hand,
Justin Powell,
Kevin Hicks, and
Roderick Winfrey finished in 15
th place with a time of 3:31.95. In the field events,
Davonte Jackson paced the Lakers with an 11
th place finish in the long jump with a final mark of 6.54m while he finished fourth in the triple jump with a final mark of 13.93m. In the high jump,
Freddie Hawkins picked up where he left off in the outdoor season with a fourth-place finish with a final mark of 1.95m.
Alfred Dixon and
Kahmani Zachary finished in 14
th and 15
th place, respectively.
WOMEN'S SIDE
The women were paced by their senior leader
Ariyonna Jones. Jones finished seventh in the 200m dash with a final time of 25.04. Jones continued her success on the track into the 400m dash. She finished in 9
th place with a final time of 58.94. The Lakers also saw standout performances in the 800m run. In that race, the Lakers were led by
JaBresha Palmer, who finished 10
th with a time of 2:29. She was followed by
Ahlana Failey and
Ivorie Smith. The Clayton State sophomores finished in 13
th and 19
th place, respectively.
In the relays, the team of
Kennedy McDonald, Jones,
Mikayla Osborne, and Failey finished in 9
th place in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 4:06.54. The Lakers beat out West Georgia by a narrow margin of 16 tenths-of-a-second. In the field events,
Jada Colbert finished 17
th in the high jump with a final mark of 1.50m,
Trinity Acree finished 20
th in the long jump with a final mark of 5.03m and
Jaazer Ridges placed 23
rd in the triple jump with a final mark of 10.54m.
Below are the results of the top-25 finishers for the Lakers:
The Lakers saw some outstanding performances in their first meet of the new campaign as they went up against schools from every level including numorous Division I schools including Tulane, Troy, Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Memphis, and UAB.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Lakers wait until the after the New Year to get back to work as they travel back to Birmingham, Ala. for the Emory CrossPlex Invitational on Sunday, January 14
th. The meet time is yet to be announced. Please visit claytonstatesports.com for more information as the date gets closer.
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