Friday, February 15, 2008

FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. AND CLEMSON, S.C. (Feb. 15, 2008) - The ETSU track and field team split up this weekend sending most of its members to the Clemson Tiger Invitational; however, three Buccaneer athletes made the trip to Arkansas in order to test their strength against some of the strongest competitors at the Tyson Invitational.

Sophomore's Zacklynn Blackburn (Tazewell, Va.) and Jarrod Burton (Bastian, Va.) as well as junior college transfer Josh Cloyd (Telford, Tenn.) are putting it all on the line at this weekend's Tyson Invitational.

On Friday night, Blackburn showcased her skills in the weight throw. The Tazewell, Va. native finished 25^th overall with a heave of 49-09.25 (15.17m). Blackburn was the lone Buccaneer thrower competing tonight, as Burton will be in action Saturday in the men's weight. Meanwhile, Cloyd entered the field in the long jump and 60-meter preliminaries. Cloyd finished fourth in his flight and 18^th overall in the long jump. The Tennessee native posted a mark of 22-05 (6.83m) on his third leap of the evening. In the 60-meter event, Cloyd ended with a time of 7.27.

"This is a great experience for these athletes to see where they rank among some of the best competition in the nation," mentioned associate head coach Michelle Byrne.

Despite only a handful of events being completed in Clemson, two ETSU male athletes shined on the track.

After building a successful cross country resume in the fall, sophomore Kenneth Rotich (Nairobi, Kenya) has started to carry his highlights over to the track. Rotich, who was competing in the 5,000 meters Friday night, won the event with his stellar time of 14:57. The title marks his second of the season as he also won the 3,000-meter event in the season-opener at Appalachian State.

Freshman Mike James (Palm Bay, Fla.) also enjoyed an impressive evening in the preliminaries of the 60-meter hurdles. James qualified for Saturday's final with his personal-best mark of 8.34.

Both the Tyson and Tiger Invitational wrap up competition on Saturday.

For more information and a recap of the day's events, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.