March 27, 2004
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – South Carolina’s women won the 4x400m relay and the Gamecocks totaled seven NCAA automatic qualifying marks at the final day of competition at the Florida Relays. USC women finished as runner-up in both the shuttle hurdles relay and the 4x100m relay.
Lashinda Demus, Shevon Stoddart, Tawana Watkins and Stephanie Smith raced to a victorious time of 3:32.53, an automatic qualifying time, to highlight USC’s Saturday results. Demus and Stoddart also teamed with the freshmen duo of Ronnetta Alexander and Chaquita Martin to finish second in the shuttle hurdles relay with a time of 54.57. Alexander went on to run the anchor leg of the Gamecocks runner-up 4x100m relay team that included Khalilah Carpenter, Alexis Joyce and Erica Whipple and posted an automatic time of 44.73.
Carpenter (11.52) and Joyce (11.78) each recorded automatic times in the 100m, placing third and fifth. Carolina also saw Fred Townsend, who finished fifth in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.09, and Adam Bishop, who placed sixth in the shot put with a distance of 54’6.5″, record automatic marks on the men’s side.
The USC men’s 4x400m relay team of Adrian Durant, Aaron Luster, Derron Flood and Rodney Martin, Jr., ran an automatic time of 3:10.08 to finish seventh in the event.
Jenny Lake, Boikhutso Ramomene, Shay Shelton and Tristan Rackow ran to a third-place finish in the women’s distance medley relay with a time of 9:11.10. In the men’s distance medley, Shawn Cunningham, William Emase, Steve Mance and Sean Leyh posted a time of 7:50.72 for sixth.
In field events, Carolina’s Chelsea Hammond placed sixth in the high jump by clearing the bar at 5’6″. Greig Cryer finished seventh in the triple jump and Scott Alsup placed seventh in the javelin.
Complete results of the Florida Relays are available at USCsports.com and on Florida’s athletics website, www.gatorzone.com.
USC returns to action next Saturday at the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta.
