June 8, 2005

Sacramento, Calif. – South Carolina Track and Field Head Coach Curtis Frye made several trips to the stage in recognition of the outdoor season accomplishments of the men’s and women’s teams at Tuesday’s NCAA Outdoor Championship banquet in Sacramento, Calif.

Frye, who is wrapping up his ninth year at USC, received several awards including a third place overall finish in the women’s team power ranking, a system of ranking teams on the basis of quality of athletic performance, team depth, and dual meet scoring potential. Frye was also recognized for the men’s fourth place finish and the women’s second championship title win this season at the NCAA East Regional in New York.

Junior All-American Tiffany Ross-Williams, the 2005 Penn Relays Most Outstanding Athlete, was recognized as the Mondo Southeast District Athlete of the Year, awarded by the United States Track Coaches Association. Frye was also named the district and East Regional Coach of the Year for the women’s division.

“All honors are team honors and I feel blessed to have such great staff around me to help our teams reach their goals,” Frye said. “I feel fortunate to have such outstanding young people around me representing their institution in the classroom, on the track and in the community. I’m humbled by the recognition. This is a great group of young people and now we just have to finish it off here in Sacramento.”

The men’s and women’s teams kick-off NCAA Outdoor Championship action today at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento. The first event in the field for the Gamecocks is the men’s long jump qualifying round at 4:30 p.m., while round one the women’s 4x100m relay will get competition started on the track at 4 p.m. Results will be available immediately following the events at www.ncaasports.com.