June 28, 2004

Attempting to make the Jamaican Olympic team, four women with ties to USC competed at the Jamaican Olympic Trials this past weekend in Kingston, Jamaica.

Rising senior Shevon Stoddart was third in the 400m hurdles, finishing with a personal best of 55.50. The time is an Olympic A standard. In the race she beat former NCAA champion Allison Beckford.

“These young ladies all put their hearts on the line,” said USC Head Coach Curtis Frye, an assistant coach with the USA women’s team at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. “Shevon was determined to make the Olympics this year and she was able to run that time due to the hard work she put in this year. She did a second workout every morning this spring – running outside her dorm between 6 and 7:30 am each day – with the goal of running that kind of time. To run a 55.50 out of lane one is incredible. To see her set a goal, make the commitment, do the work, and end up running 55.50 out of lane one is wonderful. She was determined to do it. I am thrilled with her time and the efforts of each of these ladies.”

Rising senior Chelsea Hammond finished as the runner-up in the long jump, hitting 21′ 1 1/4. She will need to jump 6.70 meters to hit the Olympic A Standard and has a personal best of 21′ 9 this year already.

Former 3-time NCAA champion Aleen Bailey was second in the 200m at 22.70 and finished third in the 100m at 11.21. Bailey will also be competing to run a leg of 4x100m relay for her home country as well. She led USC to a third place finish last year by winning the 100m and 200m sprints and ran a leg of USC’s national champion 4x100m relay in 2002. Bailey has an Olympic A standard in both sprints.

USC graduate Antoinette Wilks competed in the long jump and finished fourth at 20′ 4 1/2.

Next on the slate for Stoddart and Hammond (at least) will be the NACAC Under 23 meet July 30-August 8 in Sherbrooke, Canada.