Gamecocks Gear Up for SEC Indoor Championships
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Feb. 23, 2023) – South Carolina Track & Field has arrived in Fayetteville, Ark. and is putting together final preparations ahead of the 2023 SEC Indoor Championships. The Gamecocks currently have 17 top-10 performances in the SEC heading into the championship, including 13 in the top eight. South Carolina will look to improve on last year’s SEC Indoor Championship in which both teams finished 12th overall.
Follow the Meets
Live results for the SEC Indoor Championships can be found by clicking the link here. Anyone interested in watching the event live can do so on SEC Network+ by clicking the link here. Fans can also follow along with updates on Twitter by following @GamecockTrack.
Ticket Information
Fans that are interesting in attending the event can do so for a nominal fee. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for youth, covering both days. Single day tickets are also available for purchase for $15 for adults and $10 for youth.
Meet Information
The best of the best are in Fayetteville to compete in the best conference meet in the country that will be a two-day meet starting on Friday. In fact, 11 of the 13 men’s teams competing are found inside the USTFCCCA Top 25 rankings, including the Gamecocks who are ranked 17th overall. Arkansas, the host of the SEC Indoor Championships, have captured three consecutive men’s indoor titles. On the women’s side, the Razorbacks have won eight consecutive indoor championships and enter the meet as the second-ranked team in the country. In all, nine of the 14 teams in the conference are ranked inside the USTFCCCA Top 25.
The SEC Championships will be the second scored meet of the indoor season for the Gamecocks. The top eight scorers in each event will result in points for their teams in the following format (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1). Competitors who finish top three in events earn the title of All-SEC, with the top finisher earning a spot on First Team and Second Team consisting of second and third-place finishers.
The meet will start on Friday with the Pentathlon events at noon and heptathlon events at 12:15 p.m. The first true field event will be at 1:30 with the men’s pole vault, while the first track event will be the men’s one-mile prelims at 4 p.m. Saturday’s events will start at noon with the heptathlon, followed by the first field event at 2:15 p.m. in the men’s high jump. The first track event on Saturday will be the men’s one-mile final at 4:05 p.m. with the meet concluding with the men’s 4×400 at 6:45 p.m. and the women’s 4×400 starting at 7 p.m. All times are listed in CENTRAL TIME. For a full rundown of the meet schedule, click the following link.
Coaches Corner
On competing in the SEC Championship:
“There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best meet in the country, filled with some of the best teams in our sport. This is an exciting meet to compete in, to coach in and to simply watch if you love the sport of track & field. I know that our student-athletes are excited to get out there this week and to compete to the best of their abilities. We have a great group of student-athletes and I know that they will give it their all this weekend for each other and in hopes of competing at the NCAA Championship in two weeks.”
South Carolina Qualifiers
The SEC Indoor Championships is the final opportunity remaining before the NCAA Indoor Championship to earn a qualifying mark. To qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championship, individuals must be ranked inside the Top 16, while relay squads must rank inside the Top 12 to secure their spot. Heading into the championship, the Gamecocks have seven qualifying marks at the moment, including Anass Essayi who ranks first in the NCAA in the men’s mile (3:50.46) and fourth in the men’s 3K (7:41.93). Evan Miller is the next highest qualifier, ranking eighth in the men’s 400m with a time of 45.91, followed by Silan Ayyildiz in the women’s mile who ranks 11th (4:32.74). Both Jayla Jamison and Filip Demsar are just inside the cut line with Jamison ranked 13th in the 200m (23.05) and Demsar ranked 15th in the 60-meter hurdle (7.70). The final mark to qualify is the women’s 4x400m relay team that ranks 17th overall but is the eighth-highest ranked primary relay squad with a time of 3:32.40.
