April 26, 2007

Philadelphia, Penn. – In the first day of competition for the Gamecocks at the 113th Penn Relays, South Carolina’s women’s 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay advanced to the finals of the Championship of America on Saturday. The meet runs through Saturday with the meet being televised by ESPN2 on Sat., April 28 from 1-3 pm.

“We had a great first day,” said USC Head Coach Curtis Frye. “Everything went well. We advanced both relays to the Championship of America. Brittney James finished fourth in the long jump and beat some good people who are ahead of her in the SEC. Krystal and Chiquita got up very early and ran well in the 400m hurdles at 10 am, leaving for the track at 6:45 am! I’m really proud of our efforts and look forward to the rest of the week.”

Brittney James finished fourth in the long jump at 19′ 7 3/4 and tied her regional qualifying mark from Spec Town Relays.

In addition, in the first event of the day, freshman Krystal Cantey finished as the runner-up in the 400m hurdles at 57.88. Chiquita Martin finished fourth, bettering her own NCAA regional mark to 58.33.

In the 4x100m relay prelims South Carolina won its heat at 44.71 with the second fastest time of the day behind Auburn and advanced to the finals. The 4×1 was comprised of Martin, Natasha Hastings, Faraign Giles and Shalonda Solomon.

The women’s 4x400m relay advanced to the finals by winning its heat at 3:38.32. The 4×4 was comprised of Giles, Brandi Cross, Twana Watkins and Cantey.

Liza Todd was fourth in the pole vault at 11′ 6.