The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 14, 2000, Page 11, Image 11
Sports T
White retires after
30 years at USC
USC Sports
Information
Harold White, who has 30 years ol
service with the University of South Car
olina athletics program and has achievec
national respect among collegiate ath
letics academic circles, has announced
his retirement from the department, ef
fective next June.
“I have had the opportunity to work
with so many wonderful people at Car
olina,” White said. “The joy has truly
been being a part of the lives of so many
student-athletes and having felt that I
might have in some small way, played a
role in their development. I'm thrilled
by those who I see, those who call or just
drop me a note. That says in a small way,
'thank you for being there.”
. White has served USC primarily as
an administrator, but first came to the
university in 1971 as agradyate assistant
football coach.
Since 1993, he has headed up the ath
letics program's academic support and
student services areas and is currently a
Senior Associate Athletics Director for
the department.
Under White's watch, USC's ath
letics department graduation rate has risen
to become the second highest in the SEC
and three of the past four years, the foot
ball team's graduation rate has ranked
among the nation's top 15.
Tire department's grade point aver
age has climbed steadily, as well, reach
ing an all-time high of 2.834 this past
spring semester.
“Harold White has been a valuable
and faithful member of the Carolina ath
letic family for four decades and the pos
itive impact he has had on the lives of
our student-athletes-is immeasurable,”
said Mike McGee, director of athletics.
“Harold has been devoted to the well
being of the student-athletes and his com
mitment to excellence for the academ
ic, social and life skills aspects of a
student-athlete's total person has been
remarkable.
“Harold will continue to work in the
areas of academic and student services
over these next months and will play a
key role in assisting us with several
projects in the future involving our stu
dent-athletes,” McGee said.
One of the projects White will be
working on will be identifying and lo
cating former student-athletes who have
_ not fulfilled their degree requirements
Harold White
and develop a plan to facilitate their even
tual graduation.
White, a Columbia native, received
his bachelor's degree from S.C. State Uni
versity in 1963. He joined the USC
athletics department in 1971 as a grad
uate assistant football coach.
White became an academic coun
selor in 1973 and worked in that capac
ity for 16 years.
In 1988, he assumed responsibilities
of USC's Wellness Program and also
served as the program's NCAA compli-,_
ance officer for two years.
White was named associate athletics
director in 1993 when McGee appoint
ed him to oversee the department's acad
emic support and student services area.
In 1993, White was awarded the pres
tigious Lan Hewlett Award by the Na
tional Association of Academic Advisors
for Athletics (NAAAA) for his exem
plary service in academic advising.
White was also recognized as one of
the founders of the NAAAA organiza
tion. White says that his association with
the Gamecock program has had a tremen
dous impact on his life.
“The best years of my professional
career have been the last seven under the
leadership of Mike McGee,” White said.
“To be a part of his vision for the ath
letics program has been exciting.
I m happy I will have the opportu
nity to continue my association with the
athletics family by developing a network
of former student-athletes and assisting
those athletes who have not completed
their degrees do so.”
White and his wife, Mozella, have
two daughters, Tamiko Richardson and
Thyra Austin, and three grandchildren,
Andrew Richardson, Amber Austin and
Aaron Austin.
Barber, Trammell
win NCAA titles
USC Sports
Informaton
Durham, N.C - On June 4, the USC
women’s track team won its first NCAA
relay title and finished sixth at the NCAA
Outdoor Championships - joining UCLA
and Texas as the only three programs to
finish in the top 10 the past five years.
Individually, Terrence Trammell won
his sixth NCAA title with his second
straight 110m hurdles title and Miki Bar
ber and Demetria Washington went 1
2 in the 400m.
The women finished sixth with 36
points and LSU won the title with 59
points. Stanford's men upset Arkansas
to win the men's title with 72 points as
South Carolina finished 11th with 20
points. It is LSU’s 12th women's title in
14 years.
USC's 4x400m relay made it two
straight (Penn Relays, NCAAs) over the
Longhorns of Texas as USC easily de
feated Texas by shattering the school
record by more than two seconds to fin
ish at 3:28.64. USC's Miki Barber took
the stick in third place and walked down
both Texas and Southern Cal. Texas fin
ished second at 3:30.05. USC was dis
qualified after the race as Elakisha
Williamson tangled with Moushami
Robinson of Texas on the third leg. USC
protested and won the protest, re
clinching the title.
“There was a lot of improvement
from last year with Miki and Demetria.
You are always proud when they
make improvements like that,” said Car
olina Head Track and Field Coach Cur
tis Frye. “Terrence is incredible. He
struggled with a lot of tilings - the heat,
two events, everything. He did what
great Ones do - win when you are sup
posed to.”
Miki Barber, the NCAA runner-up
in 1999, won the women's 400m with
*
a time of 51.14. Barber led the erftire
race and redeemed herself after finish
ing as ihe runner-up at the NCAA in
door meet. It’s Barber’s second NCAA
title (200m 2000 NCAA Indoors). Ear
lier in the week Barber was voted the
National Outdoor Female of the Year.
“I felt really good. I just tried to stay
strong on the straight away. I wanted
the time to be faster, but I wanted to
win the gold medal,” Baiber said. “There
is always pressure to win as the favorite,
but I just tried to run like I have been*
running and be strong the whole
race.”
Teammate Demetria Washington
was the runner-up at 51.82. Washing
ton caught UNLVs Michele Davis with
30 meters to go in the race.
“I’m glad that Miki and I went 1
2,” Washington said. “I am happy to see
my teammate win. Everybody wants to
win, but I am happy for Miki.”
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