Jan. 20, 2005

Columbia, S.C. –

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South Carolina men’s and women’s track and field will be headed to Clemson to take on the rival Tigers at the 2005 Clemson Invitational on Friday, January 21st. This will be the first time the two schools competed against each other since opening the season last week.

The meet will take place on Friday and Saturday, with the first events starting at 5 p.m. on Friday. The competition will kick-off with the women’s 20-pound weight throw in the field and the men’s distant medley relay on the track. Friday’s events are schedule to wrap up with the women’s 5000m run at 7:50p.m. Saturday’s competitions will start at 11 a.m. with the men’s shot put and 60m hurdles final and will conclude wih the women’s 4x400m relay at 4:10 p.m.

Last weekend, the Gamecocks traveled to Blacksburg, Va. for an impressive season opener at the Virginia Tech Invitational. The Gamecocks earned 29 top finishes in the competition, including four titles and nine NCAA qualifying times.

The Gamecocks dominated the women’s 60m, earning five of the top six finishes. Senior All-American Alexis Joyce led the event with a first place finish time of 7.43. Finishing in third place was senior All-American Erica Whipple (7.51), while freshman Amberlee Nesbit (7.53)started off her collegiate career with a fourth place finish in the event. All-American Khalilah Carpenter (7.56) came in fifth, while freshman Shalonda Solomon (7.56) debuted in sixth place.

Also for the women’s, senior All-American Stephanie Smith won the 400m title with a time of 53.69. Closing in behind Smith were teammates Natasha Hastings (53.90) and Tiffany Ross (54.15) for second and third places, while Tawana Watkins finished sixth. Ross also placed second in the 60m hurdles with a NCAA qualifying time of 8.41.

The men’s team was led by senior captain Rodney Martin and transfer Leroy Dixon, the top two finishers in the 60m. Martin won the event with a time of 6.76, while also running an NCAA qualifying time of 21.02 in the 200m. Dixon earned second place in the 60m with a time of 6.82 and finished third in the 300m. Freshman Jason Richardson also made his mark on the track with his first collegiate performance earning fourth place in the 200m (21.70) and second in the 60m hurdles with a time NCAA qualifying time of 7.90.

There will be 10 schools competing in this weekend’s meet at Clemson, including SEC’s Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi State.

Resutls will be available following the meet at www.uscsports.com.