April 23, 2005
Athens, Ga. – South Carolina men’s and women’s track and field teams performed well despite cold and windy conditions at the 28th Spec Towns Invitational in Athens, Ga. The Gamecocks were among 16 collegiate programs in the meet that kicked-off at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at the University of Georgia Spec Towns Track.
Highlighting the women’s performances was sophomore thrower Precious Akins, who earned two regional qualifying marks on Saturday. Akins threw for a personal best distance of 47’11 ¾ for fourth place in the shot put, while also throwing 172’5 in the hammer finishing third. Also in the field, junior All-American Kemesha Whitmire continues to make significant contributions, jumping a regional qualifying mark of 20’1 ¾ for second place in long jump, while Chelsea Hammond leaped 19’11, also a regional qualifying mark, for third place. Whitmire also finished third in the triple jump with a mark of 40’11 ¾.
Also in the field, junior vaulter Cheryl Terrio earned third place and another regional qualifying mark with a height of 12’11 ½ in the pole vault, while junior Moncia Bozenski earned a mark of 5’5 for fourth place in the high jump.
On the track, senior All-American Shevon Stoddart won the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.78, with junior All-American Tawana Watkins finishing behind her in second place with a time of 59.79, both regional qualifying times. Sophmore All-American Chiquita Martin finished in fourth place with a time of 1:01.59. Leading the Gamecocks in the women’s 100m hurdles was junior All-American Tiffany Ross-Williams who ran 12.99 for second place overall and the top collegiate finish. Ross-Williams’ time was a personal best and tied for the second fastest 100m hurdles time in school history. Sophmore All-American Ronnetta Alexander finished third with a time of 13.45, while Stoddart and Martin finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
In sprint events, freshman All-American Shalonda Solomon won the 100m dash with a regional qualifying time of 11.63, while freshman All-American Amberly Nesbitt finished third, also with a regional qualifying time of 11.74. Freshman All-American Natasha Hastings earned her first win since returning for the outdoor season last week. Hastings won the 400m dash with a regional qualifying time of 53.45, while mid-distance runner Shay Shelton stepped in and finished third with a regional qualifying time and personal best of 54.51.
Mid-distance runner Jenny Lake finished sixth in the 800m with a time of 2:17.61, while also finishing third in the 1,500m with a time of 4:34.24. South Carolina women’s relays had another good meet with second and third place finishes in the 4x100m (44.51) and 4x400m (3:49.74) relays.
Highlighting the men’s team on the track, Gamecock William Emase finished second in the 800m with a time of 1:51.52, while freshman All-American hurdler Jason Richardson earned a seventh place finish in the 400m hurdles with a time of 52.88. The men’s 4x100m relay finished third with a time of 40.82.
In the field, Trey Bell had another good performance with a second place finish in the pole vault with a height of 16’0 ¾, while Dan McKenzie finished fourth with a height of 15’7. Thrower Joseph Schroeder continues to show improvement with a seventh place finish in the discus, throwing 160’0, while also finishing fifth in the javelin with a distance 193’0. Also in the field, freshman jumper Derek Pressley leaped 22’3 ½ in the long jump, while finishing second in the triple jump with a leap of 48’3 ½.
“We had a good day,” said USC Head Coach Curtis Frye. “It was some tough weather, but our athletes did well. They are continuing to have great performances and are preparing themselves for SECs which are in just a few weeks.”
The Gamecocks will be heading to Philadelphia, Pa. on Thursday for the Penn Relays on April 28-30th. Results will be available following the meet at www.uscsports.com
