April 22, 2009

115th Penn Relays | Thur.-Sat., April 23-25

Live Results | Meet Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (Men-#7, Women-#20) travels to the 115th Penn Relays in Philadelphia this weekend at Franklin Field for the biggest outdoor meet of the year. The Penn Relays routinely draw over 100,000 spectators for the three-day event with 113,982 fans attending in the 2008 version. The Gamecocks will look to defend titles in three events – women’s pole vault, men’s 110m hurdles and men’s 4x400m relay. Senior Liza Todd will work to defend her pole vault title after winning the event last year at a then-personal best 12-9. Jason Richardson won his second Penn Relays 110m hurdles championship last year at 13.68 before also running the third leg of the mile relay championship team that included departed Gamecocks Keith Hinnant, Ray Miley and Derron Flood.

ThePennRelays.com will provide live, streaming Web casts of the historic event’s 24 high school and collegiate championship relay races, beginning with the college women’s distance medley at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 23rd. Coverage will continue Friday, April 24th and Saturday, April 25th. Each of the races, following their conclusion, will be made available for archived viewing. ESPN2 will broadcast the final day of competition from 4-6 p.m. Saturday.

SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH Curtis Frye TALKS PENN RELAYS

GamecocksOnline.com: Heading into the Penn Relays, what is the state of the team after six outdoor meets with the team heading into the championship stretch?
“We’re pretty solid. The biggest thing is staying healthy. People like Jason Richardson and Johnny Dutch, if they’re healthy then we’re a good team. They provide a nucleus for what we do. Johnny’s hasn’t been able to practice as much, so the meets and competitions are his training.”

What makes the Penn Relays such a special place?
“It gives you a stage to put your talents on. This is one time a year that people appreciate what you do and where athletes can get immediate feedback for their performance. This is a chance to compare yourself against the best people in the country. What’s even greater is that you get to do it in front of 70,000 spectators. The only time you get a crowd like that is at the Olympics.”

What are you looking for from your teams this weekend?
“We’re looking for dealing with the stress of the crowd. This gives us a little more preparation for SEC’s and NCAA’s by sizing up against some of the best people in our region. Our chances of individual wins in the Championships of America will be slim, but being in championship sections are important as far as advancing in the 4×4’s and 4×1’s. It’s also good to have Jason Cook and Michael Zajac competing against the top five athletes in our region. Another one is Elliott Haynie in the pole vault as this gives him a chance to evaluate himself against the top people in the East Region and the nation.”

There are always tri-state area Gamecocks on the roster. Is this weekend big for the exposure that these kids get from returning to their towns?
“We have a group of athletes from the East including Nadonnia Rodrigues, Erik Heymann, David Zaycek and Breehana Jacobs. Our program is at a point where people up East get a chance to see USC is still emerging from where it was when we had the Barber twins and Natasha Hastings. We’ve had excellent athletes from the East so it’s good for them to see those kids come back.”

There is also always a large contingent of Gamecocks competing in the USA vs. the World section. What does it mean to you to see these Gamecocks representing on the national stage?
“It’s always fun to see the legacy from kids that came here and what they represent. They really care about what they built here. As graduates of the university, they make us proud.”