May 25, 2007

In the first event of the NCAA East Region Championship, Goose Creek native and Carolina senior Tyler Trout, a former walk-on, qualified for the NCAA Championships June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif. with his fifth place finish in the hammer. The East Region meet, which features 22 Gamecock men and women, runs through Saturday night with USC running in a number of events this evening.

Trout, who threw a personal best 204′ 3 to open the finals, came into the meet seeded No. 10 (202′ 10). It is the eighth best throw in USC school history and tops his personal best by more than a foot and a half.

“What an amazing day! I went to the finals in seventh place and I knew I had to start the finals with a big throw. I have been really focused the last couple weeks, but especially the last couple days,” said Trout, a graduate of Stratford High School and a former South Carolina media relations intern. “Now my goal is to make the finals at the NCAA Championship and be an All-American. I know to do that I have a lot of work to do in the next couple weeks. I have a lot of practice in front of me, but I really look forward to it.”

“This is one of the greatest parts of the regional championships – you can come in seeded 10th and compete head to head to finish fifth like Tyler did,” said USC throws coach Mike Sergent. “We knew if he competed like he did at the SEC meet (where he finished fourth), he would have a chance today. He put a lot of pressure on the rest of the field by hitting that big throw to start the finals. We are just really really proud of Tyler.”

In other action early at the East Region, USC’s women won its heat of the 4x100m relay to advance to the finals with a time of 44.63. USC ran Brandi Cross, Natasha Hastings, Faraign Giles and Chiquita Martin on the relay. USC, who won the 4×1 at the SEC Championship two weeks ago, won the title last year at the East Region meet. It goes to the finals with the third best time of the day.

The men’s 4x100m relay finished second in its heat to qualify for the finals with a time of 40.71. The Gamecock relay consisted of Jamil James, Nick Lytle, Quinten Moore and Derron Flood. The relay, which goes to the finals in the eighth spot, came in seeded No. 16.