April 6, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina’s ranked track and field program will host its final outdoor meet of the year, the Gamecock Open Meet, on Wednesday at the Weems Baskin Track Facility. Field events begin at 12:30 p.m., and running events will start at 4 p.m. A full schedule can be found at GamecocksOnline.com.
Nine colleges from the state of South Carolina will participate, including the Gamecock teams that jumped in the national rankings this week after stellar performances at the Pepsi Florida Relays. Competing teams include Belmont Abbey, Benedict, Coker, Francis Marion, Limestone, Morris College, USC-Beaufort and Voorhees.
The men’s team earned a national ranking of No. 9 in the recently released USTFCCCA poll, putting the Gamecocks back into the top 10 range that they held the entire 2009 outdoor season. The ranking is an improvement of two spots from their preseason ranking last week. Additionally, the women’s team jumped three spots to No. 19 in the poll.
The same teams occupied the top five spots in both polls this week, although the four and five spots switched on both the men’s and women’s side. The top five men’s teams are Florida, Texas A&M, Oregon, Texas Tech and Florida; the top five women’s teams are Texas A&M, Oregon, LSU, Florida State and Florida.
Following the meet, South Carolina will return to action this weekend as well when the team travels to Athens, Ga., to compete at the Spec Towns Relays.
