May 23, 2007

South Carolina’s track teams qualified 12 women in 10 events plus its two relays (4×1, 4×4) and the men have qualified 10 men in eight events + its two relays for the NCAA East Region Championships May 25-26 in Gainesville, Fla. The top five in each event advance to the NCAA Championships June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif.

The women are looking to win their third straight East Region title and the men were a program-high third last year. The women are currently ranked No. 3 nationally and the men No. 24.

USCsports.com sat down with a number of the athletes competing at the meet this week. The following is a chat the media relation’s office had with Goose Creek, S.C. native Tyler Trout about the NCAA East Region Championship. Trout will compete in the hammer and discus this weekend.

USC: This weekend you are going to Regionals and you need to finish top five in your event to make the NCAA Championships. What have you done since the SEC Championship to prepare?

TT: Well, you don’t want to work too hard. You want to try and prepare yourself mentally and be focused throughout the whole two weeks of practice. You need to train, but not over-train and not do too much hard lifting. Just focus on what you have to do.

USC: What was your favorite SEC moment?

TT: That was last week when I threw the hammer at the SEC Outdoor meet. When you really have been doing it for such a long time, you really know what a good throw is, and I just experienced one good throw. It was amazing. I had one of the best series I’ve ever had in the hammer. That one throw was just huge and it was my proudest moment.

USC: You’ve been on the Dean’s List, how do you balance school and competition?

TT: That’s a rough one. I’m a big procrastinator and I always wait until the last minute and then I pull an all-nighter at the end. It has worked for me so far, but I wouldn’t advise it to anyone. That’s how I get things done. I have to be on the deadline, and I will usually stay up late night until I finish what I have to do

USC: Do you have any superstitions?

TT: My superstitions are more like morals, I guess. If you do things right, like picking up trash and helping people out then you’ll succeed more.

USC: What events are you competing in?

TT: The discus and the hammer–those are the only two I compete in outdoors.

USC: What are your goals for Regionals?

TT: Obviously, to get top five, but to get top five I have to PR in both events. I would like to go to Nationals in both the discus and the hammer.

USC: What sports did you play growing up?

TT: Football, and I played a little baseball, but it got too political. So, I did track instead of baseball. I was going to be a runner, but I got too tired while I was running and ran off the field, and decided I was going to be a thrower. I tried to play basketball, but that didn’t work out too well.

USC: What is the best lesson you’ve learned in life?

TT: Treat everybody the way you want to be treated and get interested in everything you can because it goes by really fast. This is my last year as a track and field athlete, and so the best lesson to me is just do everything as much as you can before it all ends.

USC: What do you want Gamecock fans to know about you?

TT: I’m a really outgoing guy, very personable. I’m a Gamecock for life and I’m a big nerd. I love to laugh and smile and, I’ve just had a great time since I’ve been here”

USC: What is your favorite thing about Carolina?

TT: The people. I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. I love hanging out with as many people as I can, and I love talking to people at Carolina. There is so much friendliness and the atmosphere is a great place to be.

USC: Is there anything people would be surprised to know about your athletically?

TT: I did run the mile in 5 minutes and 36 seconds. I also broke the thrower record for our 30m run–I ran it in 3.45 seconds”

USC: What do you do in your free time?

TT: I really just like to hang out with my friends and eat. I feel like all we do is eat when I’m with my friends. We just eat and hang out at the house. We also go to the river. We float down the river. That’s a great time. We have a huge 9X9 ft tube, and it fits like six or seven of us on there and we just float down the river.