South Carolina Track and Field Teams Ranked No. 2 and No. 24 in the Nation

April 5, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina track and field teams are off to a good start with both teams ranked in the Top 25 in the first polls of the outdoor season. Trackwire released their first outdoor poll on Tuesday with USC women’s team ranked at No. 2 and the men’s team tied for 24th in the nation.

The No. 1 spot for the women is held by Tennessee, the 2005 Women’s NCAA Indoor Champions. Florida and BYU are tied at third, followed by Nebraska at No. 5. For the men, Arkansas, 2005 Men’s NCAA Indoor Champions, hold the top spot, followed by Florida at No. 2, Arizona ranked third, Arizona State ranked fourth and Indiana at No. 5.

The rankings were released after the Gamecocks’ impressive performance at Saturday’s Yellow Jacket Invitational at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga. Despite cold and windy weather, the two teams combined for four titles and more than 10 top-five finishes.

For the women’s team, freshman All-American Shalonda Solomon claimed a win in the 200m, finished second in the 100m and ran a leg of the 4x100m that had an impressive first place finish with Khalilah Carpenter, Alexis Joyce and Amberly Nesbitt for the title. Freshman Keith Hinnant won the 400m title for the men’s team, while sophomore Trey Bell claimed the title in the pole vault.

Trackwire’s individual rankings include the following Gamecocks in this week’s Dandy Dozen:

WOMEN:

100m

Amberly Nesbitt, 12th

200m

Shalonda Solomon, 4th

Erica Whipple, 5th

Khalilah Carpenter, 9th

400m

Stephanie Smith, 4th

Natasha Hastings, 5th

100m Hurdles