March 6, 2006

The University of South Carolina will send nine individuals and one relay team to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships this weekend. The meet will be held March 10 and 11 at the Tyson Indoor Facility on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.

The USC women will represented by Shalonda Solomon, Amberly Nesbitt, Chelsea Hammond, Shay Shelton, Cheryl Terrio, Ronetta Alexander and the 4×400 meter relay unit. Greig Cryer Leroy Dixon and Jason Richardson will represent Carolina on the men’s side of the program.

Shalonda Solomon enters the meet with the best time in the 200 meters with a season-best clocking of 22.89 seconds. The sophomore is one of only two runners to break the 23-second barrier during the 2006 indoor season. She also owns the sixth-fastest time in the 60-meter dash with a mark of 7.25 seconds.

Amberly Nesbitt will compete against Solomon and the rest of the field in both the 60 and 200 meters. One of the favorites to win the 60-meter title, she owns the nation’s second-best time at 7.21 seconds, and is tied for sixth in the 200 with a mark of 23.41 seconds.

Senior Chelsea Hammond will also compete in two events, participating in both the long jump and pentathlon. Hammond enters the championships tied for the second-best long jump registered this season at 6.52 meters and has turned in the seventh-best pentathlon total of 4,014 points. She appears to be back on track, jumping nearly 21 feet last weekend after struggling for much of the season with a foot injury.

Southeastern Conference champion Shay Shelton has the 11th-best time in the 800 meters, having broken the tape in 2:06.05 on Saturday at the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa. She appears to be peaking at the right time, as Saturday’s effort lopped nearly a full second off her previous best time.

USC record-holder Cheryl Terrio will look for team points in the pole vault competition. A senior, Terrio has cleared 4.12 meters this spring, tying for the eighth-best effort in the land.

Ronetta Alexander is the Gamecocks’ entry in the 60-meter hurdles. Alexander has run 8.17 seconds in the event, tying for the ninth-best time this season.

Despite the loss of standout quartermiler Stephanie Smith to a hamstring injury at the SEC Championships, USC will put a 4×400 meter relay unit on the track. The quartet will feature Nastasha Hastings, Chiquita Martin, Shelton and Solomon. USC owns a best time of 3:34.17 this season, which ranks 10th on the descending order list.

On the men’s side, Greig Cryer will compete in both the long and triple jump competitions. He owns the nation’s fourth-best long jump at 7.84 meters and ranks eighth in the triple jump with an effort of 15.98 meters, set last weekend at the Last Chance Meet in Blacksburg, Va.

Senior Leroy Dixon will vie for the 200-meter dash title. He enters the NCAA meet with a best mark of 21.01 seconds, which ties for eighth among the competitors.

Jason Richardson earned his way into the NCAA meet with a 7.83 time in the 60-meter hurdles at the Last Chance Meet on Saturday. He has tied for the 13th-fastest time in the nation this season. A third-place finisher at the meet a year ago, Richardson has been hampered for much of the season with injuries.