Clemson Student Wins Opener of 2011 South Carolina Series

Smith runs away with victory at Doug Harris Memorial

Bryson Smith took advantage of home-course knowledge to win the XTERRA Doug Harris Memorial Trail Run on Saturday, March 12, at Clemson, S.C.

Smith, who is a senior at Clemson University, won the 10-kilometer trail run at Issaqueena Forest with a time of 43 minutes, 20 seconds.

Carl Epley of Rockwood, Tenn., placed second with a time of 45:48, and Eric Segale of Atlanta was third in 46:09.

Considering the distance of the course, it was an impressive margin of victory for the 22-year-old Smith.

"I've spent a good bit of time trail running and mountain biking on the course, and knew that the last mile would be all uphill," he said. "Thus, I tried to establish an early advantage and led pretty much from start to finish."

Smith is on schedule to graduate from Clemson this May, and plans to attend law school in the fall. He is a member of the Clemson Running Club.

Katie Hester of Atlanta won the female division and placed 11th overall with a time of 55:51.

The race has been held every year since 2007 in memory of Doug Harris, a Clemson University student and member of Detachment 770 Air Force ROTC who died in a tragic accident on Nov. 11, 2006 at the age of 18. Proceeds from this race will go to The Doug Harris Memorial Scholarship Fund at Clemson University.

It was also the first of three events in the 2011 XTERRA South Carolina Trail Run Series. The next event in the series is the XTERRA Harbison Trail Run at Columbia, S.C., on July 10. For more information visit www.xterratrailrun.com.

For complete results from the Doug Harris Memorial Trail Run, please visit www.dougharrisrun.org or www.xterratrailrun.com.

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