USC Track and Field Heads to NCAA Indoor Championship

March 8, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina’s men’s and women’s track and field teams will take 13 athletes to compete in seven events at the NCAA Indoor Championship held this weekend at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

The women’s team, which was ranked as high as fifth in the country, according to Trackwire, heads to the championship meet with a No. 8 ranking and nine athletes competing in four events. As they have been doing all season, the women are dominating the sprints with four selections each in the 60m, 200m and 400m. Senior All-American and 2004 Olympian Shevon Stoddart will run three events at her last NCAA Indoor Championship, the 200m, 400m and 4x400m relay. Stoddart, who is having a dynamic senior indoor season, is ranked 15th on the 200m performance list with a personal best of 23.55 and seventh in the 400m with another personal best of 52.74.

USC freshmen Natasha Hastings, Amberly Nesbitt and Shalonda Solomon, members of the No. 2-recruiting class in the nation, are also among the selections. Hastings, who currently holds the No. 2 spot on the school’s all-time 400m list with a personal best time of 51.85, is ranked at No. 3 on the performance list and will run both the 400m and 4x400m relay. Nesbitt, who had an outstanding performance at her first SEC Indoor Championship, earning the No. 2 spot on the school’s all-time 60m dash list with a personal best time of 7.31, is ranked 11th on the NCAA performance list. Solomon, the 2004 National Gatorade Athlete of the Year, was selected in both the 60m and 200m, ranked 17th (7.36) and 12th (23.51), respectively.

Other women’s selections include, senior All-American Khalilah Carpenter, who really made her presence known at the SEC Indoor Championship and the Virginia Tech Last Chance Invitational. Carpenter is ranked 14th on the NCAA selections list for the 60m with a time of 7.33 and eighth in 200m with a time of 23.29. Senior All-American Alexis Joyce will also run the 60m, earning the 16th selection with a season best performance of 7.35 last weekend at Virginia Tech. Senior All-American Erica Whipple, who has been ranked all season in the 200m, holds on to the No. 5 spot on the NCAA performance list with a time of 23.24. All-American Tiffany Ross was ranked all season in the 60m hurdles, but holds on to the No. 5 spot on the 400m performance list with a time of 52.43 and will run both the 400m and 4x400m relay, while sophomore All-American Stephanie Smith holds on to the No. 9 spot with a time of 52.87. The 4x400m relay, consisting of Stoddart, Hastings, Smith and Ross, is ranked No. 2 on the performance list with a season best time of 3:30.07.

The men’s team entered the rankings last week at No. 24 after a seventh place finish at the SEC Indoor Championship. They will take four athletes to compete in three events at the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend. Senior captain Rodney Martin and freshman Jason Richardson, along with senior Aaron Luster and freshman Keith Hinnant will represent the Gamecocks.

Martin, who broke the school indoor 200m record twice this season, is ranked No. 4 on the NCAA performance list with a time of 20.59. Martin will run both the 200m and the 4x400m relay. Richardson, the men’s 2004 National Gatorade Athlete of the Year, remained in the top rankings all season in the 60m hurdles and will represent the Gamecocks holding on to the No. 7 selection in the event with a time of 7.75. Luster and Hinnant will join Martin and Richardson for the 4x400m relay, which ranks 10th on the selection list with a time of 3:06.87, the third fastest indoor time in school history.

The Gamecocks will be heading to Fayetteville, Ark. on Wednesday and will be competing at the Randal Tyson Track Center Friday and Saturday, March 11-12. The NCAA Indoor Championship meet schedule and results will be available at www.uscsports.com

2005 USC Men’s and Women’s Track and Field NCAA Indoor Championship Selections

Women’s

60m

11 Amberly Nesbitt 7.31

14 Khalilah Carpenter 7.33

16 Alexis Joyce 7.35

17 Shalonda Solomon 7.36

200m

5 Erica Whipple 23.24

8 Khalilah Carpenter 23.29

12 Shalonda Solomon 23.51

15 Shevon Stoddart 23.55