June 13, 2004

Austin, TX – USC finished the NCAA Championships with three runner-up finishes at the Outdoor Track and Field Championships, collected 12 All-American honors and won the unofficial state championship as well.

On both the men’s and women’s sides, USC finished as the top school from South Carolina – winning the unofficial state championship at the NCAA Outdoor meet. On the women’s side, USC was 7th – its ninth straight top 10 finish, Clemson finished 34th and SC State was 56th USC’s men were 31st, while the Clemson men finished 68th. Once again proving to the be the best conferences in the country, USC’s women were one of six teams in the top 10 from the SEC, while the SEC men went 1-2-3 (Arkansas, Florida, LSU).

With both shattering their own school records, South Carolina junior Lashinda Demus ran finished as the runner-up in the 400m hurdles (54.22) and Tony Allmond was the runner-up in the long jump, hitting the board at 27′ 4 3/4. USC’s women’s 4x400m relay was the runner-up with a time of 3:28.09.

Demus collected All-American honors in both the 400m hurdles and as the second leg of the 4x400m relay. She now is an 11-time All-American.

Shevon Stoddart also collected All-American honors in both the 400m hurdles and with the 4x400m relay, collecting the xx and xx of her career.

USC had three athletes collect its first All-American honors and return each All-American with the exception of Allmond. The list is the following who collected All-American honors for USC outdoors:

Ronnetta Alexander – 4x100m relay – (1-time career All-American)

Tony Allmond – long jump – (4-time career All-American)

Khalilah Carpenter – 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay (2-time career All-American)

Lashinda Demus – 400m hurdles, 4x400m relay (11-time career All-American)

Alexis Joyce – 4x100m relay (2-time career All-American)

Stephanie Smith – 4x400m relay (4-time career All-American)

Shevon Stoddart – 400m hurdles, 4x400m relay (6-time career All-American)

Erica Whipple – 4x100m relay – (8-time career All-American)

Kemesha Whitmire – long jump (1-time career All-American)