MORROW, Ga. – March 28, 2008 – The Clayton State Laker men’s and women’s track & field teams resume their 2008 season with the outdoor portion of their schedule on Friday and Saturday at the Emory Asics Classic in Atlanta. The meet will mark the beginning of the 11th outdoor season of track & field at Clayton State.

The Laker program is coming off its best indoor season which ended two weeks ago as each team sent two athletes to the NCAA Division II indoor championships and set a combined 11 team records during the season. The Clayton State teams will face a wide range of competition at Emory, varying from the likes of NCAA Division I Furman and Central Connecticut State to NCAA Division III schools like host Emory and The College of New Jersey.

"Most of our folks have not competed since February 16," said Clayton State head coach Mike Mead. "I’m interested to see where everyone is at following a solid month of training. Most of our kids have been looking very good in practice. Now we’ll see how the hard work will pay off."

The Laker women will head into the outdoor season led by senior Allison Kreutzer and junior Jon Taylor. Both competed in the NCAA D II Indoor Championships and will be vying for times and marks to go to outdoor nationals in May.

Kreutzer was a Division II All-American last season in the 5,000-meter run and 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Division II championships and is scheduled to run both events at Emory. Taylor, who went to indoor nationals in the long jump, will focus on running events this weekend at Emory.

The women’s team will also be counting on veterans Keisha Etienne, Natasha Gass, Terrica Hamilton, Nyisha Nelson and Kara Stokes to help the squad vie for the team title. At last season’s meet, the Lakers finished third in the team scoring.

"We’re a stronger and healthier team than we were last season," Mead said. "If the weather is decent, we may see several team records broken. I look for similar results on the men’s side, too."

The Clayton State men’s team will be much improved over last season, led by Division II All-Americans Eric Simmons and Ahmad Rolle. Simmons, a senior and three-time participant in the Division II outdoor championships, will be the go-to guy on the relays this weekend for the Lakers. Rolle, a junior and recent Division II All-American at indoor nationals in the triple jump, will also run relays and the 400-meter hurdles at Emory.

The Lakers will have solid coverage during outdoor season from the 100-meter dash all the way up to the 10,000-meter run and most of the jump events. The squad has a balance of veterans and newcomers that include Anthony Aguilar, Walid Berkhedle, Lawrence DeShields, Joey Chino, Tim Moran, Sherard Polite and Joshua Tiggs.

Friday’s meet begins at 3:00 p.m. with the men’s long jump, ending with the women’s 10,000-meter run at 6:25 p.m. On Saturday, the meet begins with the women’s 400-meter hurdles at 9:00 a.m., and concludes with the men’s 4x400m relay at 3:45 p.m.