FIU track star Clarissa Cutiff earns second All-America honor

Sports Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Florida International University’s Clarissa Cutliff earned her second All-America honor of the year, sharing the 12th place spot in the high jump finals in the NCAA Track and Field Championships at the University of Oregon's historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.  

Cutliff, who equaled her own school-record during the event, finished the championship earning Second Team All-American honors following her finish.

Her performance closes out the Panthers' 2016-17 athletics season, which proved to be another successful year. 

The reigning Conference USA outdoor high jump champion, Cutliff made quick work of her opening height, surpassing 1.73 meters on her first attempt, and then needed just two attempts to clear 1.78 meters.

Surpassing that height brought her to the third progression of 1.82 meters which is the school-record. Cutliff missed on her first two opportunities and initially ran through on her third attempt. After getting a 15 second warning she successfully hit the mark, tying her own school record. 

Cutliff, however, gently skimmed the bar on the way over which caused it to wobble on the stand before becoming still. It was the fourth time this season that Cutliff jumped 1.82 meters. She also cleared that height in back-to-back meets at the Florida Relays in April and at the University of South Florida, and then at the NCAA East Regional Prelims in Lexington, Kentucky in May.

Cutliff, however could not set a new school-record at 1.85 meter , the fourth progression in the event, missing on all three attempts. 

Saturday was Cutliff's second appearance at an NCAA event this year. In February, Cutliff, also the reigning C-USA indoor high jump champion, earned Second-Team All-America honors finishing 13th with a height of 1.76 meters at the NCAA Championships. 

Cutliff joins fellow high jumper, Chris Sullivan, in earning national recognition at the championships. Sullivan earned Honorable Mention All-America kudos with a top 20 finish in the men's high jump final.