March 9, 2006
Eleven members of the University of South Carolina men’s and women’s track & field program will take part in the 2006 NCAA Track & Field Championships, Friday and Saturday at the Tyson Indoor Complex on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.
The USC women enter the meet ranked in a tie for eighth with Providence and Miami (Fla.) in the latest Trackwire.com poll, while the men are in a tie for 17th overall with Nebraska and Kansas State. The women are slated to score 22 points while the men are picked to finish with 13.
The meet gets underway on Friday with the first event featuring a USC athlete being the women’s long jump at 4 p.m. CT. The final event, the women’s 4×400 meter relay, is set for Saturday at 8:20 p.m. CT.
Here are brief bios of the 11 USC participants:
Ronnetta Alexander, 60-Meter Hurdles
Sophomore
Williamsville, N.Y. (Williamsville South)
Sophomore hurdler who is ranked ninth on the Trackwire Dandy Dozen list entering the national meet… tied for the ninth-fastest time in the nation this season with a mark of 8.17 seconds… finished second at the SEC Indoor Champion-ships with a time of 7.60 seconds over 55 meters… has one All-America certificate as part of the fourth-place 4×100 meter relay unit at the 2004 outdoor championships… did not compete in the 2005 indoor season due to injuries… finished 12th in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor meet.
Greig Cryer, Long Jump/Triple Jump
Senior
N. Charleston, S.C. (R.B. Stall)
Senior who has qualified for the national meet in both the long and triple jumps… ranked fourth in the long jump and ninth in the triple jump according to Trackwire’s Dandy Dozen… enters the national meet with the fourth-best mark in the long jump (7.84m) and the eighth-best mark in the triple jump (15.98m)… finished second in the long jump and third in the triple jump at the SEC Championships… is a two-time national qualifier in the long jump during the outdoor season (2003 and 2005), but is looking for his first All-America certificate.
Leroy Dixon, 200 Meters
Senior
South Bend, Ind. (Lasalle/KCK CC)
Senior who came on strong at the end of the indoor season… ranked sixth in the 200 meters by Trackwire.com… tied for the eighth-fastest time in the country at 21.01 seconds… finished fourth at the SEC Championships with a time of 21.31 after running 21.37 in the prelims… named the USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Track Athlete of the Year… owns one All-America certificate after placing ninth in the 2005 100-meter dash.
Chelsea Hammond, Long Jump/Pentathlon
Senior
Elmont, N.Y. (Memorial)
Senior competing in her last collegiate meet… trying to overcome a foot injury which has limited her performances over the last month… ranks eighth in the long jump and 11th in the pentathlon in Trackwire’s Dandy Dozen despite holding the nation’s second-longest long jump (6.52m) and seventh-highest pentathlon point total (4014)… was third in the long jump and fifth in the pentathlon at the SEC Indoor meet… is a three-time All-American.
Natasha Hastings, 4×400 Meter Relay
Sophomore
Rosedale, N.Y. (A. Phillip Randolph Campus)
Sophomore quartermiler who was hampered for much of the indoor season with plantar fasciitis… slated to run the leadoff leg on the 4×400 meter relay team… best open 400 meter time this season was 53.88… is a three-time All-American… was part of the 4×4 unit that won the gold at this meet a year ago, but did not run in the relay after being injured in the finals of the 400.
Chiquita Martin, 4×400 Meter Relay
Junior
Anderson, S.C. (Westside)
Junior who steps into the 4×400 meter relay slot vacated by the injured Stephanie Smith… penciled in for the second leg… has earned one All-America certificate as an alternate on the 2004 4×4 relay team at the outdoor meet.
Amberly Nesbitt, 60 Meters/200 Meters
Sophomore
Greenville, S.C. (J.L. Mann)
Sophomore who enters the national meet as one of the favorites to win the 60-meter dash… ranked third in the 60 and fifth in the 200 by Trackwire.com… owns the nation’s second-fastest time in the 60 (7.21) and sixth-fastest time in the 200 (23.41)… was second at the SEC meet in the 60 and fifth in the 200… is a two-time All-American… missed the finals in the 60 a year ago by two-hundredths of a second.
Jason Richardson, 60-Meter Hurdles
Sophomore
Cedar Hills, Texas (Cedar Hill)
Sophomore hurdler who has been plagued by injuries for much of the indoor season… finished fourth at the SEC Indoor meet, then ran a season-best 7.83 at the Last Chance Meet to sqeeze into the national meet with the 13th-best time… ranked fourth by Trackwire.com based on his two bronze medal performances in the straight hurdles at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Shay Shelton, 800 Meters/4×400 Relay
Junior
Mesquite, Texas (Mesquite)
Junior who was the only Carolina athlete to take gold at the SEC Championships, winning the 800 meters… took nearly a second off her previous fastest time to win the Last Chance Meet in 2:06.05, punching her ticket to Fayetteville… owns the 11th-fastest time entering the meet, but is ranked eighth on Trackwire.com’s Dandy Dozen… also will run the third leg on the 4×400-meter relay… appearing in her first NCAA meet.
Shalonda Solomon, 60/200/4×400 Relay
Sophomore
Inglewood, Calif. (Long Beach Poly)
Workhorse on the squad who will compete in three events… ranked second in the 200 and seventh in the 60 by Trackwire.com… owns the nation’s fastest time in the 200 (22.89) and the sixth-fast time in the 60 (7.25)… also runs the anchor leg on the 4×4… finished second in the 200 and and fifth in the 55-meter dash at the SEC Championships… is a four-time All-American… finished fifth in the 200 here a year ago (23.15) and ran the anchor leg on the gold medal-winning 4×400 meter relay. (3:30.01).
Cheryl Terrio, Pole Vault
Senior
Florence, S.C. (West Florence)
Senior who holds the indoor and outdoor school records in the pole vault… set the indoor record this season when she cleared 4.12m, tying for the nation’s eighth best mark… tied for fifth at the SEC meet… was a 2005 outdoor national qualifier.
