May 7, 2004

The USC track and field teams will travel to Clemson, S.C. Saturday, May 8 for its final tune-up prior to the SEC Outdoor Championships next weekend in Oxford, Miss. The Orange and Purple Meet will run all day Saturday and is open to the public.

The USC women are ranked No. 5 nationally.

Besides USC and Clemson, the meet will also feature athletes from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Western Carolina and Tennessee. It is expeted a number of other regional schools will also send individuals including Wofford, S.C. State, Coastal Carolina and a number of other schools in North Carolina.

“Our kids need a good tune-up for the SEC Championships and this meet provides them with just that,” said USC Head Coach Curtis Frye. “This will help them in putting exams behind them – you don’t want the SEC meet to be the first time they compete after exams. We will also use it to iron out a few kinks prior to going to battle in Oxford next week.

“We want to make sure that we are in the right frame of mind. The kids normally compete very well at Clemson,” said Frye. “Even though it’s not scored, they know it’s Clemson and Carolina-Clemson is big.”

USC already has 26 women in 14 events and its two relays (4x100m, 4x400m relays) qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships May 29-30 in Gainesville, Fla. The men have qualified nine individuals in eight event qualified for the NCAA Regional meet and both relays (4x100m, 4x400m relays).