Gamecock Quartet Named to Team USA for IAAF World Championships

INDIANAPOLIS – University of South Carolina track & field student-athletes Rachel Glenn and Jayla Jamison, along with Gamecock legends Josh Awotunde and Wadeline Jonathas, will represent Team USA at upcoming World Championship events after a successful weekend at the USATF National Championships, held June 23-26 in Eugene, Ore.

Glenn, Awotunde, and Jonathas will all take part in the 2022 IAAF World Championships, which run July 15-24, also in Eugene. Jamison will compete at the 2022 IAAF World U20 Championships, which will be contested August 1-6 in Cali, Colombia.

Glenn, a rising junior from Long Beach, Calif., will compete in the high jump after finishing second at the senior national championship meet at Hayward Field. The 2021 NCAA Outdoor Champion jumped 1.90m (6-2 3/4) to punch her first-ever World Championships ticket.

“Rachel finished in the top-six at the Olympic Trials last year, but she beat a lot of those athlete to earn her spot at the World Championships. She fought through an ankle injury from the fall but did a phenomenal job getting back into form, finishing on the podium at both the NCAA and national championship meets,” said South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye. “She’s peaking at the right time, and Coach Dee has done an incredible job helping her reach this moment.”

The  preliminary round of women’s high jump takes place Saturday, July 16. Should she advance, Glenn will jump for a world title in the final round on Tuesday, July 19.

Awotunde finished third in the shot put at the national meet, with his best effort, 21.51m (70-7) coming on his third attempt. An SEC Indoor Champion and NCAA Outdoor silver medalist as a senior in 2018, the Franklinville, N.J., native will be making his second World Championships appearance this year.

At the IAAF World Indoor Championships this past March, Awotunde finished fifth. He’ll compete in the men’s shot put prelims on Friday, July 15, with an eye toward the world final on Sunday, July 17.

Jonathas will be part of the USA relay pool in the 4x400m relay after finishing fourth at the national championship with a season-best time of 50.84. She’ll look to add to a trophy case that includes two NCAA titles, the 2020 USA indoor national title, and 4x400m gold medals from both the 2019 World Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Heats of the women’s 4x400m relay will take place Saturday, July 23, and the final is set for Sunday, July 24. Jonathas could also compete in the mixed 4×4, with both the prelims and the final scheduled for Friday, July 15.

“We’re proud of the legacy Josh and Wadeline left at Carolina and even prouder of the way they continue to represent the Gamecocks and the USA on the international stage,” said Frye. “Neither of them were international-level athletes when they started at Carolina, but both of them have really broken new ground to get to the level they are now, which is among the very best in the world. Wadeline is already an Olympic gold medalist and Josh is very capable of medaling on the world stage as well. Both have families that have sacrificed a lot to help them get to this point. And they’re both still training in Columbia and around our program every day – Wadeline with Coach Karim and Josh with Coach Sarge. I can’t wait to see what they do at the World Championships.”

Jamison, a rising sophomore from West Columbia, is competing in her first ever World Championships event after winning the U20 200m with a time of 22.93. She’ll also be part of Team USA’s 4x100m relay pool after finishing fourth at the distance, with a time of 11.17 in the final.

“We’re proud of Jayla, who’s representing not just Carolina but also Columbia at the World Championships,” said Frye. “She chose to graduate high school early so she could run against better competition sooner, and it paid off with her U20 national title and World Championships bid. She battled some injuries this year, but she worked hard to get back to 100 percent. I’m proud of the way she managed her season, and we expect her to be in medal contention down in Colombia. But more importantly, she’s going to have a great experience representing the USA for the first time and meeting athletes from all over the world.”

Heats and semifinals of the women’s 200m and the first round of the 4x100m relay will run Thursday, August 4 in Colombia. Both finals are booked for Friday, August 5.