Jan. 25, 2004
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – South Carolina garnered five victories and 32 top-five finishes while totaling seven NCAA provisional times and one automatic time at the SEC Invitational hosted by the University of Florida.
Rodney Martin, Jr., notched USC’s lone NCAA automatic qualifying time of the day by running a 21.07 to win the men’s 200m for his second victory as a Gamecock. Also victorious for the Carolina men was Shawn Cunningham, who bested the 800m field with a time of 1:55.29.
Shawn Cunningham won the 800m for his first victory of 2004.
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Lashinda Demus won her first race of 2004, pacing the women’s 400m field with an NCAA provisional time of 53.49. USC dominated the race by taking the top four spots as freshman Stephanie Smith placed second with a provisional time of 54.28, Shevon Stoddart finished third with a provisional time of 54.62 and Tawana Watkins was fourth with a time of 56.22.
Carolina women claimed a pair of victories in field events as Cheryl Terrio won her first pole vault of the season with a personal-best mark of 12’4″. Kemesha Whitmire topped the triple jump field with a mark of 40’1.5″.
Also recording provisional marks were Ronnetta Alexander who finished as runner-up in the 55m hurdles with a time of 7.75, Erica Whipple, who was runner-up in the 200m with a time of 23.84, the women’s 4×400 relay team (Smith, Stoddart, Watkins and Demus), who was runner-up to Florida with a time of 3:40.24, and India Odum, who finished third in the shot put with a distance of 52’1″.
Men’s Highlights
Martin also led USC’s 55m hurdlers, finishing as runner-up with a time of 6.37. Teammate Aaron Luster was fifth at 7.60 while Jason Jackamonis finished sixth, Greig Cryer ninth and Taqiy Muhammad, who made his 2004 debut, was tenth. … Steve Mance finished second in the 3000m with a season-best time of 8:40.15 … Luster took third in the 400m with a time of 48.11, followed by Derron Flood in fourth at 48.75 and Charles Ryan in 11th … Freshman Sean Leyh placed third in the 800m with a time of 1:56.05 … Ryan placed sixth in the 55m hurdles with a time of 7.48 and was followed by Fred Townsend in seventh (7.66) and Muhammad in ninth.
In the field, Chris Steddum finished as runner-up in the pole vault by clearing 17’0.75″ and Trey Bell was fifth with a height of 15’7″ … USC had four top-ten long jump finishes including Tony Allmond as runner-up at 24’1.75″, Greig Cryer in third at 24’1.75″, while Jason Jackamonis placed eighth and Fred Townsend ninth … Cryer (47’7.25″) and Jackamonis (42’7″) led Carolina’s triple jumpers with second and fourth-place finishes … Tony Antonio finished fourth in the weight throw with a distance of 56’8.5″ and Jacob Minskey was seventh with a mark of 50’1.25″ … Adam Bishop placed fifth in the shot put with a mark of 51’1.5″.
Women’s Highlights
USC had a 2-3-5-6-7 finish in the 55m hurdles led by Alexander’s provisional mark. Finishing behind the freshman was Stoddart at 8.00, Chiquita Martin (8.40), Reanna Townsend (8.43) and Chelsea Hammond (8.78) … Gamecocks finished 4-5-7 in the 55m dash, led by Whipple’s time of 7.00. Khaliah Carpenter was fifth at 7.07 while Keli Walker finished seventh with a time of 7.45 … Carpenter placed fifth in the 200m (24.52) while Walker finished 12th … Jenny Lake finished fifth in the 3000m with a time of 10:18.53 and was eighth in the mile (5:04.36) … Also among 400m finalists for USC were Martin in sixth at 58.00 and Monica King, who placed 11th … Shay Shelton finished eighth in the 800m with a time of 2:16.35.
In field events, Hammond placed second in the high jump with a mark of 5’8.75″ and third in the long jump with a distance of 18’7.75″ … Townsend placed seventh in both the long jump (17’6.25″) and high jump (5.’2.5″), tying with teammate Monica Bozenski in the latter event … Another pair of freshmen recorded top-ten field event finishes as Precious Akins finished tenth in the shot put with a mark of 38’7.25″ and Marisa Garcia-Quintana placed tenth in the pole vault by clearing 10’2.5″, missing a personal best mark by one-half inch … In addition to a third-place shot put finish, Odum finished 11th in the weight throw.
