March 6, 2007
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Selections for the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships were released Monday night by the Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee. The event takes place over March 9-10 in Fayetteville, Ark., at Randal Tyson Track Center.
South Carolina’s men’s team qualified for two events at the championships. Jason Richardson and Thomas Hilliard, IV, will compete in the 60-meter hurdles, and the Gamecocks will run a 4x400m relay team as well.
Richardson’s top time in the 60mH in 2007 is 7.71, which ranks sixth in the NCAA, while Hilliard’s 7.76 is tied for ninth. Richardson is running in the NCAA Indoor Championships for the third consecutive year, with his best finish being third as a freshman in 2005 when he crossing the finish line in 7.70. Hilliard is competing at the indoors for the first time in his career.
The Gamecock men’s best 4x400m relay time in 2007 is 3:06.84, which came at the SEC Championships and placed third. Keith Hinnant, Hilliard, Ray Miley and Quentin Moore ran the event at the league meet. Richardson also has run the 4x400m this season, and Jamil James and Jonathan Fortenberry will travel to Fayetteville as potential runners for the relay as well.
On the women’s side, Shalonda Solomon is one of 20 athletes among the field of runners for the 60m and has the ninth-fastest time at 7.30. Solomon finished fourth at the SEC Indoor Championships in the 60 and was sixth at NCAAs last year.
In the 200, Solomon looks to defend her NCAA title from a year ago when she ran 22.57 in the finals. Her top time this season is 22.85, which is the second-best time in the world in 2007.
Natasha Hastings enters the NCAA Indoor Championships with the top time in the 400m among the field of competitors this year at 51.38, which came when she won the SEC title. Hastings is one of the top American sprinters in the 400 in 2007 and is competing in the event for the second time in three years at nationals. She reached the finals as a freshman in 2005, but suffered an injury in the race that prevented her from finishing.
Joining Hastings in the 400 is Stephanie Smith, who ran her best time of the year in Ames, Iowa, at an NCAA Last Chance Meet over the weekend with a 53.33 figure. Currently holding the No. 11 time in the NCAA this year, Smith will be among the field of quarter-mile runners at indoors for the second time in three years. The senior finished third at the event in 2005.
The Gamecock women’s 4x400m relay team owns the No. 2 time in the country this year at 3:30.03, which gave them second place at the SEC Championships. Smith ran the lead leg at the conference meet, followed by freshmen Krystal Cantey and Brandi Cross, and Hastings served as the anchor. Faraign Giles, Chiquita Martin and Ronnetta Alexander also will be on hand as possible sprinters for the relay.
