March 5, 2003

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina’s track teams are scheduled to participate in a variety of competitions this weekend including NCAA Indoor Qualifier meets in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Thursday, March 6, and Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday March 8. An outdoor meet at Jackson State is also slated for Saturday.

The men’s team is ranked No. 2 in the nation and the women’s team is No. 6 in this week’s Trackwire 25.

This weekend’s indoor meets are the “last chance” for athletes to qualify for next weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Twelve Gamecocks, including Otukile Lekote, Chris Steddum, Alexis Joyce and Nicole Kendrick, are scheduled to participate in the UNC-NCAA Qualifier Meet in Chapel Hill. Ten USC athletes, including Tony Allmond, Charles Ryan, Shevon Stoddart and Erica Whipple are slated to compete at the Iowa State NCAA Qualifier Meet in Des Moines.

Saturday also marks the first event on the outdoor portion of the 2003 schedule, the Jackson State Invitational in Jackson, Miss. The women’s team begins defense of its 2002 Outdoor National Title while the men will look toward improving their sixth-place finish at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

USC posted strong showings at last weekend’s SEC Indoor Championships in Gainesville, Fla., as the women finished second and the men third. Both 4×400 meter relay teams were crowned conference champions. The NCAA Indoor Championships begin Friday, March 14 and continue through Saturday, March 15 at the University of Arkansas.