March 18, 2004

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s track and field teams open up the outdoor portion of their 2004 season at home this weekend with the Weems Baskin Relays in Columbia. The meet begins Friday with field events at 2 p.m. and running events at 5 p.m. with the last scheduled race at 6:15 p.m. The two-day meet continues Saturday with both field and running events slated for an 11 a.m. start and lasting throughout the day with the final race slated for 4:10 p.m.

The Gamecocks return five women and two men who earned All-American honors during the 2003 outdoor season. USC’s women earned their eighth consecutive top-ten outdoor finish and are one of only three programs to make that claim. In 2003, Carolina’s women finished third and the men tenth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

USC is coming off a 10th-place women’s finish and a 14th-place men’s finish at last weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Tony Allmond led the way for the Gamecocks with a runner-up finish in the long jump, breaking his own school record in the process. Allmond placed second at last season’s NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Carolina placed fifth on the women’s side and seventh on the men’s side at the SEC Indoor Championships in February.

This weekend’s Weems Baskin Relays is one of two home meets for the Gamecocks this season with the April 7 South Carolina State Championships also being held in Columbia.

A complete schedule of events for the Weems Baskin Relays is available at USCsports.com.