Fraley Sets School Record in Discus, Becomes No. 2 All-Time in Shot Put Friday
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Veronica Fraley had a historic outing on Friday evening during the women’s discus throw and shot put competitions at the 53rd Tennessee Relays, as the junior from Raleigh, N.C., produced a school-record performance in the discus throw and a No. 2 all-time mark in the shot put. The success came following Fraley’s marks of 56.70 meters (186 feet) and 16.30m (53-5.75) in the discus and shot put, respectively.
Fraley entered the meet as the No. 2 all-time performer in the discus and No. 3 all-time performer in the shot put, and is now the first athlete in Clemson history to eclipse the 56-meter mark in the women’s discus. Entering Friday’s competition, Fraley’s mark in the discus would have ranked ninth nationally.
As a program, Clemson produced four top-10 all-time marks and garnered eight top-five finishes at the Tennessee Relays.
Rayan Holmes continued to showcase his excellent form through the early part of the outdoor season, running 50.80 seconds to record the eighth-fastest time in program history for the men’s 400-meter hurdles on Friday. Holmes entered the 2021 outdoor campaign with a lifetime best in the event of 52.49 which was set back in 2017. Last week at the Florida Relays, Holmes ran a then-personal-best time of 52.07 for the event.
In just his second collegiate meet, Ethan Cocco became the No. 9 performer in program history for the men’s javelin throw, earning a mark of 60.93m (199-11) on his first throw of tonight’s competition. Cocco became the tenth Tiger to ever eclipse the 60-meter mark in the event. Entering the weekend, the freshman from Mt. Pleasant, S.C., carried a personal best of 58.05m from Auburn’s Tiger Track Classic in March.
Sofia De Coteau equaled her personal best in the high jump this evening, clearing 1.70m (5-7) on her first attempt at the bar. After passing on the event’s opening bar, De Coteau cleared 1.60m, 1.65m and 1.70m on her first attempt at each. After three strong attempts at 1.73m (5-8), De Coteau finished in a tie for fourth overall
In the women’s 400m, Leah Disher earned a new personal best by running 57.03 to finish second in her heat and eighth overall. After three consecutive weeks of lowering her personal best in the 400m hurdles, Olivia Cooney opened her 2021 campaign at 400m on Friday by running 59.09. The men’s quarter-mile saw Keco Morrison lead the way after running a season’s best time of 47.98 to be the third runner across the line in his heat. Morrison was joined in the event by Ethan Binnix (49.94) and Carson Tillman (50.13).
The men’s 200m saw Fabian Hewitt earn a third-place finish after running 21.21 in the opening heat of the event. Earlier in the day, Hewitt ran a season-best time of 10.46 in the 100m to finish second overall. Morrison returned to the track following the 400m to run a season’s best mark of 21.82 in the 200m, making the Tennessee Relays the second meet this season in which Morrison has contested both events.
In the women’s 5,000m, Josie Wirtz was Clemson’s top competitor after crossing the line in a personal-best time of 17:32.22. Wirtz beat her previous best by just eight-hundredths of a second on Friday evening. In the men’s edition of the event, Samuel Garringer was the first Tiger across the line after running a personal best of 15:21.28
Darryl Burton III was the first Tiger on the track this afternoon, contesting the men’s 110m hurdles and earning a wind-legal season’s best of 14.91 while finishing fifth overall.
Cole Myers led the Tigers in the men’s 800m, making his outdoor debut in the event with Clemson after finishing in 1:53.22. Myers, a freshman from Mechanicsville, Va., holds a personal best of 1:51.44 following his performance during the final of the 800m at the 2021 ACC Indoor Championships. In the women’s half-mile, Anna Brewer ran a new personal best after crossing the line in 2:21.87. Brewer was joined in the fourth heat of the event by Grace Hanratty, with Hanratty running 2:23.15 in what was her collegiate debut at the distance.
Meredith Finley earned her second consecutive personal-best in the women’s 1,500m on Friday after finishing in 4:40.58. Riley Coggin and Sydney Collins joined Finley in the metric mile, with Collins making her Clemson debut at the distance by running 4:48.44. Colt Griffith finished just shy of his personal best at 1,500m on Friday, crossing the line in 3:57.86 to finish 21st overall.
In the relays, Clemson won a two-team race in the men’s 4x100m relay over Louisville, crossing the line in a season’s best time of 39.64. The Tigers ran Hewitt, Marcus Parker, Alex Sands and Terryon Conwell in the event.
Rounding out the action in the field, Jessica Brewer cleared 3.46m (11-4.25) in the women’s pole vault on her first attempt at the bar. The clearance signaled an outdoor season’s best for Brewer. Caroline Johnston finished sixth overall in the women’s long jump after recording a season’s best mark of 5.81m (19-0.75) on her third trip down the runway. Friday’s result signaled the third time in 2021 that Johnston had eclipsed 5.80m in the long jump.
The Tennessee Relays, originally slated to have Clemson compete on both Friday and Saturday, saw its schedule be condensed early Friday afternoon as severe weather is expected in the area on Saturday. Clemson will no longer compete in the meet on Saturday, April 10. Laurie Barton and Kameron Jones will represent Clemson track and field down in Miramar, Fla., Saturday afternoon as they each compete in their respective 800-meter races. Barton will be the first on the track at 1:08 p.m., with Jones to follow shortly after at 1:18 p.m.
For all of the most up-to-date information regarding Clemson’s Track & Field programs, be sure to reference clemsontigers.com and follow @ClemsonTrackXC on Twitter.
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Photo courtesy of Clemson Athletics.
