MIAMI (May 14, 2017) – FIU track and field standout
Clarissa Cutliff led a big afternoon at the final day of competition of the 2017 Conference USA Track and Field Championships at Kidd Field on the campus of UTEP in El Paso, Texas. In all, on Sunday, the Panthers had five competitors finish in the top three, earning All-C-USA recognition.
Cutliff, a sophomore, won her second-straight C-USA high jump title on Sunday with a height of 1.80m. During her short collegiate career, she has swept the high jump event in both the indoor and outdoor campaigns at the conference championships. In February, Cutliff won the C-USA indoor title, with a mark of 1.77m, and went on to All-American honors at the NCAA Championships.
Also on the women's side, graduate student
Tiffanni Hernandez finished in third-place in the women's javelin with a throw of 45.05m, and
Jovana Ilic recorded a third-place finish the women's triple jump, posting a leap of 12.75m for a new personal best. Ilic was the only underclassman to finish in the top eight of the event.
The men were led by Miami natives and Southridge High School products
Jamal Dorvilier and Chris Prophete who finished second and third, respectively, in the 400m hurdles. Dorvilier posted a time of 52.72 seconds – just shy of his personal-best of 52.71 – while Prophete came across the finish lines in 53.30 seconds.
In all, during the four-day C-USA Championships, the Panthers had seven student-athletes earn All-C-USA honors. In addition to the five previously mentioned, senior
Chris Sullivan finished third in the decathlon with a school-record 7,288 points, and freshman women's discus thrower
Gabrielle Rains took second with a throw of 50.95m
Athletes that qualified will now take part in the NCAA East Regional, May 25-27, at the University Outdoor Track and Field Complex in Lexington, Kentucky. The NCAA Championships will take place at the University of Oregon's historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, June 7-10.
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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 eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is reognized 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/.
