May 11, 2016
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. – Bragging rights and national bids are on the line this weekend, as 19 nationally ranked programs enter Sam Bailey Track & Field Stadium for the SEC Outdoor Championships. The South Carolina Gamecocks are ready for the three-day meet, looking to secure even more bids to the NCAA East Regional championships will improving on last season’s results.
The team ended the 2016 regular season two weeks ago at the 122nd Penn Relays, where the team put together a number of season-best times and posted new times into the program’s top 10 all-time. The highlight of the weekend would be the men’s 4x200m relay team bringing home the wagon wheel for the Championship of America winner, running the seventh-fastest time in school history (1:22.38). It was the program’s 20th wheel in program history, and it was the first 4×2 title ever for the men. All told, the Gamecocks ran in six Championship of America finals for the weekend.
“It was a great weekend with a great group of kids. We’re a united group and it pays off. They stuck together, nobody backed out of a relay and we found out a lot about ourselves,” head Coach Curtis Frye said after the meet. “We found some people who have been injured who are starting to get well, and we saw people with big heart and fought back when they were sore. We had people start the week with personal bests in the 5000 all the way to winning a wheel. We’ve just had a tremendous week of Gamecock effort.”
Another weekend of that effort will pay dividends for the Gamecocks, who are already set up strong in the East Region. Entering this weekend of the SEC Championships, the team has athletes in position to qualify in 11 individual events and two relays for the men and eight individual events and two relays for the women.
The SEC Championships begin Thursday with the start of the multi-events. Sarah Graham will compete in the heptathlon and Alexandre Asselin in the decathlon; both are coming off career-high scores their last time out. Thursday will also feature preliminary rounds of the 200m, 800m and 400m hurdles and one lone final — the 10,000m.
Friday will open the major portion of competition, with field finals for the javelin, shot put, long jump and multis. On the track, prelims will run for the 100m, 400m, 1500m and high hurdles. The SEC Network + online channel will cover the Friday events live starting at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Saturday will be jam-packed with finals on the track, but the day will start in the field events with finals in the high jump, discus, triple jump and pole vault. The 4x100m relays start the day of races, followed by finals from 3 p.m. to 6. Closing out the meet will be the 4×400 relays. The SEC Network + will cover the final day of the meet starting at 3 p.m. ET.
Along with the live coverage, there will also be a highlights show that airs Sunday on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. For up-to-the-minute information all weekend, follow @GamecockTrack on Twitter.
