Track speedster eyes walking on to football team

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Jul 06 12:27:30 GMT-04:00 2011

The first time that track recruit Elijah Britton will step foot on the Clemson campus will be when he reports for Clemson orientation this fall.

That hasn’t stopped the El Paso, Texas (Montwood High School) speedster from learning all he can about the university, however, and dreaming about the day he joins his two older siblings as collegiate athletes.

His sister is Evonne Britton who runs sprints and hurdles at Penn St., and his brother is Edward Britton, who caught 125 passes for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Mike Leach from 2006-2009.

It was because of his sister, however, that he first met Clemson track coach Lawrence Johnson back in late April and the idea of becoming a Clemson Tiger began to take root.

“I had heard about Clemson’s reputation in both football and track and it is sterling,” Britton told TigerNet this week. “I was at the Drake Relays to watch my sister compete for Penn St., and it turns out that one of the coaches at Penn State [assistant coach Chris Johnson] is the brother to the Clemson coach.

"So I met the Clemson coach, and we sat down and he showed me why he thought it would be a good decision to go to Clemson University. I thought that it would also be neat to have a little sibling rivalry going on – him and his brother and me and my sister.”

The 6-2, 170-pounder, who picked Clemson over Michigan St. and Iowa St., said that he plans to run the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles at Clemson, as well as competing for a spot on the Tigers’ 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams. Britton’s best marks in track include times of 22.7 in the 200 meters, 14.01 in the 110-meter hurdles and 38.28 in the 300-meter hurdles, as well a 21-05 long jump.

However, he also runs a 4.3 second 40-yard dash, and he said he would love to compete for a spot on Dabo Swinney’s football team.

“I know a lot about the football program,” he said. “I am looking forward to sitting down with the football coaches and seeing where I can fit in there as well. I play defensive back, but I can also play receiver. But I mostly played defensive back throughout my high school career, and I returned kicks. I am getting a scholarship for track, but going out for football is a great opportunity for me. It is really good having older siblings who know the circumstances and know what I am going through.”

In football, he averaged 6.7 tackles per game and had 15 passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.

"I really like the program, the school is good and I love the coaching staff,” Britton said. “I can’t wait to compete against some of the nation's best."