Campbell, De Coteau Shine at Hokie Invitational
CLEMSON, S.C. – Zico Campbell continued to shine in the men’s shot put this season, as the redshirt-sophomore tossed a mark of 17.66 meters (57-11.25) to finish third in Saturday’s competition. Campbell’s performance at the Hokie Invitational makes him the No. 5 performer in Clemson history, displacing teammate Roje Stona who previously occupied the list’s fifth position. Dating back to the 2020 indoor campaign, Campbell has set a personal best in the shot put during his last four meets.
“It looks like he [Zico] is hitting his stride,” said Director of Track & Field Mark Elliott. “This is really Zico’s first year after dealing with little injuries last season… he’s hitting his stride [at the level] Coach Cobey and I saw in him when he was recruited.”
The Tigers wasted no time in getting to work on Saturday, as the freshman high jump duo of Sophia De Coteau and Jessica Johnson each registered indoor personal bests during today’s competition. De Coteau’s clearance of 1.70 meters (5-7) was a lifetime best and placed her in a tie with Katja Pettinen for the No. 10 mark in program history. De Coteau, a native of Bothell, Wash., finished second overall in today’s competition.
“Sophia came to us as a walk-on and after speaking with her high school coach, she had a lot of talent but needed the personalized attention,” said Elliott. “[Her work] is paying off and that’s what track and field is all about.”
In the first event on the track, Nicolee Foster led the way for the Tigers in the women’s 400 meters, eclipsing her personal best in the event by running 55.38. Foster’s previous best of 56.19 was set at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships.
The day ended on a high note as the women’s 4×400 meter relay set a new season’s best time of 3:40.76 while finishing second overall. At the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships, Clemson finished second in the same event with a time of 3:39.09.
Saturday’s Highlights
- Kori Carter, Kamryn McIntosh and Ken’Naria Gadson all made their season debuts in the women’s 400 meters today, with McIntosh leading the trio as a result of her 56.43 performance. McIntosh finished fifth overall in the competition.
- Jevon Williams made his 400-meter debut by running 49.23 to win his heat and finish 11th overall.
- Roje Stona set a season’s best in the shot put with his toss of 17.24 meters (56-6.75).
- In the 800 meters, the men and women combined for four personal bests while also seeing three athletes make their season debut at the distance.
- Danielle Sloley and Riley Lair each set personal bests in the women’s shot put on Saturday, with Sloley leading the way thanks to her toss of 13.45 meters (44-1.5) on her fifth attempt of the competition. Lair recorded a mark of 11.05 meters (36-3).
As a program, Clemson combined to register 22 indoor personal bests, 17 lifetime bests and 31 season bests while competing at the two-day Hokie Invitational. The women’s team earned seven top-5 finishes, while the men collected five top-5 results.
“It was another solid day where people really stepped up,” added Elliott. “It’s exciting to see and we want to keep building on that as the season goes on.” Clemson will return to competition on Jan. 29-30 at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex as it hosts the Bob Pollock Meet. For all of the most up-to-date information regarding Clemson’s track and field program, be sure to reference clemsontigers.com and follow @ClemsonTrackXC on Twitter.
