Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

'SECTION C THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, August 13, 2004 CONTACT US GAME SCHEDULE Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN S SOCCER at the Virginia Exhibition in E-mail us at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Columbia, 7 p.m. Aug. 26 WOMEN S SOCCER vs. Georgia State, 7 p.m. Aug. 27 USC athletes out for Olympic gold PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK USC’s Lashinda Demus, center, jumps her way into representing the U.S. team in the 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. Trials in Sacramento, Calif., over the summer. 22 athletes with Carolina ties will compete in the 2004 Summer Games bt sitrncm utmtuia THE GAMECOCK While USC has been known for athletic excellence in both the SEC and NCAA, the school is hoping to make a name for itself on the world level as 22 talented individ uals with USC ties from nine dif ferent countries compete in the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, Greece, this month. The athletes and coaches will represent their countries in five different areas: track and field, swimming, diving, basketball and tennis. Carolina’s presence will be felt i most in the track and field compe titions , and rightfully so. USC’s track and field program, consid ered to be one of the best in the na tion, is comprised of top athletes trom around tne world. The most recognizable is 2003 USC graduate Aleen Bailey. The Jamaica native will represent her country in the 200-meter, 4x100 meter relay and the 100-meter, which is her best chance at gold. Bailey was a co-captain at USC and led her team to the 2002 NCAA National Championship, while achieving eight all-American hon ors. Also representing Jamaica will be USC junior Shevon Stoddart. The four-time All-American will be running the 400-meter hurdles. Competing against Stoddart will be USC teammate junior Lashinda Demus, an American. Lashinda was a key member of the 2002 National Championship team and won a 2004 title in the 400-me ter hurdles this past season. The only other current student competing in Athens this year will be sprinter Adrian Durant of the Virgin Islands. The USC junior will be running the 100-meter, 200 meter and 4xl00-meter relay. Durant was Carolina’s top 100-me ter runner this past year and ran the 4x100 in the NCAAs this past season. Otis Harris, Durant’s team mate of a year ago, opted to turn pro instead of returning for his senior year. Just like he did at Carolina, Harris will be running the 400-meter and 4x400-meter re lay for the U.S. This will be his first Olympic appearance. Harris set a school record in the 400-me ter when he took second in the 2003 NCAAs. Like Harris, this will also be the Olympic debut of graduate Otukile Lekote of Botswana. The five-time SEC Champ will be running the 800-meter and 4x400-meter relays. Lekote was the National Scholar Athlete of the Year while running for the Gamecocks. Two USC graduates will be making a return to the Olympics this year. Both Terrence Trammell and Tonique Williams Darling ran in Sydney. Trammell, running for the U.S., won the sil ver medal in the 110-meter hurdles and is considered to be a top con tender to win the event again. Williams will run for the Bahamas in the 400-meter and 4x400-meter relay. Carolina’s past success at the highest level has attracted other top-class athletes to the sports pro gram. Two cases in point include Melissa Morrison and Allen Johnson. Both are past medal win ners for the U.S. who came to USC to train and coach the Carolina track team. Morrison will compete in the 100-meter hurdles and won bronze in that event in Sydney. Johnson won gold in 1996 in Atlanta in the 110-meter hurdles and will give it one last run in Athens. Three Carolina graduates will compete in the field competitions this month. Canadians Michelle Fournier and Brad Snyder will re turn for their second Olympics. Fournier finished 13th in Sydney in the hammer throw, and Snyder will look to improve on his sev enth place finish in his qualify ing group in shot put. Lisa Misipeka, “Somoa’s Golden Girl,” will also compete in the hammer throw. As a Gamecock, Misipeka was a 10-time All-American and is now ranked in the top 10 in the world. One main reason for the suc cess of the Carolina track program in seasonal competition and at the Olympics is the instruction of USC head coach Curtis Frye. In his nine years at Carolina, Frye has led the school to its first NCAA Championship and brought the track program to prominence. For his accomplishments, Frye was honored with being named the U.S. Women’s Assistant Track Coach. He will train and prepare America’s explosive sprinters and hurdlers, including some of his own Gamecocks. In the pool, USC will be repre sented by four of its best swim mers from the past decade. The foursome, composed of Istvan Bathazi, Tamas Bathazi, Zsolt Gaspar, and Tamas Szucs, swam with and against each other in their native Hungary before being recruited by Carolina. Istvan Bathazi, a senior, is no stranger to the Olympics as he competed in 1996 and 2000. This year, the for mer All-American will swim the ♦ OLYMPICS, SEE PAGE C3 USC football coaching changes highlight 2004 Gamecocks look to rebound from tough 2003 campaign with veterans BY JONATHAN HILLYARD THE GAMECOCK There is an odd feeling in Columbia and the Southeast about the 2004 Gamecock football team. The general feeling is, well, no body is sure. Fans and experts are scratching their heads after con secutive 5-7 seasons that left USC home for the holidays. Whispers of Lou Holtz’s job security have plagued the offseason. “Our team may have more question marks than any other team here,” Holtz said at the SEC Media Days. “But at the same time, I have hopes and beliefs that we can be a pretty good football team ... but as you know, pretty good is not good enough in the SEC.” After a second-straight losing season, Holtz decided it was time for change. He fired four assistant coaches and demoted his son Skip to quarterbacks coach. Reuniting with Holtz is defensive coordina tor Rick Minter, who was Holtz’s sidekick at Notre Dame. Also join ing the staff is defensive backs coach Ron Cooper, offensive line coach Steve Shankweiler, and re ceivers coach/recruiting guru Rick Stockstill. Lou takes over offense With Holtz calling plays, the of fend will look a bit different. He has promised more of a run-ori ented attack, similar to his suc cessful plan at Notre Dame. Like recent seasons, the controversy will start at quarterback. Senior Dondrial Pinkins will most likely get the starting nod under center despite a spring game in which sophomore Syvelle Newton turned some heads running and throwing the football. Gamecock running backs were pleased with Holtz’s decision to take over the offense. With multi ple two-back formations, sopho more Cory Boyd H nH nm i or and junior Daccus Turman will get more carries behind sophomore Demetris Summers, who is the favorite at the tailback po sition. With these three ex perienced run ning backs, USC returns over 1,500 yards rush ing from 2003. The Gamecock re ceiving corps is made up of ex perience and tal ent. Led by ju nior Troy Williamson, the Gamecocks will return two of their top'three receivers from a year ago. Senior Matthew PHOTO BY DAVID STAGG/THE GAMECOCK The Gamecock football team opens the season against Vanderbilt. Thomas should pick up where he left off last season. Noah Whiteside could emerge this sea son, demonstrating deep-threat capability last season. Keep an eye out for true freshman Sidney Rice, a 6-foot-4-inch playmaker who could get good playing time and become the jump ball man USC has lacked in the past. Expect little drop-off at the tight end position, where junior Brian Brownlee replaces graduated Hart Turner. The offensive line should again be strong in 2004. Five linemen who started six games or more will return, with the only loss be ing recent Carolina Panthers ad dition Travelle Wharton. Agile big men Jabari Levey and Na’Shan Goddard, both juniors, will an chor the tackles. John Strickland will fill the center position. The guard position will be solid with senior Jonathan Alston most like ly being constant at right guard. Sophomores Stephen Sene and Chris White will platoon the left guard position. ♦ FOOTBALL, SEE PAGE C6 ' Sept. 4 Sept. 11 Sept. 18 Oct. 2 <. sis I Oct.9u3«l Oct 16 Oct. 30 Nov 6 Nov 13 Nov 20 at Vanderbilt Georgia South Florida Troy State at Alabama I 9 : I ck Mississippi f M $ -S^k at Kentucky Tennessee Arkansas at Florida atClemson $ 12:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. TBA TBA 5S TSA TBA TBA TBA TBA 4