May 31, 2008
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Junior Clarence Smith (Coatesville, Pa.) will make his first-career appearance at the NCAA Championships in two weeks, thanks to a third-place finish in the triple jump at the NCAA East Regional Championships, Saturday at Mike Long Track on the campus of Florida State University. Senior Mark Miller (Shillington, Pa.) is still alive for a trip to nationals, after a sixth-place finish in the 800-meters, and will hope for an at-large bid.
Smith, who was in serious danger of not making the nine-jumper final after two attempts, engineered his best jump of the competition on his third go-around, posting a wind-aided mark of 52-08 (16.05) to not only earn a spot in the final, but move into the lead. Smith stayed consistent on his final three attempt, but got passed by Cornell's Muhammad Halim and Georgia Tech's Alphonso Jordan to wind up with a bronze-medal finish.
"Clarence proved once again that he is such a tenacious athlete," said Director of Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "For him to go out there and execute a clutch jump to make the final and earn an automatic berth to the national championships is such an impressive accomplishment."
Despite coming up just short of an automatic berth, Miller ran the race of his life in the half mile, running a huge PR 1:47.83, which is the among the top 10 times in the NCAA, according to the NCAA's descending order list going into the weekend.
"Mark Miller put forward his best-effort ever and ran one of the gutsiest and most competitive 800s I've seen," said Sullivan. "His performance will put himself in position to earn an at-large berth, which will be a great way to cap off his tremendous career."
Smith will head to Drake University for the NCAA Championships on June 11-14, 2008. Miller's fate will be decided on Tuesday of next week, once all NCAA declarations are complete.