State College Briefs

TRACK AND FIELD

USC relay teams qualify for finals

At Philadelphia, South Carolina’s men’s and women’s 800-meter relays advanced to today’s Championship of America finals on Friday, the second day of competition at the 114th annual Penn Relays. The women’s 1,600-meter relay will also run in the finals.

Jason Richardson ran the top time of the day to advance to the Championship of America finals in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.64.

Richardson won his heat of the 400-meter hurdles, but finished as the runner-up based on time. He ran a season-best, NCAA qualifying time of 50.54.

Mamona leads Tigers

At Philadelphia, Patricia Mamona was sixth in the championship triple-jump competition and led Clemson in the shuttle hurdle relay at the Penn Relays.

Mamona posted a regional-qualifying mark in the triple jump, while running second leg for Clemson in a fourth-place shuttle hurdle relay run.

— From Staff Reports

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Hansbrough returns; Ellington, Lawson declare

Tyler Hansbrough wants to make one more run at the national championship. The North Carolina star will have to wait a little longer to find out whether two of his high-scoring teammates will be back to help him.

The Associated Press national player of the year said Friday that he will return for his senior year. However, sophomores Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington will declare for the NBA draft, though they will not hire agents — leaving open the possibility of their return.

HONORS

Catawba’s Hall awaits former State sports editor

Award-winning journalist Herman Helms, long-time sports editor of The State, will be inducted into the Catawba College Athletic Hall of Fame today.

Helms, who died in December, enrolled at Catawba on a baseball scholarship and later became the school’s sports information director. He graduated in 1948.

He earned numerous national and state writing awards in his career with The Charlotte Observer (1948-1963) and The State (1963-89). He twice lectured on writing at the American Press Institute at Columbia University and was inducted into the North Carolina Boxing Hall of Fame in 1988.

— From Staff and Wire Reports