Feb. 25, 2017

Photo Gallery

NASHVILLE — More strong performances highlighted the second day at Vanderbilt as the University of South Carolina track & field team completed the 2017 SEC Indoor Championships. Carolina put three student-athletes in the top eight of the shot put, with Eric Favors, Josh Awotunde and Ben Bonhurst all scoring points, while Markus Leemet, Isaiah Moore, Taranisha Taylor and Michael Wamer also added to the tally on Saturday.

For the meet, the Carolina men placed 11th overall, with 17.5 points, while the women placed 13th with nine points.

Arkansas took home the SEC title on both the men’s and women’s side.

Entering the day in sixth place, Leemet was in prime position to score points for the Gamecocks with three heptathlon events left. The senior slipped to eighth before the last race, the 1000m, but he surged up to seventh to earn two points for Carolina. His overall score was 5,434 points.

Taylor was seeded eighth in the women’s 60mH final and improved one spot to earn two points for the Gamecocks. The senior finished in 8.55 in her first career SEC final.

Moore placed eighth in the men’s 60mH final to earn one point for Carolina. It is the third time the Burlington, N.C., native has scored for the Gamecocks in the event. His time on Saturday was 8.00.

In the triple jump, Wamer finished fifth on the same track where he set a PR last month. His best effort, 51-0 ¾, was good for four Carolina points. It’s his second scoring effort at SEC Indoors after he placed seventh in the long jump last season.

The Gamecocks came in with three strong scoring chances in the shot put, and all three Carolina throwers made it happen Saturday. Favors finished fifth, setting his PR on two occasions and finishing with a mark of 60-6 ½ that puts him just outside the national top-25. Awotunde was seventh, at 60-2, and Bonhurst added a point by finishing eighth, at 59-10 ½.

Kierstin Williams saved her best indoor performance for last in the weight throw. On her final attempt of the meet, the senior recorded a PR of 56-4 ½, over a foot better than her previous record.

Natasha Dicks matched a season-best in the triple jump, with a final leap of 43-5 ¼. She finished just one spot outside of a scoring position, in ninth. Simon Gyllensten also matched his best mark this season, a pole vault attempt of 16-0 ¾ that was good for 10th place.

QUOTING HEAD COACH Curtis Frye

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks have the week off before the indoor season culminates March 10-11 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.