ATLANTA – May 3, 2008 – Led by its four NCAA Division II provisional qualifiers, the Clayton State Laker women’s track & field team finished a respectable third on Saturday in the unofficial Division II South Region Championship meet at Morehouse.

Clayton State finished tied for third with Albany State in the 11-team field. Alabama-Huntsville won the meet with 195.5 points to outdistance runner up Harding’s 140.5. Both Clayton State and Albany State finished with 122 points.

Senior Allison Kreutzer led the Laker charge winning two events and placing second in a third. Kreutzer opened the meet for Clayton State in the 3,000-meter run, finishing second to Harding’s Esther Komen, the 2006 NCAA Division II cross country champion, in a NCAA provisional time of 10:09.33 which also improved her own team record for the second straight week.

Kreutzer came back about three hours later to lead a Clayton State one-two finish in the 1500-meter run, winning in another NCAA provisional time of 4:41.58, while freshman teammate Chelsea Ellis ran 4:47.34. Kreutzer concluded her day with an easy win in the 5,000-meter run, running 17:56.61.

For the season, Kreutzer has run Division II provisional times in the 1500-meter, 3,000-meter, 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter events.

Sophomore Keisha Etienne remained unbeaten in the 400-meter hurdles this season as she cruised to victory in 1:03.61, following her NCAA provisional run last week of 1:01.75. Etienne also ran the open 400-meter dash in 57.31 to place third and ran on both relays.

Junior Kim Larry won the high jump for the third time this season, leaping to a Division II provisional height of 5-7½ feet. Larry is the lone Laker who has automatically qualified for the Division II championship meet on May 22-24 in Walnut, California.

The fourth provisional qualifier, junior Jon Taylor, did not improve her standings in the long jump. However, she improved her school record in the 100-meter dash as she placed fourth in 12.41. Taylor was also fourth in the long jump with a leap of 17-8¾.

"This was a terrific finish by a wonderful bunch of young women," said Clayton State head coach Mike Mead. "I thought we had a shot at winning the meet, but we just did not have the depth in all the events like Alabama-Huntsville and Harding. Most everyone today turned in their best efforts of the year."

Included in that mix of best efforts were Ellis, Kara Stokes and Nyisha Nelson.

Ellis’ second-place finish to Kreutzer in the 1500-meter run was the fastest ever for a Clayton State freshman in the event. In addition, Stokes improved her 400-meter hurdle time by over one second to finish third, while Nelson improved her best discus throw by almost five feet to finish second in the event.

"We have come a long way in a short period of time," Mead said. "We sent two women to last year’s outdoor nationals and finished in the Top 20 as a team. We will send at least three and hopefully four later this month."

With the exception of one or two individuals, the Laker women conclude their 12th season of outdoor track with 12 team records set this season. Those individuals competing one more time before the NCAA Championships will do so on Friday at the Georgia Invitational in Athens.