Jan. 17, 2006

Columbia, SC – In the first Trackwire.com rankings of the indoor track season, the University of South Carolina’s track and field teams both sit ranked among nation’s top 20. In addition, USC has a number of athletes ranked in Trackwire.com’s Dandy Dozen, including Stephanie Smith at No. 1 in the 400m and Jason Richardson at No. 2 in the 60m hurdles.

USC’s women, led by fifth-year senior Chelsea Hammond and a host of diaper dandies, opens the year at No. 3 behind No. 1 Tennessee and No. 2 Texas. USC finished fifth last season at the NCAA Championship after opening last season at No. 4.

USC’s men are ranked in the top 20, perched at No. 18. Arkansas’ men are No. 1 followed by Florida State. USC’s men finished 19th last season. The No. 18 ranking by the Gamecocks already tops its highest ranking of No. 22 last year (three straight weeks).

“The women are a little higher than we expected and so are the men to start the season,” said head coach Curtis Frye in his 10th year at the Gamecock helm. “I figured we would end up there, but I didn’t think we would start there. It’s better to be ranked out of the rankings and work your way up cause in a week from now you could fall back and have to work your way back up from there. But, I am flattered that people think that highly of our teams. That’s very flattering. I am glad they look at us like that in the preseason. It means we have some goals to live up to. Our kids will feel very positive about that ranking. Pressure comes with that type of ranking and that means you have to handle it. We will make sure we do that.”

Once again proving the SEC’s TOTAL dominance in track and field, both sides have teams ranked at No. 1. In the top 15 on the women’s side are four teams: UT (1), South Carolina (3), Georgia (9), Alabama (T15). On the men’s side the SEC has six teams in the top 25 including Arkansas (1), LSU (5), Tennessee (6), Florida (T15th), South Carolina (18) and Auburn (T23rd).

WOMEN’S TRACKWIRE.COM TOP 25
1. Tennessee, 55; 2. Texas, 50; 3. South Carolina, 41; 4. Nebraska, 38; 5. Stanford, 37; 6. Arizona State, 20; 7. Duke, 19; 8. USC, 18; 9. Georgia, 17; t10. UCLA, 16; t10. Cal, 16; 12. Miami, 15; t13. Michigan, 14; t13. Texas A&M , 14; t15. Oregon, 13; t15. Alabama, 13; 17. Virginia Tech, 12; t18. North Carolina, 11; t18. BYU, 11; t20. Akron, 10; t20. Northern Arizona, 10; t20. Princeton, 10; t20. Harvard, 10; t20. Notre Dame, 10; t20. Yale, 10; t20. Cal Poly, 10; t20. Kansas State, 10; t20. Southern Illinois, 10.

DANDY DOZEN WOMEN January 16, 2006
(BY TRACKWIRE.COM)

60 Meters
6. Amberlee Nesbit, So. Carolina
11. Shalonda Solomon, So. Carolina

200 Meters
3. Shalonda Solomon, So. Carolina

400 Meters
1. Stephanie Smith, So. Carolina
3. Natasha Hastings, So. Carolina

4 X 400-Meter Relay
2. South Carolina

Long Jump
2. Chelsea Hammond, So. Carolina

MEN’S TRACKWIRE.COM TOP 25
1. Arkansas, 54; 2. Florida State, 53; 3. Wisconsin, 45; 4. Texas, 38; 5. LSU, 31; 6. Tennessee, 27; t7. Nebraska, 26; t7. Arizona, 26; 9. Texas Tech, 21; 10. Virginia Tech, 20; 11. Oregon, 19; 12. Texas A&M, 17; t13. Indiana, 15; t13. Kansas, 15; t15. TCU, 14; t15. Florida, 14; t15. Michigan, 14; 18. South Carolina, 12; 19. UTEP, 11; t20. USC, 10; t20. Kansas State, 10; t20. BYU, 10; t23. Auburn, 9; t23. Notre Dame, 9; t25. Baylor, 8; t25. Oklahoma, 8.

DANDY DOZEN MEN January 16, 2006
(BY TRACKWIRE.COM)
200 Meters
11. Leroy Dixon, So. Carolina

60-Meter Hurdles
2. Jason Richardson, So. Carolina

Long Jump
7. Greig Cryer, So. Carolina

Triple Jump
7. Greig Cryer, So. Carolina