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2000 Track & Field MVP's

WOMEN'S TEAM MVP	MEN'S TEAM MVP
JONI GUFFEY	CAM HINZ

2000 Track Stories & Results

Hinz & Haynes lead Lakers to Sewanee Indoor Title

Sewanee, Tenn., February 26, 2000 -- Led by Cam Hinz and LeRoy Haynes, the Clayton College & State University men's track squad opened its 2000 track & field season with its first-ever team title by winning the Sewanee Indoor Invitational. The Lakers edged their hosts, the University of the South, 108-104 in the six-team field.

Hinz, a freshman from Jonesboro, and Haynes, a junior from Robbins, Ill., each won an event and teamed up in the 4 x 400m relay with Stephen Hughes and Ben Balogh to win the relay and seal the victory. Hinz, making his collegiate debut, scored nearly a third of Clayton State's total points while winning the 400m in :53.33 on the tight, 160-meter track. Haynes won the 800m in 2:04.11 and teamed with Hinz, James Stewart and Clive Caesar to take second in the 4 x 160m relay. Hinz also took seconds in the high jump and long jump and a fifth in the 200m dash.

"This was a super effort by everyone on the team," said head coach Mike Mead. "Everyone had a part in this win. Last year we only competed in running events and scored 28 points. By the end of the field events today, we had scored 31 points and trailed Sewanee by 11 points."

Besides Hinz' two seconds in the jumps, the Lakers got a third from Stewart and a fourth from Caesar in the long jump. Caesar and Stewart then teamed up for fourth and sixth place finishes in the triple jump.

"We went for the points today," said Mead. "This was a smaller field than last year's meet, but that played into our hand. Cam made a nice collegiate debut placing in every event he was entered. It was nice to have depth in some events we have not had in the past."

The Lakers came away with 18 points in the long jump, but scored 20 points in the 800m with Haynes' win and Manny Juarez' third place and Jon Heil's fourth place finish in the event. Juarez teamed up with Tye Walker and Luis Monge in the 1500m run for second, third and sixth place finishes, adding another 15 points to the Lakers' total. In addition to Hinz' 400m win, the Lakers got a third place from Balogh and a total of 16 points in the event. Also scoring for the Lakers was Monge and Perry Slaughter in the 3,000m run. Monge finished in fourth place while Slaughter was sixth.

The Lakers head outdoors next weekend when they compete on Saturday at the Oglethorpe Relays. The meet will be the first of seven outdoor meets on the Lakers' schedule.  See Team Results

Hayes Guides Lady Lakers to Runner-up Finish at Sewanee Indoor Meet

Sewanee, Tenn., February 26, 2000 -- Freshman La'Keshia Hayes won the first collegiate track event that she competed in on Saturday and guided the short-handed Clayton College & State University Lady Lakers to a second place finish in the Sewanee Indoor Invitational. The Lithonia native improved on the Clayton State long jump record en route to winning the meet's opening event. Later, she finished second in the 400m, earned a pair of third place finishes in the triple jump and 200m dash and helped two relay teams to second place finishes.

Clayton State finished with 70 points, but was a distant second to the University of the South's 118 points. Third place went to Fisk University which scored 50 points in the seven-team field.

"This was quite a feat for our women's team today, since we only have a six-person squad and two (Cathy Wasserleben and Yoshiko Okada) were sidelined with injuries," said head coach Mike Mead. "When we get the depth like we have on the men's team, we could be hell on wheels."

Besides Hayes efforts, sophomore Joni Guffey, freshman Melody Bogan and senior Denny Rauch turned in productive performances. Guffey finished second in the 800m and fourth in the 1500m run. Bogan was third in the 400m and fourth in the 800m while Rauch finished fifth in the 1500m run. The trio teamed up with Hayes for the pair of seconds in the 4 x 160m and sprint medley relays.

"Nothing beats a little competition," said Mead. "You can only do so much in practice and this meet helped us. Our folks got after it today. We're off to a solid start."

The Lady Lakers, as well as the Lakers, venture outdoors next Saturday for the Oglethorpe Relays. The meet will mark the first of seven outdoor meets on the team's 2000 schedule. 

February 26, 2000

Sewanee Indoor Invitational @ the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.

Lakers set two team records at Oglethorpe Relays

ATLANTA, Ga., March 4, 2000 -- Despite cool, damp, breezy conditions on Saturday morning, the Clayton College & State University track squad set two team records en route to a fourth place combined team finish at the Oglethorpe Relays. The meet marked the first outdoor competition of the 2000 season.

Freshman Cam Hinz of Jonesboro set one of the two records by jumping 19-11.5 in the long jump to break Levi Myers' two-year mark. Hinz also anchored the Lakers to a second place finish in the 4 x 800m relay and a third place finish in the 4 x 400m relay.

The second record was set in the women's 4 x 400m relay by the team of Melody Bogan, Joni Guffey, La'Keshia Hayes and Denny Rauch. The squad shaved 10 seconds off the previous mark to finish second in the relay in a time of 4:21.28. The same team came way with the lone Clayton State win of the meet by taking the 4 x 1250m event.

March 4, 2000

Oglethorpe Relays @ Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, Ga.

Individual Results

* Indicates team record

Guffey Paces Lakers at Savannah State Invitational

SAVANNAH, Ga., March 11, 2000--- The Laker and Lady Laker track and field teams competed in the Savannah State Invitational held Saturday.  Joni Guffey led the women's team with a second-place finish in the 800m (2:24) and in the 1500m (5:01).  Denny Rauch posted a third-place finish in the 1500m (5:05) and a fourth place finish in the 800m (2:29).  Coach Mike Mead was pleased with the efforts of Guffey and Rauch and said, "Joni and Denny had great doubles and are both ahead of their times at this point last season".

On the men's side, Manny Juarez placed fourth in the 1500m (4:12.5) while freshman Stephen Hughes finished the 1500m with a 4:29.6 in his first collegiate run.  Despite an injured left foot, Cam Hinz ran a :51.1 in the 400m and a 2:02.6 in the 800m.  LeRoy Haynes recorded his fastest 800m time as a Laker, turning in a 2:02.9 performance.  

Coach Mead pointed out that the Lakers' performance was hurt by the fact that the men's team "is a little banged up with Cam Hinz and Clive Caesar nursing injuries".  The Lady Lakers and Lakers compete in the Oglethorpe Invitational this Saturday. 

March 11, 2000

Savannah State Invitational, Savannah, Ga.

NOTE:  Non-scoring team event

Individual Results

Clayton State Track Teams Pick Up Second Place Finishes at Oglethorpe Invitational

ATLANTA, Ga., March 17, 2000 --- March 17, 2000 --- Despite cool temperatures and a strong wind, the Clayton State men's and women's track and field teams picked up second place finishes at the Oglethorpe Invitational  held today in Atlanta.   In the men's division, Cam Hinz finished first in the 800m and the 400m, setting a new school record of 1:59.90 in the 800m.  In the 400m, Hinz recorded a personal-best time of :50.04.  Manny Juarez picked up the Lakers' other win in the 1500m with a 4:14.10.  Stephen Hughes finished second in the 1500m with a 4:15.50, a 14 second improvement from last week.  Luis Monge finished second in the 5000m with a 16:24.7 while LeRoy Haynes recorded a second place finish in the 800m with a time of 2:01.69.  Haynes finished third in the 400m and Tye Walker was third in the 5000m.

On the women's side,  Joni Guffey led the team with wins in the 400m and the 800m.  Guffey set a new Clayton State record in the 400m with a 62.57 and ran a personal-best time of 2:21.60 in the 800m.  Denny Rauch won the 1500m event with a time of 5:10.20.  Melody Bogan recorded a second-place finish in the 200m with a :28.40, one-tenth of a second off the team record, and finished third in the 400m.  La'Keisha Hayes placed second in the long jump with 14 feet and third in the triple jump.  Cathy Wasserleben finished second in her first collegiate 1500m with a time of 5:37.30.   Yoshiko Okada recorded a third place finish in the 800m. 

The Lady Laker and Laker teams compete April 1 at the Emory Classic.

March 17, 2000

Oglethorpe Invitationals @ Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, Ga.

Individual Results

* Indicates team record

Clayton State Track Teams Set Six Records at Emory Classic

ATLANTA, Ga., April 1, 2000 --- The Clayton College & State University track and field teams set six school records today at the Emory Classic. The men’s team posted a 13^th place finish while the women finished 12^th in their field.

Two of the new Clayton State records were set in the 4x400m relay while one was set in the men’s 10,000m run, one in the women’s long jump, one in the women’s 100m dash and one in the women’s 200m dash. Perry Slaughter finished eighth in the 10,000m race with a time of 34:41.20 to set the CCSU record. In the men’s 4x400m relay, Cam Hinz, LeRoy Haynes, Ben Balogh, and Tye Walker set a CCSU record of 3:29.29, breaking the old record of 3:30.56. The women’s 4x400m team of Chelle Warren, Melody Bogan, Joni Guffey, and La’Keisha Hayes finished fifth and shattered the old record of 4:21.28 with a time of 4:14.86 in today’s race. In her first collegiate track meet, Chelle Warren finished third in her heat and 11^th overall in the women’s 100m dash with a time of 13.28 to break the old record of 13.81 set in 1998. Warren also set a new record in the 200m dash with a time of :27.56. La’Keisha Hayes broke her own record of 14-7 in the long jump to improve the record to 15-3.5.

Joni Guffey and Denny Rauch turned in personal-best performaces in the women’s 1500m run. Guffey finished the race in fourth place with a time of 4:55.23 while Rauch finished sixth with a time of 4:56.95. Guffey also placed sixth in the 800m run with a time of 2:24.02. La’Keisha Hayes competed in the women’s long jump, finishing 10^th with a 30-2 mark.

Cam Hinz placed fifth in the 400m dash with a time of :50.37. In the 800m run, LeRoy Haynes won his heat en route to an eighth place finish with a time of 2:00.66. Tye Walker came close to his personal best with a 10:21.72 mark in his first 3,000m steeplechase of the season. Manny Juarez finished 14^th in the 1500m run with a time of 4:10.32 while Stephen Hughes completed the race with a time of 4:21.75.

The Lady Lakers and Lakers have next week off before competing at the Cumberland College Invitational April 15.

April 1, 2000

Emory Classic @ Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.

Individual Results