COLUMBIA, SC – Andrea Foster relied on the strength and endurance accumulated in his rigorous 800-meter training to record a new personal record in the 400 meters on Saturday, running 54.14 seconds to finish fifth overall. After starting the race on track six, Foster crossed the middle mark in second position with a 25.93 split behind South Carolina’s Knowledge Omovoh. With 150 meters remaining, Foster used his powerful stride and constant rotation to chase Omovoh on the back straight and running for the lead when leaving the final corner. Foster’s result surpassed his previous best of 55.04 and served as the 400 fastest indoor race by a female from Clemson in the past three seasons.
400️Women 400 meters ⚡️
Andrea Foster was fifth overall in the event with a new record of 54.14 seconds!
Foster was one of three Tigers to win the personal indoor record in today’s event 👏
📊 – https://t.co/AuqxHCbgoA #ClemsonTrackXC 🧡💜 pic.twitter.com/RKKEdVhg8p
– Clemson Track & Field 🐾 (@ClemsonTrackXC) February 6, 2021
“Andrea has a very wide reach,” said Clemson’s Athletics Director Mark Elliott. “I told her that she could lead a 4 × 400 university relay and a DMR. She is a super athlete and her performance was quite impressive today. “
Clemson won the medley distance relays on Saturday, with women winning at 11:40 am and men at 9:59 am. The female quartet of Laurie Barton (1200), Courtney Williams (400), Leah Disher (800) and Riley Coggin (1600) combined to produce the third fastest time in the country. The result was brought about by Barton’s initial 3: 25.50 split, giving the Tigers a 10 second advantage in the first leg. On the men’s side, John Ward closed at 4: 10.01 to ensure a comfortable victory for the Tigers.
“Our goal is always to have a balanced team,” added Elliott. “We are always very good at DMR and we had to take the time to make sure we were getting ready for ACCs, so they [today’s results] are good things to point out. “
Earlier in the day, Clemson was represented in the men’s and women’s 60 meters hurdles final. Lafranz Campbell ran 8.00 to ensure a comfortable victory in his preliminary heat and later ran 7.88 to finish second in the final. Trishauna Hemmings (8.22) and Kori Carter (8.45) advanced from the qualifiers as time qualifiers, with Hemmings then running 8.24 during the final to finish third.