April 16, 2005

Knoxville, Tenn. – USC women’s track and field had another day of record-breaking performances at the Tom Black Track in Knoxville, Tenn. The men’s and women’s team are competing in the Sea Ray Relays hosted by the University of Tennessee.

Among the record-breaking performances was the Gamecocks’ 4x200m relay consisting of Stephanie Smith, Erica Whipple, Amberly Nesbitt and Shalonda Solomon. The relay team finished first in the event with a time of 1:31.64, a new Sea Ray Relay record and a new Tom Black Track record. The previous meet record and Tom Black Track record was 1:32.17 set by Clemson on April 15, 2000, while the previous track collegiate record of 1:33.06 was set by Auburn on April 10, 1993.

Also entering the record book on Friday was junior All-American Tiffany Ross-Williams. In the 100m hurdles, Ross-Williams finished first with a regional qualifying time of 13.12, followed by teammate All-American Ronnetta Alexander, who finished third with a regional qualifying time of 13.60 and Chiquita Martin in sixth place with a regional qualifying time of 13.66. However, Ross-Williams’ best performance of the day took place in the 400m hurdles, where she not only finished first in the event, but also broke the Sea Ray Relays record with a regional qualifying time of 55.93. The previous record of 56.14 was set Central State’s Deon Hemmings on April 9, 1993. The Gamecocks swept the event with senior All-American Shevon Stoddart finishing second with a regional qualifying time of 57.37 and Tawana Watkins in third with a regional qualifying time of 57.87. All-American Chiquita Martin also ran a regional qualifying time of 59.98 for seventh place.

Sophomore All-American Stephanie Smith won the title in the 400m dash with a regional qualifying time of 52.65, while All-American Alexis Joyce finished fourth in the 100m with a regional qualifying time of 11.63. All-Americans Nesbitt and Khalilah Carpenter finished fifth and seventh in the 100m dash with regional qualifying times of 11.64 and 11.76, respectively. In the 800m run, junior Shay Shelton had the best run of the season, finishing seventh with a regional qualifying time, personal best and fourth-fastest time in school history of 2:07.84.

Other highlights for the women’s team included an impressive discus performance by sophomore Precious Akins, who threw for a first place distance of 166’10 in the discus, while also finishing seventh in the hammer with a distance of 167’0. Junior All-American Kemesha Whitmire finished second in the triple jump with a leap of 41’5, while Cheryl Terrio finished fifth in the pole vault with a height of 12’5 ½.

For the men’s team, junior Leroy Dixon claimed the only title win of the day with a first place finish in the 100m dash. Dixon ran a regional qualifying time and sixth-fastest time in school-history of 10.30, while junior Adrian Durant finished fifth in the event with a time of 10.46.

All-American Jason Richardson ran a season best and regional qualifying time of 13.81 in the 110m hurdles for fourth place, while Thomas Hilliard had a personal best performance of 52.67 in the 400m hurdles.

Other regional qualifiers included junior William Emase who finished eighth with a qualifying time of 1:49.71 in the 800m.

The Gamecocks will be back in action on Saturday to conclude the Sea Ray Relays at the Tom Black Track in Knoxville, Tenn. Results will be available following the meet at www.uscsports.com.