MIAMI (Jan. 10, 2017) – FIU men's and women's indoor track and field standouts Alton Eliphar and Clarissa Cutliff turned in a pair of record-setting performances last weekend at the season-opening Clemson University Orange & Purple Classic, with those performances earning the duo Conference USA Athlete of the Week honors, as announced by the conference office Tuesday afternoon.
 
Eliphar, who was tabbed the C-USA Male Track Athlete of the Week, broke his own school record in the 200m with a time of 21.15, good enough for a second-place finish. He broke the previous mark of 21.35 set last season at the Grand Valley State University Big Meet in Allendale, Michigan. His new mark is currently the best time in the nation in the 200m.
 
Cutliff, this week's C-USA Female Field Athlete of the Week, turned in the women's team's top individual performance last weekend, setting a new school record of 1.85m in the high jump – a mark that currently sits as the second-best height in the nation to date – and finishing second. She surpassed the previous record of 1.83m set 15 years ago by former All-American Farah Jean-Pierre at the Razorback Invite in 2001 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 
 
FIU returns to action next week with back-to-back events in Birmingham at the UAB Blazer Invite on Jan. 13 and the UAB Vulcan Invite on Jan. 14 at the Birmingham Metro CrossPlex.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow the team on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUTrackXC) for all the latest FIU Track and Cross Country news.
 
Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).

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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 56,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/