USC Track Heads To Prestigious Penn Relays

April 22, 2003

The USC track teams travel to Philadelphia for this weekend’s Penn Relays, beginning Thursday and continuing through Saturday at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Carolina looks to continue its streak of strong showings at the event, highlighted by three consecutive women’s 4×400 relay titles.

The Gamecocks did not compete last week, seeing their last competition on April 10-12 at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn. USC garnered six wins and 16 top-10 finishes on the final day of the Sea Rays, led by Chelsea Hammond and Kemesha Whitmire, who set personal records in the long jump. Over the weekend, South Carolina witnessed 10 first place finishes, 41 top-10 finishes, and 31 qualifying marks while sprinter Aleen Bailey and Hammond were awarded the Tony Wilson Trophy as they were named the Most Outstanding Track and Field athletes of the meet, respectively.

USC’s women’s team was ranked second and the men’s team eighth in Trackwire’s April 15 poll. Lashinda Demus holds the nation’s top ranking in both the 400m dash and the 400m hurdles.

Five current USC athletes are ranked among the world’s elite in six events according to the IAAF World Rankings. Lashinda Demus is the highest ranked Carolina athlete and the only one ranked in multiple events. The sophomore sensation is 13th in the 400m hurdles and 37th in the 400m dash. Antoinette Wilks is the other USC female athlete ranked, holding the 43rd spot in the long jump. Otukile Lekote leads a trio of USC men, ranked 23rd in the 800m run. Jonathan Fortenberry holds the 41st spot in the 400m run while Kenneth Ferguson owns the 43rd ranking in the 400m hurdles.

Aleen Bailey recently earned USC’s first SEC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week Award of the season, on April 16, for her performance at last weekend’s Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville,Tenn. It was her second honor of the year after winning the indoor award on Jan. 15. The Senior from St. Mary, Jamaica won the Tony Wilson Award for running events at the meet, presented to the most outstanding performer of the weekend. It was Bailey’s second consecutive award, becoming the first repeat winner in the running events category. She became only the second athlete to win the honor twice.

Results, event schedules and other information about the Penn Relays can be found on the event’s official website: thepennrelays.com.