Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Women’s track dashes for title BY STEPHEN DEMEDIS THE UAMECOCK Two years removed from its NCAA Outdoor Title, the USC women’s track and field team comes into the 2004 season poised to make another run at the title after finishing third last spring. The Gamecocks are one of only three teams to place in the top 10 in each of the past eight seasons. Expectations are high for USC as the team is ranked sixth in the nation by Trackshark. The Gamecocks are expected to be the main competition to No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Florida in the SEC Championship. In fulfilling these expectations, Carolina will look to a battery of proven stars. The team will rely on junior Erica Whipple to fill the shoes of SEC Athlete of the Year Aleen Bailey, who graduated last season. Whipple was the team’s top point scorer and is expected to be the team’s best sprinter. She will compete for USC in the 60-meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter sprints. In the distance races, Carolina will look to junior captain Jenny Lake. Running the mile and 3,000 meter, Lake should be a top point getter for USC. Likewise, in the field events, senior thrower India Odum should be a consistent scor er. Stephanie Smith, a freshman from Georgia, will be an immedi ate asset as a sprinter. Smith an nounced her presence with au thority at the Armory Collegiate Invitational. In one of the last meets before the outdoor season, Smith took third in the 400-meter event posting an impressive time of 52.86. In preparation for the outdoor season, Carolina ran at the Armory Collegiate and played host to the Gamecock Indoor Open. USC took second at the meet in New York City and grabbed eight victories at the GIO. In both meets, Carolina’s Lashinda Demus ran extremely well. In New York, the junior sprinter won the 400-meter, break ing the meet record, with her time of52.22. Demus continued her suc cess in Columbia as she set the fa cility record for the 55-meter hur dles with a time of 7.65. After the NCAA Indoor Championships in mid-March, the team will prepare for the Outdoor Season which includes seven regular season meets. One of which is the 110th running of the Penn Relays in Philadelphia in late April. Here, the Gamecocks will see how they match up against some of the best track teams in the nation, includ ing LSU and Florida. With a full arsenal of talent paired with the experience of re turning national champions, it seems likely that another title could be carried back to Columbia. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu Tennis CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 anyone in the country last year. She had some close matches and our goal for her is to be ranked in the top 30 in the country this season.” Still, sophomore Justine Walsh and freshman Laura Ganzer have the best records on the team so far, at 4-0 and 4-1, re spectively. However, Walsh’s performance shouldn’t be a surprise, since she tied for the team lead in SEC sin gles wins last season and won six straight games in the beginning of the fall season. “We got really good progress from (Walsh) last year,” Elkins said. “She hurt her back at the end of the fall but wasn’t able to perform at her standards, but dur ing the beginning and in the mid dle she was playing really well.” The Gamecocks get back on the court against No. 75 Arkansas at home on Friday at 2 p.m. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu Men’s Track CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 Gamecocks. Any follower of USC’s football team has noticed the un canny speed of wide receiver Troy Williamson, a talent he puts to use during the winter and spring months as a sprinter on the track team. Williamson notched a vic tory over the weekend at the Gamecock Invitational, posting a time of 6.32 in the 55-meter dash to edge teammate Rodney Martin. Another speedy football player who doubles as a track star is Taqiy Muhammad, a versatile athlete who has started at several positions for the USC football team. Muhammad also competes mainly as a sprinter during track season, and placed third in the 55-meter hurdles at the Gamecock Invitational. Frye said he is ready to deal with the pressure and said he ex pects both teams to have a great season. USC’s next chance to prove him right will be this week end at the SEC Indoor Championships in Lexington, Ky. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu I-2004 South Carolina Home Schedule Softball h Baseball February Gamecock Invitational, Columbia, SC 21 Middle Tennessee State 1:00pm College of Charleston 3:00pm 22 Radford 11:00am Seed 3 vs. Seed 4 1:00pm Seed 1 vs. Seed 2 3:00pm March 16 Arkansas (DH) 1:00pm 17 Arkansas '/^ 4:00pm 27 Auburn (DH) 1:00pm 28 Auburn 3:00pm April 3 Kentucky (DH) 1:00pm 4 Kentucky 1:00pm 6 Georgia (DH) 5.00pm 7 Georgia 4:00pm 21 Furman (DH) 5:00pm 24 Ole Miss (DH) 1:00pm 25 Ole Miss 1O0pm 28 Coastal Carolina (DH) 5:00pm February 20 UNC-Wilmington 3:00pm 21 UNC-Wilmington 1:30pm 22 UNC-Wilmington 1:30pm 27 Duquesne 3:00pm 28 Radford 3:00pm 29 George Mason 3:00pm March 3 Furman 7:00pm 6 Clemson 1:30pm 9 Yale 7:00pm 10 Yale 7:00pm 12 Delaware State 7:00pm 13 Delaware State 4:00pm 14 Delaware State 1:30pm 16 Davidson 7:00pm 19 LSU 7:00pm 20 LSU 4:00pm 21 LSU 1:30pm 24 Wofford 7:00pm April 9 Florida 7:00pm 10 Florida 4:00pm 11 Florida 1:30pm 14 Clemson 7:00pm 21 The Citadel 7:00pm 23 Alabama 7:00pm 24 Alabama 4:00pm 25 Alabama 1:30pm 28 Wofford 7:00 pm 30 Ole Miss 7:00pm m May 1 Ole Miss 4:00pm 2 Ole Miss 12:30pm 14 Tennessee 7:00pm 15 Tennessee 4:00pm 16 Tennessee 1:30pm 19 Wofford 7:00 pm (DH) = Doubleheader All softball games played at Beckham Field All baseball games played at Sarge Frye Field