April 25, 2006

Columbia, SC – South Carolina had one of the most successful Penn Relays showings ever in 2005, winning four of the top five women’s relays, and while USC Head Coach Curtis Frye would like nothing more than to duplicate that effort again this weekend in Philadelphia he believes this year’s team is a year away.

“This year our women’s team is rebuilding,” said Frye. “Last year our women’s team had one bad day – the first day of the NCAA Championships. They were extraordinary: they won the SEC title, the Regional Championship and finished second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. They also won four of the five major relays at Penn. I am not sure that can be done again.”

The 112th annual Penn Relays will run Wed., April 26 to Sat., April 29 in Philadelphia at Franklin Field. The meet will be televised live nationally on Sat., April 29 from 5-6 pm (EST) on NBC.

At the 2005 Relays the Gamecock women won the 4x100m relay, 4x200m relay, 4x400m relay and shuttle hurdle relay. They also finished in the top four of the sprint medley. With the wins, Carolina became just the third women’s team to win four races in one Relays, matching the Texas women of 1989 and LSU in 2003. It also moved their overall total of Relays championships to 11, meaning they trail only LSU, Texas and Villanova all-time at the Relays. USC has won five of the last six 4x400m relay titles.

“We lost Erica Whipple, Tiffany Ross-Williams, Alexis Joyce, Shevon Stoddart to name a few off of last year’s team. While we return Stephanie Smith, Natasha Hastings, Ronnetta Alexander, Amberly Nesbitt and Shalonda Solomon, we haven’t replaced the seniors and Tiffany with our freshman class. We are a year away. We had a great recruiting class last year and they are competing now as freshmen, but you can’t expect freshmen to come in and replace that type of experience overnight. We are a year away – I expect we will be really good next year. But we would like to play the roll of spoiler up in Philadelphia.”

USC has had its share of success at Penn Relays with the following household names in track and field, having won numerous medals and competing in the finals at the Olympics and World Championships, competing as collegiates under Frye: Aleen Bailey (sprints, hurdles), Terrence Trammell (sprints, hurdles, relays), Tonique Williams-Darling (400m, relays), Charmaine Howell (800m, relay), Lisa and Miki Barber (sprints), Otis Harris (400m), Shevon Stoddart (hurdles, relays), Demetria Washington (400m, relays), Brad Snyder (throws), Dawn Ellerbe (throws), Lisa Misipeka (throws), Lashinda Demus (hurdles, relays), Tiffany Ross-Williams (sprints, hurdles) and Mechelle Lewis (sprints, relays). It’s a virtual list of who’s who that have strutted their stuff as Penn Relays champions with Gamecocks written across their chests.

Besides a successful past, the Gamecocks also hope to bring their weather with them this weekend. It’s been in the 90s the last few days in Columbia. It’s expected to be mid-60’s this weekend at Penn Relays with no rain in the forecast, but Frye said his teams have always loved competing at Penn.

“We will bring the weather with us,” said Frye, laughing. “Penn Relays has always been great to us. Hot, cold, rainy, windy, anyway – the kids from the East and the West coast love competing there.

“We know Texas’ and LSU’s women will be in the hunt for many titles and we just hope to play the upset role in one or two of those relays,” said Frye. “The favorites: Texas and LSU in the 4×1, Miami and Tennessee in the 4×4 and Georgia Tech in the shuttle hurdle relay – I expect them all to be there in the finals. The sprint medley? Anybody who has a great 800m runner. You can’t get away from them if they run a 2:02 or 2:03 in the 800m.”

The South Carolina women are ranked No. 10 nationally, while the men remain at No. 22 in trackwire.com’s latest poll. The Texas women are ranked No. 1 and the men from Florida State are No. 1 on the other side.

The Gamecock men are looking to final in the 4x400m relay and have a shot with the 4x100m relay. Jason Richardson, currently No. 2 on the NCAA list in the high hurdles, will run both the 110m hurdles and the 400m hurdles along with legs of the various relays. Thomas Hilliard will also run both hurdle races. Antonio Brook (discus), Leroy Dixon (100m) and Greig Cryer (long jump) will compete in the Championship events.

Frye sees Penn Relays as the opener to the championship season.

“If you don’t perform well at Penn Relays, everyone has a jump on you,” said Frye. “There are more than 10,000 athletes from nine to 90 years old competing in championship events. There are more than 100,000 fans over the four-day period and the professional circuit runs the USA vs. the World relay series. It’s a great way to measure up where you stand against the competition and prepare for the SEC, NCAA Regional and NCAA Championships. Some states adjust their own high school championships so they can go to Penn Relays ever year. It’s huge.

“It’s also the recruiting capital of track and field,” added Frye. “From Washington, D.C. to New York, more people run track in clubs and age groups from nine to 90 years old than anywhere else in the country. It’s huge from an exposure standpoint. South Carolina is one of the team’s everyone expects to do well. You get a lot of bang for your buck. You get outstanding exposure in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today – so many papers cover the meet. In addition, it’s covered by ESPN and all the major networks. We appreciate that kind of coverage.”

Coach Frye put it simply like this: “Every kid who runs track growing up wants to run at Penn Relays. It’s the premier track event in the world.”