Carolina Women Tie for Third; Men Finish Fifth at SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships

Feb. 26, 2006

The University of South Carolina men’s team stepped up with a solid fifth-place finish while the Carolina women’s team finished in a somewhat disappointing third-place tie as the 2006 Southeastern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships came to a close Sunday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the University of Florida campus. The men came into the meet expected to finish in the lower half of the 10-team field, while the women, ranked third in the nation, were looking for their first SEC indoor team title in the 12-team meet.

Georgia won the women’s team title with 101.50 points ahead of second-place Auburn’s 96. South Carolina and Tennessee tied for third with 78.50 points. Arkansas ran away with the men’s team title with 141 points, well ahead of Tennessee (106). Florida (100), LSU (77) and USC (63.50) rounded out the top five.

USC 800-meter specialist Shay Shelton brought home the Gamecocks only gold medal of the meet. The junior from Mesquite, Texas, turned in a winning time of 2:07.53, holding off Arkansas’ Paige Farrell (2:07.84) down the stretch. She finished ninth in the meet a year ago.

“This was a struggle,” said Shelton. “Nobody really knows what I’ve been through and what it’s taken me to get to this point. But throughout everything I’ve stayed positive. I just thank my mom, all of my family and especially God because without him I wouldn’t be here at all.”

The Gamecock women got the running events started with 10 team points in the 55-meter hurdles. Junior Ronetta Alexander picked up eight points with a second-place finish in a time of 7.60 seconds, while freshman Keittany Clarke added two team points with a seventh-place finish, stopping the clock in 7.89 seconds. Jason Richardson, who was the third-place finisher at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets a year ago but has been hampered by an injury for much of the indoor season, came up with a fourth-place finish in the men’s 55-meter dash, breaking the tape in a season-best and an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 7.34 seconds. Richardson was the ninth and final qualifier to reach the finals after posting a 7.49 time in Saturday’s prelims.

USC added 12 points in the women’s 55-meter dash. Sophomore Amberly Nesbitt was nipped at the wire by Auburn’s Kerron Stewart, with Stewart winning in 6.71 seconds, one-hundredth of a second ahead of Nesbitt’s 6.72. Sholonda Solomon garnered a fifth-place finish, crossing the line in 6.81 seconds. The men got a pleasant surprise from senior Leroy Dixon, who earned the bronze medal in the men’s 55-meter dash with a time of 6.31 seconds. Dixon had the eighth-fastest prelim time on Saturday. Adrian Durant finished eighth in a time of 6.36 seconds.

Carolina picked up another 12 points in the women’s 200-meter dash. Shalonda Solomon, who entered the meet with the nation’s fastest time, won her heat in 23.15 seconds, but Auburn’s Stewart turned in a 23.11 in the second heat to earn her second gold medal with Solomon taking the silver. Nesbitt posted a time of 23.61 to take fifth-place honors. Dixon continued his strong showing in his final SEC indoor championship with a fourth-place finish in the men’s 200 meters, stopping the clock in 21.31 seconds.

For the second day in a row, the Gamecock women experienced bad fortune in the 400-meter dash. Natasha Hastings, running in the first of the two heats, had to break stride and leap over a fallen runner from LSU, costing her considerable time. She finished a disappointing eighth in 56.19, after placing second in the meet a year ago. On Saturday, fellow 400-meter specialist, Stephanie Smith, strained her hamstring in the first 50 meters of the prelims and was unable to finish the race. The men had another pleasant surprise in the 400 meters as sophomore Keith Hinnant won his heat and earned the silver medal with a time of 47.13 seconds.

Chelsea Hammond scored in her third event of the meet with a fourth-place finish in the high jump. The senior who placed fifth in the pentathlon on Friday and third in the long jump on Saturday, cleared 1.75 meters (5-8.75) on her third and final attempt at that height to gain five team points.

Kemeshas Whitmire picked up a fifth-place finish in the women’s triple jump competition with a best leap of 12.65 meters (41-6.00). Greig Cryer followed up his second-place finish in the long jump on Friday with a third-place effort in the triple jump. The senior leaped 15.53 meters (50-11.50) to take the bronze medal.

In the men’s pole vault competition, senior Trey Bell tied for sixth place with a mark of 5.00 meters (16-4.75). Junior Dan McKenzie also cleared 5.00 meters but tied for 10th based on number of misses.

Several Gamecocks will be in action again next weekend, as they look to improve their provisional NCAA marks at the Last Chance meets at two locations, Ames, Iowa and Blacksburg, Va. The NCAA Indoor Championships will be held in Fayetteville, Ark., March 10-11.

TEAM SCORING:

WOMEN: 1. Georgia 101.50; 2. Auburn 96; T3. South Carolina 78.50; T3. Tennessee 78.50; 5. Arkansas 73; 6. Alabama 70.50; 7. LSU 62.50; 8. Florida 45.50; 9. Kentucky 26; 10. Mississippi 16; 11. Mississippi State 13; 12. Vanderbilt 2.

MEN: 1. Arkansas 141; 2. Tennessee 106; 3. Florida 100; 4. LSU 77; 5. South Carolina 63.50; 6. Georgia 48.50; 7. Alabama 43; 8. Auburn 38; 9. Mississippi 25; 10. Kentucky 21.

SUNDAY’S SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS:

WOMEN – FINALS:

55 meter dash: 2. Amberly Nesbitt 6.72; 5. Shalonda Solomon 6.81.

55 meter Hurdles: 2. Ronetta Alexander 7.60; 7. Kettiany Clarke 7.89.

200 meter dash: 2. Shalonda Solomon 23.15; 5. Amberly Nesbitt 23.61.

400 meter dash: 8. Natasha Hastings 56.19.

800 meter run: 1. Shay Shelton 2:07.53.

4×400 meter relay: 4. USC (Natasha Hastings, Chiquita Martin, Shay Shelton, Shalonda Solomon) 3:36.63.

Distance Medley relay: 11. USC (Nicki Breves, Faraign Giles, Nikeshia Brown, Rebecca Chain) 12:11.48.

Weight Throw: 12. Precious Akins 16.55m (54-3.75).

High Jump: 4. Chelsea Hammond 1.75m (5-8.75); 10. Keittany Clarke 1.70m (5-7.00); 15. Monica Bozenski 1.65m (5-5.00).

Triple Jump: 5. Kemesha Whitmire 12.65m (41-6.00); 20. Reanna Townsend 11.51m (37-9.25).