TAMPA - In sum, it's the greatest track and field event ever on the South Florida campus.
"There's no question this is the best meet we've ever had," USF coach Greg Thiel said. "It's really turning into a big meet."
A mix of top college teams, including Michigan, Alabama and the Florida women, and top-flight Olympic contenders competing unattached will run, jump and throw today and Saturday.
Among the featured athletes are four-time NCAA and two-time U.S. champion long jumper Savante Stringfellow, whose career best is 27 feet, 111/2 inches.
The showcase events include the women's hammer throw (approximately 5 p.m. today), which features an Olympic favorite in UF graduate Erin Gilreath and as many as five of the top eight finishers in the NCAA indoor championships last month, including USF's Dayana Octavien.
The women's 400 meters (approximately 7:30 p.m. Saturday) includes former UF star Anita Howard, and USF standout Amber Delpino has the nation's third-fastest time this year, 57.75, in the women's 400-meter hurdles (approximately 8:25 p.m. Saturday).
USF's Jimmy Baxter is the favorite in the men's high jump. Baxter has won three straight meets and set a career best of 7-5 at this event last year.
"He's doing very well. He's ready to bang out a big one," Thiel said.
Thiel said the women's 800 meters (approximately 8 p.m. Saturday) and men's pole vault (4 p.m. Saturday) have superb fields, and he hopes the meet continues to grow. Nineteen schools will be at USF today, and Ohio State has committed for next year.
"This is one we hope to build on," Thiel said. "We think we've found a niche a little bit (in the first weekend in April)."
The field events start at 4 p.m. today and 3 Saturday. The running events begin at 6:30 tonight and 6 Saturday.
"We found that a lot of the out-of-town teams were staying over Saturday night, so why not do a twilight meet?" Thiel said. "It's beautiful here at twilight and we'll have some really fast times."
Football
FLORIDA: Safeties Cory Bailey and Terrence Holmes and defensive tackle Julian Riley suffered ankle injuries during practice. The extent of the injuries, called a "freak thing" by coach Ron Zook, was unknown.
FAMU SCHEDULE: Oklahoma is gone, but Illinois remains on a revised 2004 football schedule. There are four Division I-A opponents and games against several longtime rivals, but none against teams in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Rattlers schedule
Sept. 4: at Illinois, TBA
Sept. 11: at Tulane, TBA
Sept. 18: at Temple, TBA
Sept. 25: Tenn. St. in Atlanta, 3 p.m.
Oct. 2: Virginia Union, 7 p.m.
Oct. 9: Nicholls State, 7 p.m.
Oct. 16: at Virginia Tech, TBA
Oct. 23: Savannah State, 3 (HC)
Oct. 30: Florida Atlantic, 4
Nov. 20: B-CC in Orlando, 4 p.m.
Nov. 27: at Florida International, 1
MIAMI: Receiver Roscoe Parrish likely will have arthroscopic left knee surgery for the second preseason in a row, sidelining him for the rest of the spring.
NOTRE DAME: Coach Tyrone Willingham dismissed comments by former Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung that the school needs to lower its academic standards to admit more black athletes. "I believe the things that were said really have no merit, so therefore they deserve no real comment from me," Willingham said. "Let's move forward."
GRIDIRON CLASSIC: The college football all-star game again will be played at the Villages, a retirement community 50 miles northwest of Orlando, Florida Citrus Sports announced.
Other sports
HOCKEY: Minnesota-Duluth's Junior Lessard, North Dakota's Zach Parise and Brown's Yann Danis are finalists for the Hobey Baker award, given to the nation's top player.
SWIMMING: Tara Kirk of Stanford was named the nation's top female swimmer and becomes a candidate for collegiate woman athlete of the year, with the winner determined in June.
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.
