'Tis the Season for Upstate Track & Field
12/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
CLEMSON, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's and women's track and field teams opened the indoor track season at Clemson today as six Spartans set school records.
On the women's side freshman Breana Kwasnik (Greenville, S.C.), freshman Shawanda Stokes (Okatie, S.C.), sophomore Ashley Edmond (Hopkins, S.C.) and senior Carolyne Chelulei (Eldoret, Kenya) all recorded school records today in their respective events for Upstate. In the pole vault, Kwasnik posted a score of 10-11.75, while Stokes registered a score of 15-11.75 in the long jump. Edmond recorded a time of 1:23.61 in the 500-meter, while Chelulei crossed finished first in the 1,000-meter with a time of 3:02.38.
For the Spartan men, sophomore Matt Johnson (Elgin, S.C.) and junior Cameron Thomas (Niceville, Fla.) posted school-best times in the 500-meter and 1,000-meter events, respectively. Johnson finished sixth in 1:05.08, while Thomas crossed the line in third-place with a time of 2:36.91.
"We were pleased with the start, however I believe this gave our athletes an awareness of the work that we still have to do," said Upstate head coach Natalie Smith. "Also this was great experience for our freshmen and those who have never been involved in an indoor season before. In these early meets one of your goals is to come out of this part of the season injury free and I do believe, for the most part, we have a very healthy team and are looking forward to being back in competition in January."
Two members of the Upstate men's squad advanced into the finals of the 60-meter hurdles today. Junior Brandon Curry (Anderson, S.C.) qualified for the finals with a time of 8.54 in the preliminaries, while freshman Thomas Perkins (Lugoff, S.C.) recorded a qualifying time of 8.95. In the finals, Curry finished 11th with a time of 8.60 and Perkins finished 15th with a time of 9.10.
The Spartans return to action Jan. 14, traveling to the Chapel Hill, N.C., for the Dick Taylor Invite. Follow the Spartans this season on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Players Mentioned
