Following an impressive four year career as a Laker student-athlete, T.J. Witherspoon joined Clayton State as the graduate assistant coach for cross country and track & field in August of 2019.
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COLLEGIATE CAREER: CLAYTON STATE (2015-19)
Witherspoon competed for the Lakers for four seasons in both cross country and track & field from 2015-19, delivering an impressive performance during that time.
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In that span he collected six Peach Belt Conference All-Academic Team honors (the most possible across the two sports) and was named a Second-Team Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar in 2018.
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In competition he twice earned United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Southeast Region recognition in the 800-meters and was a two-time All-PBC Selection in track & field.
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He earned both USTFCCCA honors in 2018-19, accomplishing the feat in both indoor and outdoor, while earning All-PBC Second-Team in the 800-meters in 2017-18. His other All-PBC honor would come as part of the league champion 4x400-meter relay in 2018-19.
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Over the course of his career he competed in the 400-, 800- and 1,500-meters as well as the 4x400 relay, 4x800 relay, distance medley relay and 1,600 sprint medley relay in outdoor track & field while adding the mile in indoor. On the course he saw action at distances of 5k, 6k, 8k and 10k.
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PUBLICATION AND RESEARCH
In addition to his experience as a student-athlete he has also had two abstracts pertaining to gait, stride length and analysis published by the American College of Sports Medicine Journal. Those came as part of his work as a research assistant under Clayton State Health and Fitness Department Chair Dr. Harry Chung.
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EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS
Witherspoon currently holds a USATF Level 1 Coaching Certification and graduated from Clayton State with a degree in Biology in 2019.
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