Glenn Captures SEC High Jump Title to Conclude SEC Championships

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina track and field team concluded its time in Bryan-College Station, Texas with an individual SEC champion in the form of true freshman Rachel Glenn on Saturday night. Carolina also picked up medals in the 4x400m relay to cap off the 2021 SEC Outdoor Championships in style. 

“Today was a great sign of more to come for our program,” South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye said. “[Rachel Glenn] is a tremendous athlete and we are fortunate to have found such a gem from the west coast to join our family here in South Carolina. She’s a team player and is a true gamer. She can compete and she had to go against Tyra Gittens of Texas A&M who posted the highest mark in the country yesterday in the heptathlon and was able to defeat her on this day.”

Glenn’s title is the first for Carolina in the event since 2015 when Jeannelle Scheper captured the championship in a meet-record leap of 1.96m (6-5). Glenn’s winning jump of 1.89m (6-2 1/4) is the highest jump in the individual high jump competition since Scheper’s mark six years ago. With the win Glenn also is a All-SEC First Team member and a member of the All-SEC Freshman team. 

“I don’t think I have processed it quite yet,” Glenn said. “Everyone is congratulating me, and I just keep thinking of how I could have gone higher. For myself, I won’t be satisfied until I reach my personal best and that’s what I’m going to try to do at regionals.”

The freshman class continued to make its mark on the SEC in the form of the women’s 4x400m relay team. With Alysia Johnson and Ashton Lindley both capping off the relay paired with the experience of Stephanie Davis and Aliyah Abrams on their side the squad finished third overall in a season-best time of 3:28.73, which goes down as the fifth-fastest time in the nation this year and is just outside of the program’s all-time top 10, missing the No. 10 spot by 0.09 seconds. 

Lindley’s night was limited to her impressive anchor leg in the mile relay. Lindley also finished as the top freshman in the women’s 400m hurdles, capturing a fifth-place for Carolina in a time of 57.76. Lindley’s time edged fellow freshman Leah Phillips of LSU by 0.11 seconds to earn the SEC All-Freshman honors. 

The impressive rookie performances were not limited to the women’s side of South Carolina’s roster. After Jackson Marseille earned All-Freshman honors on Friday, Dillon McCarthy joined in with a fifth-place finish in the men’s pole vault. McCarthy notched a lifetime best in the pole vault with a mark of 5.10m, more importantly clearing the mark on his first attempt which was the difference to help him earn the SEC All-Freshman honors and the team points for Carolina. 

Prior to her split in the 4x400m relay, Abrams catapulted herself nearly onto the SEC podium on Saturday with a fourth-place finish in the 400m. Abrams notched a season-best time of 51.46 out of lane eight to earn the points for the Garnet and Black. Even after her stellar performance in the open 400m, Abrams put the Gamecocks in the mix in the 4x400m relay as the second leg, moving the Gamecocks from fifth to second during her run. 

Another near-podium finish for the Gamecocks was senior Malik Paul in the men’s discus. Paul got off to a hot start with a 56.41m (185-1) on his first attempt, but was unable to improve on that mark in his remaining five attempts. Paul’s fourth-place matches his best SEC finish, tying his indoor fourth-place finish in the indoor hammer in 2020. 

Other scorers for the Gamecocks on the final day in Bryan-College Station, Texas included both the men’s and the women’s 4x100m relay teams. The men’s 4x400m relay team grabbed a sixth-place finish for Carolina in a time of 3:08.87. As a team the Gamecocks finished 10th on the women’s side of the team standings with 29 points while the men finished in 12th overall with 23 points. 

Next the Gamecocks have the NCAA East Regionals that will take place in Jacksonville, Fla. Carolina was able to compete there once during the regular season at the UNF Invitational. The top 48 in each event in the region are invited to the event with declarations set at a later date. 

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