Feb. 15, 2003
NEW YORK, N.Y. – On the final day of the Meet of Champions at the Armory in New York City, the South Carolina track and field teams had to lay everything out on the line. They did just that, and more, winning seven events and setting four meet records at the prestigious international event. The Garnet and Black recorded six NCAA automatic and seven NCAA provisional qualifying times as the SEC Championships loom around the corner.
The women’s 4x400m relay team recorded an automatic qualifying time as the won the race with a time of 3:34.13, their fastest time recorded this year. With that time, South Carolina set a meet record, breaking their own record recorded last year (3:35.49).
South Carolina’s 200m dash runners were just as impressive as Aleen Bailey won the race with an automatic qualifying time of 23.28, her fastest mark of the year. Miki Barber came in a close second with another automatic qualifying time of 23.47. Erica Whipple finished sixth with a time of 23.85, a provisional qualifying mark. Bailey also finished second in the 60m dash with a provisional mark of 7.36.
Demetria Washington recorded an impressive automatic qualifying time of 52.60 in the 400m dash as she finished second while Lashinda Demus ran her fastest time of the year (52.96, Automatic Qualifying mark), finishing fifth. Jenny Lake represented the Gamecock distance runners with a third place finish in the 3,000m run with a time of 9:44.36.
Tiffany Ross finished sixth in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.60 while Antoinette Wilks tied her top mark of the year in the triple jump at 40’5″.
On the men’s side, Otukile Lekote remained perfect in the 800m dash this season, winning the race with a time of 1:48.90. Not only a provisional qualifying mark, Lekote set a meet record with that time. Meanwhile, Corey Taylor recorded an automatic qualifying time of 7.74 in the 60m hurdles, winning that race. Taylor also finished fourth in the 60m dash with a provisional mark of 6.72.
The men’s 4x400m relay team recorded their fastest time of the season, winning that race with a provisional mark of 3:07.82. That is more than a second faster than their previous season high, set on Jan. 25 at the SEC Challenge in Lexington, Ky., and is a meet record.
Jonathan Fortenberry ran an impressive 46.56 in the 400m dash, winning the race with that provisional mark. Chris Steddum also set a meet record with his provisional qualifying mark of 17’8.5″ in the pole vault. Greig Cryer finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 50’1.25″.
Next weekend the Gamecocks host the annual USC Invitational. The SEC Championships begin Feb. 28 in Gainesville, Fla.
