July 10, 2006

Shareese Woods
Track & Field
Fort Lee, Va.

Charlotte rising senior Shareese Woods earned her first gold medal in an international competition on Sunday at the 2006 North America, Central America and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Championships at Estadio Félix Sánchez, helping Team USA to a meet-record time and the 4x100-meter relay championship. Woods ran the third leg on the United States' championship 4x100 relay team, which finished with a NACAC Under-23 meet record of 43.53 seconds. Puerto Rico was second with a time of 46.60.

The previous meet record of 43.62 was set by Jamaica in 2004.

The race capped off a historic year for Woods, who placed sixth in the 200-meter dash and 13th in the 100 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships a month ago. She earned All-American honors during both the indoor (400 meters) and outdoor (200 meters) seasons and helped lead Charlotte to a sweep of the Atlantic 10 Conference team championships.

The North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) competition consists of athletes 23-years-old or younger from 31 different countries in the Western Hemisphere.