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Troy Assistant Coach Sets American Record

7/27/2015 2:47:00 PM | Track & Field

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Troy track and field assistant coach Michelle Clayton broke a 17-year-old American hammer throw record at the USATF Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships last week at Hodges Stadium.
 
"It was so much fun to be back 'in the saddle' and competing again," Clayton said. "While at the NCAA Championships with Cori, I finally decided that there was no better time than now to get back into throwing! I love competing and the process of preparing is even more fun for me.  I have missed it ever since I finished competing in weightlifting December of 2006.  It gives me an 'escape' and allows me to continue to train. 
 
"This was a great 'comeback', if that can be said.  Though the distance was not exactly what I would have liked to achieve, it is a starting point and I would like to think that there is still a lot more in the tank and I plan to continue striving and working for bigger and better throws!"
 
29496Clayton's throw of 51.63 meters broke the American Master's Outdoor Championship record for the 35-39 year old age group, which was set by Marilyn Senz on August 16, 1998 with a 48.04-meter toss. All six of Clayton's attempts bested Senz's 1998 record. The Masters National Outdoor Championship featured athletes ranging in age from 30-95+. 
 
Clayton, the throws coach for the Trojans, helped sophomore Corina Cox earn Second Team All-America honors in the 2015 season after placing 11th in the discus throw at the 2015 Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Clayton also coached freshman Jaevyn Wortham, who capped off the 2015 season with an eighth place finish in the discus at the USA Junior Nationals.
 
As a student-athlete, Clayton was a four-year, All-America letter winner at East Carolina (1995-99) on the women's track and field team. At the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships she placed ninth in the hammer throw. During her ECU career she dominated in several throwing events and set school records in the indoor 20-pound weight throw and shot put as well as the outdoor shot put, discus and hammer throw.
 
Clayton was a 19-time All-East performer and won Colonial Athletic Association titles in the shot put, discus, and hammer, while being named MVP and setting the conference record in the hammer. She became just the second individual Eastern College Athletic Conference Champion in school history in both the indoor weight throw and outdoor hammer throw.
 
Upon graduation, Clayton qualified for the 2000 and 2004 USA Track and Field Olympic Team Trials in the hammer throw. In 2003 she was ranked seventh in the country and was consistently ranked in the top-10 from 2000 to 2004. Following her track career, Michelle went on to compete for USA Weightlifting finishing third in the country at the Senior Nationals in 2005. 
 
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