Eight Gamecocks Named to All-SEC Team

May 31, 2017

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference announced its 2017 outdoor track & field awards on Wednesday, and eight members of the University of South Carolina track & field program were honored as part of the All-SEC Team. Redshirt senior Tyler Brockington was a first-team All-SEC selection, while Josh Awotunde, Ben Bonhurst, Natasha Dicks, Markus Leemet, Isaiah Moore, Rougui Sow and Tye Williams were second-team honorees.

Student-athletes were honored as part of the All-SEC first after winning an individual event at the 2017 SEC Outdoor Championships, held May 11-13 at Sheila & Morris Cregger Track in Columbia. Second-team accolades went to student-athletes who finished either second or third in an event.

The All-SEC selection is the third of Brockington’s career after she garnered second-team laurels in 2013 and 2017. The Greensboro, N.C., native won the 400m hurdles at the SEC Championships, posting a career-best time of 55.97. Her victory was the sixth by a Gamecock in the event since Carolina joined the league for the 1992 season but the first since 2005.

Awotunde and Bonhurst each landed on the All-SEC Team by finishing on the podium in the shot put. Awotunde finished second with a mark of 19.62m to earn his second career All-SEC nod. Bonhurst came in third, earning All-SEC honors for the first time with an effort of 18.57m.

Dicks earned the SEC Championships bronze medal in the triple jump for the second straight season. The three-time All-American senior notched a mark of 13.31m in this year’s SECs.

Leemet broke a 27-year-old school record in the decathlon, earning SEC bronze for the second time in his career with a mark of 7,720 points. The redshirt junior from Tallinn, Estonia, set a career best in eight of the 10 events at the SEC meet, and his total of 7,720 ranks 10th in the nation this season.

Moore scored for the fifth time in his SEC Championships career but broke on to the podium for the first time when he took bronze in the 110m hurdles. The Burlington, N.C., product finished just .01 seconds off of a PR when he clocked in at 13.55 in the final.

Sow is another first-time All-SEC selection. The Le Havre, France, native placed third in a closely-contested long jump competition, with her best leap measuring in at 6.69m.

Williams earned All-SEC honors for the first time with a bronze medal effort in the high jump. His top effort at the SEC Championships was 2.15m, though he’ll enter next week’s NCAA Championships as the top seed, with a mark of 2.25m.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks will field eight individual entries and two relays at the 2017 NCAA Championships, to be held June 7-10 in Eugene, Ore. Awotunde, Dicks, Leemet, Moore, Sow and Williams will be joined by Ncincilili Titi (200m) and Armand Woodley (pole vault), while both the men’s and women’s 4x100m relays are also in contention for a national title.