Padgett sets collegiate mark

Eugene, ORE. — Clemson junior Travis Padgett blazed to a collegiate record time of 9.89 seconds in the men's 100-meter quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

His performance was the best ever by a collegiate sprinter, ahead of the previous best of 9.92 set by UCLA's Ato Boldon in 1996. Padgett advanced to today's semifinals.

"I think it went well and I didn't expect to run that fast," Padgett said. "This is a fast track and the conditions were right today. I hope I can continue to run faster from here on out."

Padgett entered the weekend with a personal best time of 9.96, set earlier this season in a home meet. He was NCAA runner-up in the event just two weeks ago, where he earned his third straight All-America honor in the 100 meters.

He started out solid by winning his heat in the preliminary round. Padgett posted a time of 10.06 with a slight tailwind.

In the quarterfinal round, the Shelby, N.C., native got out to an outstanding start and ran a smooth race, winning the race with a legal (+1.6 wind) time of 9.89 seconds ahead of runner-up Rodney Martin in 9.95. Padgett's time was second best of the day, behind only reigning world champion Tyson Gay, who ran an American record 9.77.

South Carolina's Johnny Dutch, the Southeastern Conference freshman runner of the year and school-record holder in the men's 400-meter hurdles, placed fourth in the 400 hurdles semifinals at 48.71. His run marked an improvement of 11 spots from his performance in Friday's quarterfinal round as he prepares for today's final.

Dutch ran a 49.96 for 15th overall in the preliminaries.

Other current Gamecocks who competed were Chris Steddum and Tony Almond. Steddum cleared 17 feet, 8 1/2 inches in the men's pole vault to place 14th; Almond hit 24-9 1/4 in the long jump for 18th place.

Mitch Greeley competed in the pole vault for Clemson. The senior finished his career with a no-height at the starting jump of 17-8 1/2. He was a three-time All-American.