Men's Track & Field | April 20, 2023
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—The Clayton State University track & field teams opened play in the 2023 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Outdoor Championships on Thursday at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Track Complex. The men's team is in fourth place while the women's team is in seventh after seven events scored.
The Lakers saw early success in the field events as
Carlton Grisson finished in sixth place in the javelin throw with a final distance of 48.24m. Later in the field,
Ariyonna Jones jumped to a fourth-place finish in the long jump with a final mark of 5.24m. That distance is good for a season-best and a personal record (PR) for Jones. On the men's side, senior
D'Eris Jackson brought home the Lakers' first all-conference performance as he finished in third place with a final mark of 6.80m.
Davonte Jackson finished fourth in the long jump with a final mark of 6.68m, while
Abijah Wilcox jumped to an eighth-place finish.
The Lakers concluded the field events on the first day of the Championships in the high jump.
Freddie Hawkins won the event with a final mark of 1.95m while
Alfred Dixon also earned All-Conference honors with a third-place finish with a final mark of 1.85m.
Adarius Andrews and
Rodney Crawford finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Lakers started off strong on the track in the 400m prelims.
Nigel Roulhac,
Titus Hand, and
Jelani Ameer all advanced to the finals on Friday. Roulhac ran the fastest prelim time in the race with a time of 48.86 while Hand followed with a time of 49.14. On the women's side,
Adriana Ameer and
Mikayla Osborne qualified for the finals on Friday with times of 58.71 and 59.16, respectively. Clayton State also had success in the prelims of the 100m dash. Hand and
Cayla Brown both qualified for the finals tomorrow with times of 10.75 and 12.22, respectively. The Lakers also saw
Jelani Ameer,
James Kilgore, and Jackson qualify for the finals in the 400m hurdles. Ameer led the trio of Lakers with a time of 55.54.
The Lakers ended on the track in the women's 400m hurdles and in the 200m dash. In the 400m hurdles,
Adriana Ameer finished at the top of the leaderboard running a final time of 1:02.95.
Sasha Knowles finished in fourth and qualified for the finals. In the women's 200m dash, Brown, and Osborne both advanced to the finals on Friday while Hand qualified for the finals on the men's side.
The Lakers also saw
Darryl Jefferson leading in the decathlon after the first five events. Jefferson won the 100m and the 400m while placing second in the long jump. Darryl is the first track athlete in school history to compete in the decathlon at Clayton State. In the heptathlon, Knowles is in fourth place, after four events completed. Knowles, notably, finished second in the 200m dash.
Below are the top eight finishers for the Lakers.
*Prelims
^ All-Conference (Top Three in each event)
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Lakers resume the 2023 PBC Outdoor Track & Field Championships from the ERAU Track Complex on Friday, April 21
st with running events starting at 8 a.m. while the field events start at 10 a.m.
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