Targgart Makes History, Sweeps SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (May 8, 2024) – Dylan Targgart made history for South Carolina Track & Field as the first ever Gamecock, male or female, to sweep SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in the same calendar year. In addition, Targgart becomes the first male to win the award during both the indoor and outdoor season for his career and is just the second male Gamecock to ever earn the award during the outdoor season, joining Marvin Reitze who accomplished the feat in 2012.
A native of Coldwater, Mich., Targgart graduated with a 3.969 GPA this past weekend, earning his undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of South Carolina. Targgart is a two-time Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient and was also named to the 2023 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team.
Targgart is coming off an outstanding indoor season in which he finished runner-up at the SEC Indoor Championship in the shot put and then followed that with a bronze medal at the NCAA Indoor Championship. This outdoor season, Targgart has won three events, including the Tom Jones Invitational shot put with a PR distance of 20.45m to rank third in both the NCAA and the region. His best discus performance was at the Weems Baskin Invitational with a distance of 56.09m to finish first with the 31st best throw in the East Region. Targgart has finished Top-3 in each of his shot put events this season, while finishing as the winner or runner-up in three of his four discus outings.
Targgart is the sixth overall Gamecock to win SEC Scholar-Athlete honors in track & field and just the third male to ever win the award, including the second outdoor recipient. Prior to Targgart earning the award during the indoor season, Aliyah Abrams was the most recent winner having done so in 2019 during the outdoor season. Ncincilili Titi was the most recent Gamecock male student-athlete to win the award, doing so during the 2018 indoor season.
Targgart and the Gamecocks open the 2024 SEC Outdoor Championships Thursday in Gainesville, Fla. The annual conference meet will be a three-day meet, concluding on Saturday, with live coverage available on SEC Network+ on the first two days and then the SEC Network for the finals events on Saturday.
