Sport




Cydonie Mothersill

Maybe inspired by the venue, or maybe herrunning shoes where sprinkled with fairy dust, or maybe it wasjust the right moment in time. Whatever the reason, Cydonie Mothersillput on an incredible show at the Atlantic Coach Conference OutdoorTrack and Field Championships this past weekend at the DisneySports Complex.

She set records, and earned four automaticqualifiers for the National Championship. On the first day ofcompetition, the Clemson University senior warmed up by leadingall qualifiers for the women's 100 and 200 metre dashes. Cydonie'stimes, both of which provisionally qualified for the UniversityDivision 1 and National Championships later this were 11:49 and23.18 respectfully. Nevertheless, it was the second day (Sunday)that the Cayman sprinters stood out as she worked her own brandof magic on at the Disney Stadium. In the space of three and ahalf hours Cydonie turned in four amazing performances an afternoonof achievements that most athletes might gain in an entire seasonor not even over a collegiate career.

Action began with the 4 x 100-metre relay.Anchored by Cydonie, the Clemson Squad just missed the conferencerecord while clocking 44.19 seconds, almost a full second aheadof runner up Florida State and automatically qualifying for theNational Championships.

Ninety minutes later, act two of the Mothersillsage took place. Just shy of the conference record by mere nano-second(three-one-hundredths of a second)

Cydonie gained a clear-cut victory in 11.34seconds, provisionally qualifying for the Nationals.

However, before another hour had elapsedanother record was in the books. In a jet-like half lap tour,Cydonie sped throughout the 200 metres, and as the track announcerproclaimed, "Crushed the conference record" at 22.57improving on her result of a week previous, which was then notedas the world' second-faster for the year. Again, she automatically,qualified for the university National Championships.

But Cydonies' still had a bit of magic inher feet for the day. In another record-breaking appearance, Cydoniebroke open a close race with Florida State on the last leg, runningaway with a four-second victory (unofficially clocking 53.1 forher segment) and setting a new conference record at 3:33.51. Thisgave her and her team another automatic qualifier for the Nationals.

Four events, four victories, all in a day'swork and a great contribution to Clemson's second-place finish.Coach Marica Flether said: "There are some athletes you knowwill step up when needed. Cydonie is one of these."

Clemson will compete at the Penn Relaysthis week and will seek further opportunities to meet potentialopponents prior to the national championships

Cydonie literally jumped up and down withjoy when her 200 metre heroics were announced and she was veryhappy and was looking forward to participating in the universityNational Championships, as well as to the World Championshipslater in the summer.

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