May 27, 2004

On the eve of the NCAA East Track and Field Regional, South Carolina’s Lashinda Demus and Tony Allmond collected the women’s and men’s Southeast Region Track and Field Athlete of the Year Awards, respectively. Both will now be on the ballot for the National Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

The NCAA East Regional is May 28-29 in Gainesville, Fla.

Allmond was the runner-up in the long jump at the Penn Relays and won the long jump at the Purple and Orange Classic with the second best jump in the NCAA (26′ 2). He was the NCAA runner-up in the long jump at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships and the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He is No. 1 in the region in the long jump and No. 3 nationally.

“It feels good to achieve this honor of winning the region athlete of the year,” said Allmond. “It’s nice to know that people outside of the team are paying attention to what I am doing. I would like to thank all the coaches who have helped me and all my teammates as well. Hopefully we will be able to continue our success through the NCAA Championships in Austin.”

Demus ran an SEC-record 54.50 to win the 400m hurdles at the SEC Championships two weeks ago – giving her the second fastest time in the world. She was also third in the 100m hurdles at 13.08 – a personal best; and ran legs of USC’s silver medal winning 4x400m relay and bronze medal winning 4x100m relay – all at the SEC Championships. This weekend she is No. 1 in the region in the 400m hurdles and No. 2 in the region in the 100m hurdles.