Feb. 16, 2006

The University of South Carolina will host the Gamecock Indoor Open on Saturday, February 18, at the indoor facility on the university campus. Admission is free.

The women’s pole vault competition gets underway at 9:30 a.m. The women’s weight throw and high jump competitions are slated to commence at 11 a.m. with the shot put set for 1:30 p.m. The running events get started at noon with the women’s 55-meter hurdles. Other running events contested on Saturday include the 55-meter dash, the mile run, the 400-meter dash, the 800-meter run, the 3000-meter run and the 4×400 meter relay.

The USC women are currently ranked third in the national poll behind Texas and Stanford. Nebraska and LSU round out the top five. The Carolina women’s team is led by Amberly Nesbitt and Shalonda Solomon, ranked first in the country in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash, respectively. Nesbitt is also ranked sixth in the 200. Chelsea Hammond is ranked second in the long jump and seventh in the heptathlon. Natasha Hastings is eighth in the 400 meters, Ronetta Alexander is 10th in the 60-meter hurdles, Cheryl Terrio is 10th in the pole vault and the 4×400 meter relay team is ranked sixth in the nation.

On the men’s side, USC is ranked in a tie for 19th place nationally. Jason Richardson is ranked fourth in the country in the 60-meter hurdles and Greig Cryer is expected to earn a fourth place finish at the NCAA meet in the long jump.

Saturday’s meet will be the team’s final tuneup before the SEC Indoor Championships, which will be held in Gainesville, Fla., February 24-26. The NCAA Indoor Championships are set for Fayetteville, Ark, March 10-11.