Feb. 12, 2005

Blacksburg, Va. – While some of USC’s track and field athletes are competing in the Tyson Invite in Fayetteville, Ark., other teammates completed the first day of the Virginia Tech Challenge on Friday in Blacksburg, Va.

For the men’s team, the pole vaulters led the Gamecocks with two personal bests for the night. Junior Trey Bell set a personal best with a vault of 16’6.75, while sophomore Dan McKenzie had a personal best of 15’7.

Also in the field, Derek Pressley finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 48’2. In the weight throw, Jake Minskey threw for 51’7 for 16th place, while Tyler Trout finished 18th with a throw of 49’8.5.

On the track, Nick Lytle finished the 55m with a time of 6.57.

For the women’s events, Karen Wigal had another great 5,000m performance, finishing second with a time of 17:54.91. Monica Bozenski jumped 5’6 in the high jump for a fifth place finish, while Reanna Townsend finished 11th with a jump of 5’2.25. Townsend also completed in the 55m hurdles, finishing 14th with a time of 8.34.

In the weight throw, Precious Akins threw for 55’2 for seventh place, while teammate Keri Groover finished right behind her in eighth place with a throw of 53’3.

On the track, Nikeshia Brown finished eighth in the 500m with a time of 1:18.35 and Chelsea Kaczmarek came in 12th at 1:20.45.

The Gamecocks will be back in action on Saturday in Blacksburg, Va. at the Virginia Tech Tech Challenge and the Tyson Invite in Fayetteville, Va. Results will be available following the meets on www.uscsports.com