April 2, 2016

Complete Results

GAINESVILLE, FLA. – South Carolina track and field battled the elements Saturday, the final day of the Florida Relays. Despite intermittent rain throughout the day, the Gamecocks performed well in the relay events.

Thunderstorms overnight threatened to delay the start of the final day, but ultimately it would just be wet conditions the field would have to contend with. The men’s shuttle hurdle relay continued the weekend tradition of starting fast, picking up a win in the first event of the afternoon. The team of Dondre Echols, Jermaine Collier, Isaiah Moore and Alexandre Asselin won in a time of 56.63, seventh-best in school history.

The women’s SHR ran well in a showdown with the eventual collegiate champion Florida, but a slip on the last leg pushed them down to seventh in a time of 56.82. The women would pick up a new mark in the record book in the next race, the sprint medley relay, running 3:58.39 with a team of Precious Holmes, Maiya Dendy, Maya Evans and Allie Mueller that ranks third in school history.

Both the men and women finished with season-best times in the next race, the 4×100. The men’s team of David Winters, Ncincilili Titi, Dondre Echols and Ryan Bermudez ran seventh overall with a time of 39.75. They were the top Division I finisher in the field, and moved up into the top 10 nationally thanks to their new season best.

The women’s 4×1 also jumped up in the national ranks, running 44.50. The team of Gabby Gray, Briana Haith, Alexis Murphy and Tyler Brockington finished ninth overall and sixth among college teams. The top women’s relay finish Saturday came in the 4×200, where a time of 1:33.81 would be second-fastest among collegiate teams and fourth overall.

The men’s 4×200 team finished as the top collegiate group in the field of 31 teams, running a time of 1:21.93. The team of Bermudez, Collier, Titi and Winters now ranks as the second-fastest in school history, behind only the 2009 quartet of Ngwigwa, Sales, Moore and Anderson.

Not to be ignored, the field events wrapped up with several solid performances. Michael Wamer finished fourth in the triple jump and moved up into the top 10 nationally after reaching a distance of 52-1 ¾. That added well over two feet to his previous season high, and came just a few inches away from his own school record. In the women’s triple jump, Natasha Dicks hit a season-best mark of 42-7 ½ on her opening jump, and carried it to a fifth-place finish

Closing out the meet were the invitational 4x400m relays, and they featured plenty of dramatics for the women. The Gamecocks held a third-place position heading into the final leg, but anchor Marisa Bellamy was slowed on the back stretch and moved back to fifth. She would more than make up for it on the home stretch, kicking back up to third in the final 100 meters to dive through in third. The men finished sixth in their mile relay, crossing in a season-best time of 3:08.84.

QUOTABLE: HEAD COACH Curtis Frye

Recapping the relays
“It was a great training series, the kids fought through. I was really happy with our finishes, the women’s 4×1 was a great finish, I think we’re a lot better than that but, you know, they stayed in it. We won the shuttle hurdle relay, and I think as we keep developing the other kids we can get close to a collegiate record by Penn Relays.”

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks will stay in SEC country next weekend, doubling up in Athens for a multis competition Wednesday and Thursday before competing in the Spec Towns Invite Friday and Saturday.