Lapsley, Depland and Massey highlight Clemson meet

Men’s Competition

The men’s track team competed this past weekend in their second meet of the year at the Clemson Indoor Invitational Meet. Tech finished third overall behind Alabama and Auburn, and did finish ahead of rival Georgia among other competitors like UNC-Charlotte, Mississippi State and Virginia Tech.

“Any time we have a scoring situation, and we beat Georgia, then I am a happy man,” Head Coach Grover Hinsdale said.

Eric Massey was named Tech Student-Athlete of the Week for his performance this past weekend.

“I was very impressed with what Eric Massey did. He had a disappointing first meet, but came back in this one and not only had a personal record but set a school record in the 35-pound weight throw. It was just an outstanding performance by him,” Hinsdale said. His throw measured out at 61 feet, 5.75 inches.

There were many other notable performances at the Clemson indoor meet. Freshman E.C. Gibbs won the 800-meter race with a time of 1:56. Sophomore Jerome Miller finished second in the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 11.75 inches. Miller also finished fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 47 feet, 10 inches. Freshman Nigel Orr finished just ahead of Miller finishing third with a jump of 48 feet, 3.5 inches. Redshirt freshman Andrew Powlen finished fourth in the shot put with a throw of 52 feet, 11 inches.

Derek Hoye came in and had a good race finishing third in the 800-meter run with a time of 0:48:43. Junior David Herren earned a personal record time of 4:20.41 to finish fourth in the mile, while Junior Rob Kuhn finished fifth with a time of 4:25.25.

“I think team wise we made a good effort. There were some ups and downs across the board, but overall I was impressed with the effort. This is a good young team, and I think that we will be very competitive before it’s over,” Hinsdale said. “I am really excited about the long term for the development of this team. This team includes the second ranked recruiting class in the country. It will take a little time for the full potential of this team to come about, but it is going to be a great group of kids.”

Women’s Competition

The women’s track team also had some notable performances at the Clemson meet, including a personal-best mark in the triple jump by senior Brandy Depland.

“We felt good about how well we fared in a scored meet. From a performance standpoint, it was our second meet. We had our first meet at Kenutcky, so we were just looking for people to continue making improvements,” women’s Head Coach Alan Drosky said.

Depland was the highlight of the Jackets’ performance on the field by setting a new personal record and an NCAA provisional qualifying jump of 43 feet, 4.25 inches.

Nisha Kurian ran a personal record time of 5:01:07 in the women’s mile which was good enough for her to finish third. Sophomore Elena Linn set a new personal record for herself in the 3000-meter event with a time of 5:15:03.

“Nisha Kurian probably had the most improvements. Brandy Depland has improved quite a bit as well. Even though her jumps are not improving by that much, she jumps so far that every little improvement is huge. When you are at that level, it is very difficult to improve,” Drosky said.

Junior Ashlee Kidd had two very good performances. She finished with times of 0:24.46 in the 200-meter sprint, which placed her third, and also 7.56 seconds in the 60-meter dash which was good enough to place her fifth. Senior sprinter Adrianne Lapsley finished fourth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.55 seconds. She finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 0:24:87.

Lapsley joined the men’s team’s Massey as a Tech Student-Athlete of the Week. Lapsley tallied four top-five finishes for the Jackets. In addition to her sprints, she finished fourth in the 60-meter high hurdles with a time of 8.60, and she finished fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 40 feet, 7.75 inches.

“We want to keep people making improvements. We have a very good team. We have got some great quality like in Depland, the Moss twins, Depsley and Kidd. We also have some very good depth. We also have kids that are making improvements in a lot of areas.” Drosky said.

“I really thought that this meet was the most consistent team effort that we have had all season. Ashlee Kidd, Lindsey Vincent and Shantrell Moss were all able to drop their times,” Lapsley said, though she thinks that she herself has room for improvement.

“I was disappointed with not dropping my time, but Clemson is not one of my favorite places. It’s usually harder to get everything to come together in one race, especially on a shorter track like the one at Clemson,” Lapsley said.

The men’s and women’s track teams travel back to Kentucky, for the Rod McCravy Memorial meet today and tomorrow. The event is held in Lexington, Ky.

The teams have three more indoor meets to improve until the ACC indoor championships Feb. 23-25 in Blacksburg, Va. The coaches mentioned finishing in the top three in the conference as a season goal. NCAA indoor competition is March 10-11 in Fayetteville, Ark.