Jan. 16, 2008

AUBURN, Ala. -

Complete Meet Notes in PDF Format

The Auburn men's and women's track and field teams will open the 2008 indoor track and field season at the Clemson Invitational, Friday and Saturday (Jan. 18-19), at the Clemson Indoor Track and Field Complex. Thirty-four Tigers (19 women and 15 men) are scheduled to make the trip to Clemson for the meet.

The meet begins Friday at 5 p.m. ET with the men's distance medley relay. Saturday's competition begins with the men's 60M hurdles and four field events at 11 a.m.

"We're excited to get the ball rolling," said head coach Ralph Spry. "The first meet of the year we don't put any pressure on our athletes. We just want to get a measuring stick of where we are. All we try to do this first meet is have them get out there, line up and compete. There will be some good teams there, so we'll just try to establish ourselves and get a sense of where we are."

Auburn will not be sending a full squad, giving a large number of first-year athletes a chance to perform. Ten of the 19 women scheduled to compete will be making their collegiate track and field debuts, while four men will also be competing collegiately for the first time in track and field. The Tigers will focus on primarily giving their runners and a few jumpers a chance to compete, while holding out most of the throwers.

Auburn will compete against three nationally-ranked men's teams and one ranked women's team this weekend. Top-ranked Florida State headlines the men's field, while No. 14 Clemson and No. 16 Georgia are also competing. The lone women's squad in the field is No. 23 Georgia. The Auburn men are ranked No. 22 in the preseason poll, while the women just missed a national ranking. Both squads finished fifth at last year's NCAA Indoor Championships.

The competition is rounded out by teams from Alabama, Anderson, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Florida A&M, Gardner-Webb, Georgia Tech, Jacksonville, Johnson C. Smith, Mississippi State, North Carolina Central, NC State, South Carolina Upstate, Troy and Wake Forest.

The Tigers will be making their ninth trip to the Clemson indoor event and their fourth in as many seasons. Auburn opened the 2007 indoor season with four wins and seven NCAA qualifying marks at the Clemson Invitational. The men placed second out of nine teams in the scored meet, while the women finished sixth out of 13 squads.

More information on the meet can be found on Clemson's website at www.clemsontigers.com.