MIAMI (January 7, 2017) – The FIU men's and women's indoor track and field teams turned in some solid results in their season-opening meet at the Clemson University Orange and Purple Classic on Saturday. The Panthers recorded five top-three finishes and posted two school records during the day-long event.
On the women's side, the distance medley team of redshirt junior
Shanika Dessein, freshman
Terneka Gibson, sophomore
Sydne Grier and redshirt freshman
Machenzie Mayers turned in the performance of the afternoon, taking first place in the event with a time of 11:59.1, almost one minute ahead of the second-place team.
Sophomore
Clarissa Cutliff posted the women's team's top individual performance, 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.
In the weight throw, sophomore
Terrisa Russell logged a new personal record of 18.22m, besting her old mark by almost two meters, and finished in third.
Timberly Molden rounded out the women's team's top performances with a third-place finish in the shot put, posting a distance of 13.16m.
On the men's side,
Alton Eliphar 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.
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/.
