PEMBROKE, N.C. – Sophomore
Chris Florence (Newnan, Ga.) was part of a pair of individual titles as Clayton State men's track and field delivered on the final day of the 2018 Peach Belt Conference Championships on Saturday, April 21. As a team they finished in sixth place.
Florence, along with fellow sophomore
Tyler Askew (Columbus, Ga.) and seniors
Eric Williams (Fayetteville, Ga.) and
Rafael Salis (Atlanta, Ga.) earned the men's 4x400 PBC Championship with an impressive time of 3:18.24, doing so in the last event of the meet. Each earned All-PBC First-Team honors as a result.
Earlier in the day, Florence had cracked the lid on the men's program's championship drought when he went on to earn an individual championship in the 400-meters, posting a time of 48.11. It was the first men's title since Job Kemboi won the 5,000-meters at the 2015 PBC Championships.
He followed his stellar All-PBC First-Team performance with a fourth place finish in the 200-meters with another personal best of 21.76. In the 800-meters, junior
T.J. Witherspoon (Thomasville, Ga.) delivered a runner up finish with a mark of 1:55.37 to come away with All-PBC Second-Team recognition
Askew added a fourth place finish in the 400-meters at 49.89 with Williams not far behind in sixth with a time of 50.97. Additionally, Williams is also the first Laker to be a three-time All-PBC honoree over the course of three separate seasons.
Adding to the list of personal bests were junior
Ryan Polk (Marietta, Ga.) and sophomore
Evan Ortiz (McDonough, Ga.), both of whom did so in the 5,000-meters. Polk finished 14-of-24 with a time of 16:06.61 while Ortiz came in in 17
th place (16:20.85).
The Lakers are back in action on May 5 as they head to Athens, Georgia for the Torrin Lawrence Memorial. That meet will be hosted by the University of Georgia, little more than an hour north of Clayton State's campus.
NOTES
With the two titles by Florence and the 4x400-meter relay, as well as the 200-meter championship by Jasmine Radford in the 200-meters for the women, this is the fourth title that Clayton State has earned this season ... men's basketball claimed the 2018 PBC Regular Season Championship on February 24.
CLAYTON STATE MEN'S COMPETITORS (10)
Akanni Adimu – 400-meters hurdles (10-of-12, 1:00.39)
Tyler Askew – 400-meters (4-of-8, 49.89), 4x400-meters (1-of-6, 3:18.24)$#
Chris Florence – 200-meters (4-of-8, 21.76), 400-meters (1-of-8, 48.11)#, 4x400-meters (1-of-6, 3:18.24)$#
Kanei Kelly – High Jump (4-of-10, 1.86m)
Evan Ortiz – 5,000-meters (17-of-24, 16:20.85)
Ryan Polk – 5,000-meters (14-of-24, 16:06.61)
Adarion Watson – 100-meters (8-of-8, 11.09)
Rafael Salis – 800-meters (7-of-8, 1:58.13), 4x400-meters (1-of-6, 3:18.24)$#
Eric Williams - 400-meters (6-of-8, 50.97), 4x400-meters (1-of-6, 3:18.24)$#
T.J. Witherspoon – 800-meters (2-of-8, 1:55.37)
#PBC Champion
$All-Conference
