Clay Knight running for North Greenville University 

By Samuel Robinson 

Sam.robinson@tryondailybulletin.com 

 

CENTRAL, S.C.—The North Greenville University men and women’s track teams competed at Southern Wesleyan University on Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6 at the Susan Rouse Invitational. Among the North Greenville University (NGU) competitors there are four Landrum High School graduates.  

 

NGU Freshman Clay Knight competes in both Cross Country and Track and Field for NGU is the only Landrum graduate on the men’s’ team. Knight competed for Landrum High School Cross Country for a total of 6 years; he was in and out of the varsity squad while still in the 7th and 8th grade at Campobello Gramling. Knight was a crucial part of the 9-man varsity team at Landrum from his freshman year through graduation.  

 

Knight also competed for Landrum in Track and Field in the one-mile, two– mile, and the 800–meter races. Knight said he always preferred long distance races, which saw him favor the 8 and 10–kilometer races when he transitioned to the college level. 

 

The NGU Crusaders had a strong meet at the Susan Rouse Invitational with many individual honors.  

“We had many individual winners and many strong performances all around from the men and women’s team,” Knight said. “I love being apart of this team and running has been such a big part of my life for such a long time. I had always thought about continuing at the college level and that has been a goal of mine for so long.”  

 

The Crusaders have one more regular season meet this season at the University of South Carolina on April 12th and 13th. After the USC meet the Crusaders will have a two-week period of training and preparation before they travel to their Conference Championship. NGU is a part of the Conference Carolinas at the NCAA division II level.  

 

As a freshman Knight has already set several personal bests in the 8–kilometer and 10–kilometer races with times of 27:24 and 35:56 respectively.  

 

Knight said he believes that the Crusaders can go into the conference meet confidently and compete for a top 3 spot on both the men and women’s side of the competition.  

 

“The men’s team is seeded in contention for a 2nd place finish and the women are also hoping to break into the top 3,” Knight said.  

Knight also wanted to give credit to his fellow Landrum graduates, Gracie Valentine, Taylor Harris, and Christen Mahaffey, who are all competitors on the women’s team. 

To follow the NGU Crusaders as they take on Conference Carolina and to view previous meet results visit, http://www.nguathletics.com/mtrack/.