May 14, 2004

During a constant down-pour all evening, South Carolina’s Chelsea Hammond finished as the runner-up in the heptathlon during the second day of the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The event, hosted by Ole Miss, will run through Sunday.

USC pushed three athletes to the finals on Sunday with seven athletes qualifying for the NCAA Regional Championships.

Hammond scored 5235 points in the heptathlon. Her personal best is 5405 points. In the second day her marks were: long jump: 19′ 3 1/2; javelin: 85′ 3; and the 800m: 2:24.76. USC freshman Reanna Townsend finished 14th with 4119 points. Her marks today included: long jump: 17′ 3 1/4; javelin: 77′ 2; and 800m: 3:05.70.

“Chelsea competed well. We knew she would have to jump 21 feet in the long jump again to beat Josie Hahn (the winner from Vanderbilt). She is a great competitor,” said USC assistant coach Dee Quarles.

Tony Antonio put USC on the board for the men with a throw of 190′ 10, finishing seventh.

In the 200m semi-finals Khalilah Carpenter won her heat with the third best time of the day at 23.88. Erica Whipple was second in her heat, with the fifth best time of the day, at 23.87. Both are NCAA regional times.

In the men’ semi-finals Rodney Martin was second in his heat at 21.22 and qualified for the finals in sixth position. Adrian Durant was third in his heat with a time of 21.72 and did not qualify for the finals.

In the women’s semi-finals of the 800m both BK Ramamene and Shay Shelton ran personal bests to qualify for the NCAA Regional, but did not advance to the finals. Ramamene ran a time of 2:09.98 in her heat and Shelton was also fourth in her heat, running a 2:08.41.

Shawn Cunningham ran a personal best of 1:50.99 to finish fourth in his heat but did not advance. Ricky Johnson also ran a PR, finishing ninth in his heat with a time of 1:58.53.

The 400m hurdles, an event where USC’s women could score a number of points, were post-poned to until 2 pm tomorrow due to the torrential rain.