May 15, 2007

South Carolina’s track and field programs will take this weekend off to prepare for the NCAA East Region Championships May 25-26 in Gainesville, Fla. The women won the East Region last year and the men were third. The women were fifth and the men were eighth at the SEC Championship last weekend, with the two teams combining to win 12 medals. Gamecock head coach Curtis Frye (CF) talked to uscsports.com on Tuesday reflecting back on the SEC Championships and looking forward to the NCAA Region meet and the NCAA Championships June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif.

USC: Look back for a second to last weekend at the SEC Championships. First, talk about the men. They really had a good meet. You didn’t go into the meet expecting that did you? Why?

CF: No. I didn’t expect that kind of result. They have shown all year long that they are very competitive people and they love to compete, but you can do your personal best at the SEC Championships and still not get a great result because the SEC is that tough. We have had kids that have competed really well in the past and not scored. They had personal bests last weekend and had great results – it was a really good finish for so many of them.

USC: The men had some good individual performances.

CF: For Tyler Trout to get fourth in the hammer is great. Every year he has been there he has had a personal best and he really had a break-through performance with that seven-foot PR. The same thing with Jussi Heikkila – to be top five in the SEC is wonderful for him in the 400m hurdles and that was a personal best for him. For Thomas Hilliard to run a lifetime best twice and to be top three in the SEC in the 400m hurdles was also impressive.

I am also very proud of our 4x100m relay; we improved an entire second and qualified for the NCAA Regionals. To go in the last seed in the SEC and get sixth is wonderful. The mile relay hasn’t been able to beat Kentucky all year long. They issued their own challenge to each other to beat them and they did. To tie Ole Miss we had to win the mile relay and they ran toe to toe with LSU and it was a very close finish with the Tigers getting the win at the tape. LSU has the second-best 4×4 in the country and now we are the third best after finishing a very-close runner-up. We ran it without Derron Flood, who had just scored in the 400m, and also without Keith Hinnant who has been injured. I think we have a shot at running faster and that 3:03.86 is amazing. They didn’t do it with the ideal situation; they just competed a very high level and finished with the third-fastest time in school history and one of those times faster won the NCAA title in 2002.

USC: Dee Quarles really did a good job with Derek Pressley in the triple jump.

CF: The field events were phenomenal. Derek Pressley jumped 51′ 10 in the triple jump – just a few inches off the school record that has been around since 1973 or 74. He had never been over 50 feet in his life and he did it three times in the SEC Championships.

USC: The men competed without two of their best athletes who are being redshirted: hurdler Jason Richardson and hammer thrower Mike Zajac. You had a lot of walk-ons or former walk-ons score at this meet. Have they bonded?

CF: They bonded. They were determined not to be last again like they were indoors. That was the first time I ever had a team finish last. It was not something I wanted to taste again. I asked them to find a way to not be last again and they took it personal. They let me know we weren’t going to be a team that was last again. We knew we had to score 40 points and they issued each other challenges. Each time they scored they looked up to see us move past 40 points. A big part of it was coaching. Our coaching staff really did a good job. We have a lot of walk-ons who are great students and they really competed at a high level this past weekend. Our coaches have coached them up to that level – Tyler Trout is a walk-on and he scored in the hammer and the discus; Dan McKenzie got on the medal stand as a bronze medalist in the pole vault and he was a walk-on; Derek Pressley was a walk-on and won a silver medal in the triple jump; Thomas Hilliard was third and fourth and on the second place mile relay team and he was a walk-on; and Nick Lytle was a walk-on and is an NCAA regional qualifier for the 4×1. They are a great group of overcomers who I am really proud of.

But to move to the next level and get in the hunt, we have to get the best kids in the country and we are working on that. We are losing most of those kids to graduation. We red-shirted Jason Richardson due to injury and he is the best athlete on the team. We also red-shirted Mike Z. who is the best hammer thrower on the team. We are looking forward to a bright future on the men’s side.

USC: Now, looking forward to the East Region meet for the men.

CF: We had a goal to finish in the top 10 in the region, but after an eighth-place finish at SECs it should put us in a place to be in the top five in the region. That is our goal now. We have 10 men qualified in eight events plus the two relays, which add three more men so we have 13 guys qualified. That is huge. At the SEC Championships, 10 of those 12 marks improved or qualified at SECs, the 4×1 qualified and the 4×4 improved. To have that many qualify for regionals is huge. Never would I imagine we would have this many guys qualify for the regional meet and to be quality qualifiers. Our marks aren’t the last-barely qualifiers. Most of them in the top 10 in their region and to qualify for the NCAA Championships they take the top five from the region plus three so we have a good shot. If we perform like we did at SECs than more than 50 percent of our kids will go to the NCAA Championships and that would be great.

USC: Moving onto the women. They were fifth at the SEC Championships. What were your expectations?

CF: Our expectations were to be in the top five and we did that. We performed well. We won the 400m, won both relays and Precious Akins won the discus. She sprained her ankle while cheering for the guy throwers the day before and I was scared she wouldn’t be able to perform and she did. She didn’t throw a personal best, but she led from start to finish.

USC: Natasha Hastings had another great SEC Championship – winning the 400m and running on the winning 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay. What a great competitor!

CF: Natasha had a fantastic meet. She had the lowest split anyone at USC has ever run on the 4x400m relay. She ran a fantastic anchor leg to help us win the 4×4 again. Her split was 49.6 – that’s incredible! World championship medalist Lashinda Demus once ran a 49.9 at Penn Relays her junior year. Natasha also ran a great second leg on the 4×1 and had two PRs in the 200m. It was the first time she has ever been under 23 seconds. She just a really fine meet and she is a good student in the Honors College. She has really put it together this year.

USC: You have won the East Region the last two years. Are you looking for a three-peat?

CF: We have 12 women in seven events plus the two relays qualified for the Regionals. I expect the women to finish in the top three after winning the regional meet the last two years. I am not sure if we can win it this year. Georgia is tough. Virginia Tech is a beast and Miami is good. Virginia Tech should be the favorite.

USC: How is Shalonda Solomon doing after battling a hip injury?

CF: Shalonda is really close to being totally back. The SEC meet was a good follow-up for her after Penn Relays. She ran some really difficult work-outs after the exams and I don’t think she had enough rest to get ready for the SECs. It has been difficult for her to be a nursing major and be on her feet so much at the hospital. She has come back off her injury and her heavy academic load. She had that cartilage problem in her hip, but she is really running well. Our training staff has done an incredible job with her to have her ready to go.

USC: Anderson’s own Chiquita Martin really performed well at the SEC Championships. She is a real role model for your younger athletes isn’t she?

CF: Chiquita Martin showed fantastic leadership at the SEC Championships. She is an in-state girl who has become the ultimate athlete. She scored in all events and for us to do well at nationals she is going to have to have a heavy work-load – competing like Tiffany Ross. She really has come a long way. I am so impressed with her growth as a leader and an athlete. Our team follows her leadership. She is a constant.

USC: How is Stephanie Smith coming along? Will she be ready for Regionals?

CF: I don’t know. We know that is going to take a few more practices. We won’t know until Monday. We are still just doing low impact and haven’t done any kind of power and speed. I think she is fit, but it’ll take a little bit before we can see if she can go wide open.