Barton, Fraley Earn All-American Honors Saturday
EUGENE, Ore. – The Clemson women’s track and field team collected two All-America honors on Saturday during the final day of competition at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. As a team, Clemson’s women finished in a tie for 33rd overall after earning 8 points.
“It’s been a great season,” said Clemson’s Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, Mark Elliott. “It was big-time to have both programs score [points]. We obviously want to feel good about it, but then we also have to start working towards the next season.”
Laurie Barton capped an illustrious 2021 season on Saturday by finishing second overall during the women’s 800-meter final, crossing the line in 2:00.65 with 400m splits of 57.96 and 1:02.70. Barton’s final time is a personal best, makes her tied for No. 15 on the all-time collegiate performers list, and improves her No. 2 all-time mark on the Tigers’ top-10 list for the women’s outdoor 800m. By going sub-2:01, Barton’s time is the fastest mark ever run by a Clemson woman during an NCAA outdoor 800m final. Saturday’s result makes Barton the national runner-up for both the women’s indoor and outdoor 800m during the 2021 season.
“Laurie’s one person that you know you can almost [always] count on,” added Elliott. “You feel a calmness when she runs, and it’s very rare to run into athletes like that. She [Laurie] put us on the board, which is awesome.”
Veronica Fraley earned second-team All-American honors in the discus after throwing 56.41 meters (185 feet, 1 inch) with her third-round toss. Fraley, who finished 17th in the shot put competition on Thursday, finished eleventh overall in the discus on Saturday after posting a series of X-54.45m-56.41m in the opening flight. The All-American honor for Fraley in the discus is just the second in program history, as Jamine Moton first earned the recognition during the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Championships by finishing 13th. Fraley and Moton are the only two women in program history to contest the shot put and discus during the same NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Harleigh White contested the triple jump and would record a best of 13.11m (43-0.25) on her attempt in the second round. White is the first Tiger to contest the event at an the NCAA Outdoor Championships since Iana Amsterdam finished ninth in 2015.
The University of Southern California won the women’s overall team title by scoring 74 points on Saturday.
The end of this year’s NCAA championships signals the conclusion of the 2020-2021 collegiate track and field season, as all sights are now set on qualifying for the upcoming Olympic games. The Tigers will see current and former members of the track and field program compete for a spot at the Olympics and NACAC U23 Championships over the coming weeks. Most notably, the U.S. Olympic Trials will be held from June 18-27 at Hayward Field, while the Jamaican National Senior Championships will be contested from June 24-27.
For all of the most up-to-date information regarding Clemson’s Track & Field program, be sure to reference clemsontigers.com and follow @ClemsonTrackXC on Twitter.###Photo courtesy of Clemson Athletics.
