Mark Elliott

Clemson University announced yesterday that it was reversing its initial decision in November 2020, to end the men’s programme after what they said was months of discussion with student-athletes, their representatives, families, supporters and others, Clemson University and the Department of Athletics.

“In addition, Clemson Athletics will add one or more women’s varsity sports in its continuing commitment to gender equity and to supporting our female students’ championship aspirations. A decision on which sport(s) to be added will be made in the near future,” Clemson said in a statement yesterday.

The news was music to the ears of Elliott, his coaching staff that includes Assistant Coach Lennox Graham, and student athletes.

“They did reverse their decision and all of us are excited about it, coaches, parents, athletes, all those who had stepped up to support the programme,” Elliott told Sportsmax.TV this morning.

“It was a great day for Clemson’s track and field and for track and field on a whole.”

Clemson is home to a number of Caribbean athletes, mostly Jamaican, who had taken up scholarships at the University. Among them are athletes like Fabian Hewitt, LaFrenz Campbell, Rayon Holmes, Zico Campbell and Rojae Stona.

Clemson had committed to honouring those scholarships but some of them might have been considering transfers to other schools.

Elliott, who has been at Clemson since 2013, believes that this should no longer be an issue as the process of transferring would not start until the end of the season.

The news was also welcomed by school president Jim Clements.

“This is the right decision for our University, our Department of Athletics and, most importantly, for the young men and women who proudly wear the Clemson uniform,” said Clements. “I am thrilled that we are able to continue these men’s programs and I am excited for the new varsity opportunities we will soon be adding for our female student-athletes.”

Last November, Clemson Athletics Director Dan Radakovich shocked the NCAA track and field community by announcing that the school would ending their men’s track programme at the end of the 2020/21 season citing a projected shortfall in revenues of US$25 million.

He said by ending the programme, the money saved would be reinvested into other athletic department initiatives, including the remaining Olympic sports and will help to provide additional financial stability moving forward.

Elliott, who joined Clemson in 2013 after 12 years as an assistant coach at Louisiana State University, was caught off guard when the Division I school announced the unthinkable late last week.

Athletics Director Dan Radakovich delivered the devastating news last Thursday, November 5. In a letter posted on the university’s website, he wrote:

“After consultation and communication with President Clements and the Board of Trustees, I have made the difficult decision to discontinue sponsorship of the men’s track and field program effective June 2021. The program includes indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country.

After a long period of deliberative discussion and analysis we concluded that discontinuing our men’s track and field program is in the best long-term interests of Clemson Athletics. While this decision comes during the significant financial challenges due to the ongoing pandemic, those challenges are just one of many factors that led to this decision. We will continue to honor all student-athlete scholarships and provide them with support as they work towards earning their degrees. “

He said the school would also honour the contracts of the six coaches employed by the school, which basically means until the end of the 20/21 season.

The athletic director said several factors contributed to the decision including, but not limited to: competitive balance, gender equity and Title IX compliance, financial positioning, impact on diversity among student-athletes and staff, and local and national  interest and participation in the sport.

“The annual $2-million plus in savings will be reinvested into other athletic department initiatives, including our remaining Olympic sports and will help to provide additional financial stability moving forward. The Department of Athletics has already undertaken several significant measures to address a projected resource shortfall of $25 million this fiscal year,” he rationalized.

Elliott told Sportsmax.TV he was stunned by the news.

“It came as a big surprise. I had no knowledge. I found out about an hour and a half after the student-athletes were told by the athletic director,” he said. “They (student-athletes) were caught off guard and they’re still trying to process it, just like we are.”

Jamaica currently has about five or six male athletes on scholarship at Clemson among them Fabian Hewitt, LaFrenz Campbell, Rayon Holmes, Zico Campbell and Rojae Stona. Of the five, three – Hewitt, Campbell and Holmes - are due to graduate this academic year but they will still have college eligibility.

What this means is that if any of them were planning to continue to pursue further college competition and eventually transition to the professional ranks, they will likely consider transfers to other schools. Elliott reveals that if that turns out to be the case, then he will do everything to help them find new schools.

“They would have to seek alternatives and I and the coaches would help them along that path,” Elliott said.

Besides the athletes, at least 50 per cent of the athletics coaching staff that includes Lennox Graham, are likely to lose their jobs as under NCAA rules, the number coaches a school can employ depends on whether the number of programmes they have.

“It affects everyone, three of us or six of us could be gone,” Elliott said while explaining why for him the situation is so regrettable.

“Track and field is what got me to where I am today. My parents could not afford to send me to college so I got a scholarship just like these young men,” he said.

“It hurts on many levels. This is my livelihood too but I don’t view it as that alone. It is an opportunity to give opportunity to those like myself. It does hurt.”

It is why he say wants this coming season to be one of Clemson’s best ever.

“The focus is on the student-athletes to be able to be competitive. That is where the focus is right now. Life offers you challenges. How you respond is what makes the difference. We will try to get them to reconsider," he said. 

Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich made the announcement this afternoon saying that the programmes to be discontinued include indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country. Radakovich said the university will honour the contracts of the coaches through to their full term, which means that the coaches will be paid up until June 2021.

Clemson Athletics will also honour the scholarships of all impacted student-athletes through their undergraduate years at the level of financial aid that they are presently receiving, the statement said.

The NCAA-maximum number of allowable scholarships for men’s track is 12. Clemson’s 12 scholarships are presently split among 26 student-athletes, 15 of whom are scheduled to graduate by August 2021.

Clemson also supports an additional 25 walk-on student-athletes in the program.

“This difficult decision is a result of an exhaustive examination of our athletics department over the past several  months,” said Radakovich. “After careful analysis, we concluded that discontinuing our men’s track and field  program is in the best long-term interest of Clemson Athletics. This decision impacts incredible student-athletes,  and we know how hard they work and the effort and pride they take in representing Clemson University.”

Head Coach Mark Elliott’s phone went unanswered when Sportsmax.TV called today. He took the Clemson head coaching position in 2013 after spending 12 years as an assistant coach at Louisiana State University.

Notably, Jamaican Olympian and 800m national record holder, Natoya Goule, who won an NCAA title under Elliott’s watch, followed him to Clemson that year.

Assistant Coach Lennox Graham (hurdles and long sprints) joined the coaching staff in 2017 after spending a decade at Johnson C Smith University where he enjoyed tremendous success guiding 27 athletes to NCAA Division II championships titles, both indoors and outdoors.

In a brief comment to Sportsmax.TV, he said he just heard the news prior to being called and that he was still processing it.

Graham’s professional club, TRS, currently trains at Clemson. Danielle Williams, the 2015 World 100m champion, Kyron McMaster, the Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion and World Championship 400m hurdles finalist Leah Nugent are all members of the club.

Men’s track and field has been sponsored at Clemson since 1953, claiming 23 combined ACC Team Championships, 16 individual NCAA champions, 22 Olympians and four Olympic Gold Medalists.

Meanwhile, Jamaican-born Mark Elliott was named Southeast Region Men’s Head Coach of the Year.

Alfred, who hails from St Lucia, the South Central Region Female Track Athlete of the Year, capped a record-breaking, undefeated season at the 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where she won the 100, 200 and led off the winning 4×100 relay.

Her wind-aided mark in the 100-meter final of 10.72 equaled the fastest all-conditions effort in collegiate history, while her wind-aided mark in the 200 of 21.73 is the fastest all-conditions time in collegiate history. Alfred ran the opening leg of a Texas 4×100 relay that obliterated the collegiate record twice this season, ultimately to 41.55 in Austin.

Smith, who hails from Clarendon, Jamaica, is the South Central Female Field Athlete of the Year. She won the long jump and finished runner-up in the triple jump at the 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Her mark in the triple jump of 14.54m made her the third-best performer in collegiate history. Smith made waves at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, too, when she soared 7.08m in the long jump to become the second-best performer in collegiate history behind Tara Davis. 

Hibbert, who won more than a handful of awards in this is freshman year, was the co-South Central Region Field Athlete of the Year.

Hibbert, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, capped an undefeated season in the triple jump with a victory at the 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He bounded 17.56m to record the fourth-farthest mark in collegiate history.

That was his second-best effort of the season, because earlier at the SEC Outdoor Championships, he shattered the collegiate record – and set an all-time World U20 outdoor best – with his majestic 17.87m, a personal best.

Hibbert’s coach Travis Geopfert, the Associate Head Coach at Arkansas, earns recognition as the Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year in the South Central Region.

Geopfert’s event group played a significant role in Arkansas’ success, scoring 31 of the team’s 53 points, leading them to finish as the NCAA team runner-up.

Notably, Hibbert, a freshman coached by Geopfert, emerged as the SEC Field Athlete of the Year, remaining undefeated in the triple jump and winning the NCAA title by a remarkable two-foot margin. Moreover, Arkansas became only the third school in NCAA history to achieve a 1-2 finish in the long jump, with Carey McLeod and Wayne Pinnock securing the top two positions.

Geopfert’s coaching expertise also contributed to Arkansas winning the SEC team title, with the team scoring 69 out of 149 points. With 11 years of coaching experience at Arkansas, Travis Geopfert specializes in coaching jumps and combined events.

Elliott, the Southeast Region Men’s Head Coach of the Year, in his 10th year as Director of Track & Field at Clemson, led the Tigers to the team title at the ACC Outdoor Championships, winning four events. Clemson was in 10th place the ACC Championships before moving up to win on the final day. His athletes earned six entries to the 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships, including Giano Roberts, who set a school record of 13.31 in the 110 hurdles.

A junior at Clemson, Rhoden, whose lifetime best prior to Saturday was 1:47. 89, clocked 1:46.61, a personal best and facilities record. The time also broke Alex Morgan’s record of 1:46.70 set in Indianapolis in 1996.

Two weeks prior, Navasky Anderson of Mississippi State ran 1:46.58 at the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tennessee, which at the time, was deemed to be the new national indoor record.

However, the track at Vanderbilt University on which the time was achieved, is a 300m track which under World Athletics guidelines, meant that Anderson’s record would not be ratified.

The standard indoor track is 200m.

The development meant Morgan’s record would last a fortnight before Rhoden smashed it on Saturday along with the previous fastest time at that track – 1:50.06 – set by Michigan’s Cole Johnson earlier this year.

“I dreamt of days like this for years,” Rhoden remarked while speaking to Sportsmax.TV on Sunday.

He revealed that he and coach Mark Elliott had prepared for this kind of performance and he was just happy that he managed to pull it off.

“It definitely wasn’t a surprise based off my preparations,” said the former Kingston College middle-distance runner.
“I believe in my coach and his training to get me into shape to do great things.”

During the race Rhoden was always aware that his pace would have taken him to the record and was certain his goal would have been achieved after 600m. The way he put it, he had no choice.

“My coach kept shouting. I heard him every single lap,” Rhoden said.

Rhoden’s accomplishment comes under a year since Anderson ran 1:45.02 to shatter Seymour Newman’s national outdoor record of 1:45.30 that had stood since 1977.

He believes that he and Anderson are charting a path for Jamaica’s current middle-distance runners to follow.

“My friend Navasky did it outdoors so he set the standard for the rest of us to follow,” he said. “

We are just staying hungry and trying to put Jamaica on the 800m map.”

Notwithstanding the new personal mark on the weekend, Rhoden is far from finished. With the NCAA nationals coming up in a fortnight, the 22-year-old athlete has plans of going faster in the near future.

“1:45 indoors is the aim,” he said. “More to come.”