Jan. 21, 2006

Gainesville, Fla. – The nationally-ranked University of South Carolina track & field squad had another impressive performance, as they competed at the Gator Invitational on Saturday.

The USC women, led by Chelsea Hammond and Amberly Nesbitt, showed why they are the number three-ranked team in the country, garnering several NCAA qualifying marks on Saturday. Hammond won the long jump competition with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 6.51 meters (21-4.25) and had an NCAA provisional mark in the high jump, clearing 1.78 meters (5-10.00) to finish second. Nesbitt claimed the 55-meter title, breaking the tape in an automatic qualifying time of 6.73 seconds, and turned in a provisional mark in the 200 with a time of 23.78 seconds on the flat track.

Other highlights on the women’s side included Cheryl Terrio setting a school record in winning the pole vault with an NCAA provisional mark of 3.97 meters (13-0.25); Shalonda Solomon taking fourth in the 55 meters and placing second in the 200 with a pair of provisional times of 6.84 and 23.74 seconds respectively; and Ronetta Alexander finishing second in the 55-meter hurdles with a provisional time of 7.74 seconds.

“The women had an awesome day,” said Carolina head coach Curtis Frye. “They should stay in the top three in the country after this performance. Chelsea (Hammond) jumped 21 feet again today (in the long jump) and high jumped 5-10, which will probably get her to the NCAAs. (Amberly) Nesbitt is having a great season. She ran great in the 55 and when you convert her time, she has a really fast 200. Shalonda Solomon PR’d in the 60 and ran well in the 200, Ronetta Alexander ran well, and we got 13 feet – a school record – out of Cheryl Terrio in the pole vault.”

The USC men, ranked 18th in the nation in the initial Trackwire.com poll, got another strong day from Greig Cryer in the horizontal jumps and from Brook Antonio in the weight throw. Cryer finished second in the long jump with a mark of 7.72 meters (25-4.00), a 5.5 inch improvement over last week, and placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 15.64 meters (51-03.75), a two-inch improvement over last week. Both are NCAA provisional marks. Antonio hurled the 35-pound weight 19.57 meters (64-02.50) to finish second. His effort was a 13-inch improvement over last week’s effort and was an NCAA provisional mark.

“The guys are getting better,” noted Frye. “Greig Cryer PR’d in the triple jump and Brook Antonio had a season-best mark in the weight throw. I was pleased with Keith Hinnant in the open 400 and Johnny Baez, a transfer student who had a good first meet in the 800. It was also a good meet for O.J. Murdock. He made the finals in the 55-meter dash in his first collegiate race. He showed he could be a contributor on the SEC level.”

Here are the Carolina results from Saturday:

MEN:

55 meter Prelims: Leroy Dixon 6.35; O.J. Murdock 6.42; Johnathan Hancock 6.44; Nick Lytle 6.56.

55 meter Finals: 5. Leroy Dixon 6.40; 8. Johnathan Hancock 6.45; 10. Nick Lytle 6.48; 13. O.J. Murdock 6.53.

200 meters: 6. Leroy Dixon 21.71; 16. Johnathan Hancock 22.48; 20. Nick Lytle 22.82.

400 meters: 1. Keith Hinnant 48.37; 4. Adrian Durant 49.45; 6. Jamil James 49.60.

800 meters: 5. Johnny Baez 1:53.13; 12. Sean Leyh 1:57.67; 14. Shawn Cunningham 1:59.96.

Mile Run: 19. Matt Hoffman 4:33.85.

55m Hurdles Prelims: Thomas Hilliard 7.55; 22. Curt McGill 8.15; 23. Greg Royster 8.29.

55m Hurdles Finals: Thomas Hilliard DQ.

4x400m Relay: 2. USC (Jamil James, Johnny Baez, Adrian Durant; Keith Hinnant) 3:15.85.

Weight Throw: 2. Brook Antonio 19.57m (64-2.50); 8. Jason Cook 16.49m (54-1.25); 11. Tyler Trout 15.10m (49-6.50); 12. David Zaycek 14.92m (48-11.50); 17. Anthony Faulkner 13.96m (45-9.75).

Long Jump: 2. Greig Cryer 7.72m (25-4.00); 12. Derek Pressley 6.50m (21-4.00); 14. Curt McGill 6.22m (20-5.00).

Triple Jump: 3. Greig Cryer 15.64m (51-3.75); 9. Derek Pressley 14.34m (47-0.75).

Pole Vault: 4. Dan McKenzie 4.90m (16-0.75); 8. Greg Royster 4.60m (15-1.00); -. Trey Bell NH.

High Jump: -. Curt McGill NH.

Shot Put: 9. David Zaycek 15.17m (49-9.75); 10. Jim Mitchell 15.08m (49-5.75); 14. Jason Cook 13.37m (43-10.50.

WOMEN:

55 meter Prelims: Amberly Nesbitt 6.78; Shalonda Solomon 6.93.

55 meter Finals: 1. Amberly Nesbitt 6.73; 4. Shalonda Solomon 6.84.

200 meters: 2. Shalonda Solomon 23.74; 3. Amberly Nesbitt 23.78; 12. Faraign Giles 25.35; 19. Ronetta Alexander 25.76.

400 meters: 3. Chiquita Martin 56.17; 10. Bailey Lewis 59.00; 11. Dishari’ck Howze 59.32; 12. Nikeshia Brown 59.38; Faraign Giles FS.

800 meters: 4. Shay Shelton 2:07.40; 17. Chelsea Kaczmarek 2:23.58; 21. Anna Petrov 2:26.57.

Mile Run: 12. Nicki Breves 5:18.71.

3000 meters: 7. Rebecca Chain 10:15.52; 11. Nicki Breves 10:34.28.

55m Hurdles Prelims: Ronetta Alexander 7.86; Chelsea Hammond 8.04; Brittney James 8.07; Kettiany Clarke 8.23; Chiquita Martin 8.24; Reanna Townsend 8.24; Trier Young 8.25.

55m Hurdles Finals: 2. Ronetta Alexander 7.74; 4. Kettiany Clark 8.06; 5. Brittney James 8.07; 10. Trier Young 8.25; 11. Reanna Townsend 8.26; 15. Chelsea Hammond 8.71; 17. Chiquita Martin 9.44.

4x400m Relay: 3. USC “A” (Chiquita Martin, Faraign Giles, Shay Shelton, Stephanie Smith) 3:45.85; 8. USC “B” (Nikeshia Brown, Dishari’ck Howze, Bailey Lewis, Trier Young) 4:03.62.

Weight Throw: 6. Precious Akins 18.10m (59-4.75)

Long Jump: 1. Chelsea Hammond 6.51m (21-4.25); 5. Brittney James 5.90m (19-4.25); 7. Reanna Townsend 5.68m (18-7.75); 10. Chelsea Kaczmarek 5.35m (17-6.75); Kettiany Clarke Foul; Kemesa Whitmire Foul.

Triple Jump: 2. Kemesha Whitmire 11.94m (39.2.25).

Pole Vault: 1. Cheryl Terrio 3.97m (13-0.25); 8. Marisa Garcia-Quintana 3.43m (11-3.00); Vica Shobe NH; Liza Todd NH.

High Jump: 2. Chelsea Hammond 1.78m (5-10.00); 4. Kettiany Clark 1.67m (5-5.75); 5. Monica Bozenski 1.62m (5-3.75); Brittney James NH; Reanna Townsend NH.

Shot Put: 3. Precious Akins 14.41m (47-3.50).