TAMPA - The University of South Florida track and field team will get a little quicker in 2010 thanks to a pair of speedsters added to an already stocked lineup for the Bulls.
The men's team returns all four performers who led the team to a second-place finish at the league championships in the 4x100 relay and the top runners in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, while adding two highly-touted recruits who had some of the fastest times in the nation as seniors.
The women also brought in several recruits to give the Bulls depth in the sprints and relays, including three athletes who have been members of state championship relay teams.
Seniors Greg Fontus, D'Andre Ruff and Josh Wimbley all are back for their last season with the Bulls and all were BIG EAST qualifiers in the various sprints, including Ruff and Fontus in the 4x100 relay that earned second place at the conference championships.
Fontus had the fastest times in the 100 and 200 meters in 10.62 and 21.22, respectively, finishing sixth in the 100 and eighth in the 200 at the league meet. Fontus ranks third all-time at USF in both the 100 and 200.
Ruff, meanwhile, ranks fourth in the 100 and fifth in the 200 in the Bulls' all-time records and competed in both events at the BIG EAST Championships. Ruff and Fontus join senior Armante Marshall and junior Kendale McDaniel in returning to make a run at the BIG EAST title in the 4x100 after grabbing the silver in 41.27 at the 2009 meet.
Wimbley is back after leading USF in the 400 meters as a junior, while also competing in the 200 and the 4x400 relay. Wimbley owns the second-fastest time ever in the 200 and the third-best mark in the 400 in USF annals and took ninth in the 400 last season at the BIG EAST meet.
Sophomore David Aristil will also provide depth at the 400 and will join Mikail Ebanks and Wimbley to get back to the BIG EAST meet in the 4x400 relay after taking seventh last season along with departed senior Carlan Arthur. Aristil owns the sixth-best mark in the 400 and is also an NCAA Regional qualifier in the 400 hurdles.
Sophomore Reshaw Exilien provides even more depth in the 400 and will look to move up the all-time charts from his current spot of ninth.
USF's returning talent will be boosted by the addition of freshmen Lindsey Lamar and Derrick Hopkins. Both were heavily recruited for track coming out of high school and are members of the USF football team.
Hopkins won the Florida state title in the 200 meters for the second-straight season after posting a time of 20.97, the nation's fastest time among high school athletes in 2009, while also winning the title in the 100. He was also a member of the 4x100 relay that won the state championship three years in a row.
Lamar finished fourth at the state meet in the 200 in 2008 and captured Region 3 titles in the 100, 200 and 400 before pulling out of the state meet due to injury.
The women will rely upon youth in 2010 in the sprints and relays, as the Bulls lost their only BIG EAST qualifier in the sprints in departed senior Vanetta Randle, who participated in the conference championships in the 100 meters.
USF needed depth in the 100, 200 and 400 on the women's side, and depth is what they found with the freshman class.
Twin sisters Rebecca and Rachel James will give an immediate boost to the relays after winning the Florida state title as juniors in 2008 in the 4x400. Rachel James helped Boyd Anderson High capture the title again in 2009.
Tralanda Todd was a member of her high school's 4x100 relay squad that won back-to-back Florida state titles in 2008 and '09. She also competed at the National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in the 4x100 in 2009.
After not competing last year following her transfer from junior college, junior Cinnamon Jenkins has come on strong and will be an invaluable contributor for USF as the Bulls get things settled early on the women's side. Freshmen Miriam Skipper and Ena Johnson bring an explosiveness to the sprints and will be counted on to give USF a boost in the relays as well.
Dariel Jackson will compete in both the 100 and 200 for USF, finishing sixth in the 100 at the Florida state meet last season while also competing in the preliminaries in the 200.
Stay tuned to GoUSFBulls.com for the next season preview, the jumps and vaults, on Friday.
