The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 28, 2003, Page 7, Image 7
7 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, April 28, 2003
GAME SCHEDULE
I ^ M \ I p r I i L 1 SOFTBALL at Coastal Carolina (DH), 4 p.m.Wednesday
PnVTAPT TTQ I VI ■ I W I I 1 ' BASEBALL at Wofford, 7 p.m. Wednesday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I 1 I I I |Ll in Murireesboro, Tenn., Friday to Sunday
E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com B Vy B B K y BASEBALL vs. Kentucky, / p.m. Friday
PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNgS/THE GAMECOCK ■
x X
NAME:
| Jocelyn Penn
MAJOR:
1 Sociology
POSITION:
Forward
DRAFTED BY:
Charlotte,
First round,
10th overall
2002:
Completed 100 passes for 1,334 yards
and seven touchdowns. Rushed for 655
yards and four touchdowns. Forced two
fumbles while playing defense.
-
Drafts determine futures of
basketball, football players
NAME:
Corey Jenkins
MAJOR:
African-Americai
studies
POSITION:
Strong safety
DRAFTED BY:
Miami,
Sixth round,
181st overall
continuing
their careers
on the grid
iron next
fall, while
Jocelyn
Penn and
Petra
Ujhelyi will
take the
court in the
WNBA this
summer.
After go
incr fhrrmcrh
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE HAMECOGK
While many seniors across the
USC campus are deciding what
they will do after graduation, for
some, their decision was made by
professional sports organizations
this weekend.
Carolina had three football
players taken in the NFL draft
Sunday, while two women’s bas
ketball players were chosen in
the WNBA draft Friday.
Defensive lineman Langston
Moore, safety Corey Jenkins and
fullback Andrew Pinnock will be
all afternoon Saturday, the first
day of the NFL draft, without a
player chosen, USC saw Moore go
to the Cincinnati Bengals with
the first pick in the sixth round
(174th overall). For Moore, finally
hearing his name called was a
huge weight lifted off his back.
“It’s a big relief to be chosen by
Cincinnati,” Moore said. Despite
his going at such a late point in
the draft, he said, “I’m happy I got
picked at all. I knew I had a
chance to go somewhere.”
The Bengals are trying to
change their image after numer
ous losing seasons, and with new
head coach Marvin Lewis on
board, Moore said there’s a lot to
look forward to.
“I’m just going to play for a
great coach (Lewis), who’s a great
defensive line coach,” he said.
“They also have one of the best
running backs in the league
(Corey Dillon).”
Seven picks later, with the
181st overall selection, the
Miami Dolphins took USC’s
Jenkins. Jenkins, who had been
the starting quarterback before
converting to safety, said
Dolphins head coach Dave
Wannstadt told him he would
move around between safety and
linebacker. But, like Moore, be
ing chosen was the highlight of
the day for Jenkins.
“It was a sigh of relief. The first
day went by, and then the second
day came. The fourth round and
the fifth round,” Jenkins said.
“They’re a team that’s estab
lished, and I just want to make
the team and contribute on spe
cial teams.”
Pinnock, who many people
predicted would be drafted much
earlier than he was, was chosen
by San Diego in the seventh
round with the 229th over
all pick. He guessed that a
reason why he dropped in
the draft was that, after his
workouts, he was put back
into the running-back pool
from the fullback pool.
Nevertheless, it was a long
wait and well worth it.
“I feel good. Now I can
calm down. I was disappointed as
the rounds went by, but I saw that
a lot of top running backs weren’t
being picked in the first few .
rounds,” Pinnock said. He will re
port to minicamp in San Diego on
Thursday and expects to be put
in one-back formations, as well
as the position of blocking back.
“I’m just anxious to get the op
portunity, and I thank God for the
chance to play. I’m just ready to
get my foot in the door,” he said.
Unlike the NFL draft, the
WNBA’s annual selection of col
lege athletes might not have ever
happened. Originally scheduled
to take place April 18, the WNBA
draft was in a state of limbo for a
week because of ongoing negoti
ations between the league and its
2002-2003:
Scored 50-plus points twice this
season. Led team with 24.3 points per
game and 112 steals. Named as All
American and first-team All-SEC.
^—rnT-mn■
players’ union. With an agree
ment reached on Friday, the
league gave the go-ahead to have
the draft, and as expefcted,
Carolina was represented for the
second straight year.
With the 10th overall pick in
the draft, the Charlotte Sting
chose to use its first-round pick
on Penn, a forward. Penn, who
rewrote a good deal of the USC
record books this past season and
was a first-team All-SEC selec
tion, looks forward to resuming
her basketball career so close to
home.
“It feels good to know where
I’m going to play this summer.
I’m excited to have the opportu
♦ DRAFT, SEE PAGE 8
USC hurdles team breaks world record
by matt rothenberg
the gamecock
The USC track teams will leave
the City of Brotherly Love having
rewritten the world’s track-and
field record books. The
Gamecocks competed at the
famed Penn Relays at Franklin
Field in Philadelphia from
Thursday through Saturday and
made sure to come back to
Columbia with a number of ac
complishments.
Among those is a new world
record, set by the men’s shuttle
hurdles team. Freshman Kenneth
Ferguson also took the champi
onship in the men’s 400-meter
hurdles, while Lashinda Demus
reciprocated that feat on the wom
en’s side.
The quartet of Corey Taylor,
Fred Townsend, Charles Ryan
and Ferguson raced to a 53.94-sec
ond finish in the shuttle hurdles,
breaking the former collegiate
record of 54.40, which was set in
1981 by a University of Tennessee
team. Carolina broke the world
record set in 1999 by a team that
featured USC volunteer assistant
coach Allen Johnson.
USC head track-and-field coach
Curtis Frye was clearly pleased
with setting the new world
record.
“It’s not that we ran a record,
it’s who ran the record and who
previously held the record. Our
kids, a bunch of college kids, ran
great,” Frye said. “For me, who
favors the hurdles, it’s fantastic. I
never anticipated us setting the
record.”
Ryan said: “Our performance
at this run felt great. We came out
two weeks ago and didn’t run up
to our expectations. We came out
here to win the event, and I mean
we blew it out. I know we ran
strong, and our time is going to
show it.”
Ferguson continued his bril
liant performances this outdoor
track season with a first-place fin
ish in the 400-meter hurdles. His
NCAA qualifying time of 49.63
seconds was about three-tenths of
a second quicker than the second
place finisher. Ferguson said he
could have run faster had he had
better weather.
Demus, the top-ranked hurdler
in the 400 meters, beat Melanie
Walker of New Jersey’s Essex
Community College with a time
of 56.90 seconds. Demus’ team
mate, Tiffany Ross, placed third
in the 400 hurdles with a time of
57.72 seconds.
“This was not my best time,
but with the cold I was happy
with it,” Demus said. “I did not
run that well but was able to get
through the event healthy.”
Among the top-five finishes for
the USC women’s team included
the 4-by-400 relay team, which
landed in third place, about five
seconds behind the champion
“People step up and you
find out who you can
count on.”
CURTIS FRYE
use HEAD TRACK COACH ON THE IMPORTANCE
OF THE PENN RELAYS
up next month, Frye will use the
results from the Penn Relays as a
way to shake out his team.
“We had a great effort by a lot
of people. Corey Taylor did a good
job by stepping up and getting
into the mix in the hurdles. We’ve
found some people that can do
some different things, and that’s
just what this meet does,” Frye
said. “People step up, and you find
out who you can count on, so
when you get to the national
championships, you know exact
ly what you have.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports @hctmail.corh
Texas Longhorns. The 4-by-200 re
lay team also finished third, be
hind Lousiana State and Texas,
while the women’s shuttle hur
dles team landed in second place
behind LSU with a time of 53.83.
Antoinette Wilks placed third in
the long jump championship.
Chelsea Hammond finished on
top in the long jump, while
Kemesha Whitmire finished fifth.
Keri Groover finished second in
the discus throw.
On the men’s side, top-five fin
ishers included a second-place fin
ish by the sprint medley relay
team, which was a little less than
four-tenths of a second behind
winner Tennessee.
Taylor was the fifth-place fin
isher in the 110 hurdles, while
Greg Royster also leapt to a fifth
place finish in the pole vault.
Greig Cryer placed third in the
longjump.
With the SEC and NCAA
Outdoor Championships coming
My turn
to give
out the
grades
BRAD SENKIW
Here’s a report card
on USC athletics.
The 2002-03 season of college
sports is ending for most of us stu
dents as the school year comes to
an end this week. I thought it was
only fitting to give you the first
Senkiw’s USC Sports Report Card
to grade some of the more popu
lar, as well as the lesser-known,
atmetic accompiisnments ana
failures that took place.
♦ I’ll start with a big one: foot
ball. hr August, it appeared that an
exciting season was on the hori
zon after another bowl game win
and a play-making quarterback be
hind center. Unfortunately, the of
fense couldn’t figure itself out, and
inconsistencies with players and
coaches made it a tumultuous
year. The whole team looked like a
merry-go-round, with offensive
players switching to defense and
then back to offense and vice ver
sa. Defensively, inexperience, in
consistency and a coaching
change highlighted the side of the
ball that for years had been so sta
ble. I will say that a strong spring
helped ease a little of the pain of a
rough season. In the end, USC foot
ball gets a C. A win over Clemson
or a trip to a bowl game would
have bumped that up for sure.
♦ Speaking of underachieving,
the men’s basketball team set that
standard with a lackluster per
formance this season. It seems
mediocrity was head coach Dave
uaom s tneme as the team strug
gled against a tough conference
season and what was a somewhat
weak preconference run. Losses
on the road piled up week after
week as the team played well only
in the new Carolina Center.
I will say that injuries once
again played a major role in the
heartache, but how many years
will that excuse carry? It seems
odd that three of the four seniors
who were supposed to lead the
team this year missed consider
able time because of health. Are
these guys not in good shape, or
is it just bad luck? Whatever the
answer, I fear Odom needs a
much-improved season next year,
or whispers of job security might
become louder. It was a hard con
ference this season, but USC
didn’t get that one big win that it
usually grabs in the SEC. So, the
team gets a D+.
♦ The USC women’s basketball
team made it to the NCAA
Tournament for the second con
secutive year, an impressive feat.
But the team bowed out in the
first round and Jocelyn Penn’s in
credible career came to an end. I
know the women’s team didn’t
draw much of a crowd this sea
son, but it was fun to watch,
nonetheless.
Penn scored 50 points twice,
and the team played several good
SEC teams and hung with every
one of them. This team wasn’t
quite as deep as last year’s, thus
trin tn Ql?/-' on/1
NCAA Tournaments. But those
trips were just as exciting and
compelling. Head coach Susan
Walvius once again earned her
salary and those girls gave maxi
mum effort, so they get a B+.
♦ With the USC baseball team
coming down the stretch of its
schedule, it’s hard to get a good
assessment of how the team has
performed. The Gamecocks are
not as powerful at the plate as last
year’s team, and putting enough
runs together to help out a young
pitching staff has led to more loss
es than expected. David
Marchbanks has been a beast at
the mound, grabbing his 10th win
of the year this weekend. For USC
to make it deep into the SEC
Tournament and even farther in
♦ SENKIW, SEE PAGE 8