July 14, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Four Gamecocks wrapped up competitions abroad over the weekend, with the the highlight provided by sophomore Jussi Kanervo, who won silver at the European Under-23 Championships on Sunday.

The Finland native ran a new personal-best time of 49.66 in the 400-meter hurdles to medal in the event, which was held in Tallinn, Estonia. He was able to improve upon his previous best of 49.78 that was set three months earlier at the Bill Carson Invite, and continues a solid summer season that began with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Also competing at the U23 Championships was Markus Leemet. Competing in his hometown of Tallinn, Leemet finished 10th overall in the decathlon with 7,172 points. During the competition, he set a new personal best in the 400m sprint with a time of 48.86.

On the other side of the world, Dondre Echols ran the 110-meter hurdles in South Korea as a member of Team USA at the World University Games. He ran a time of 14.52 and did not continue on to the finals. Running for South Africa was Ncincilili Titi, who performed well in the 200m dash. After qualifying for the final, Titi ran a 20.68 to finish fourth overall and just nine hundredths off a bronze medal. His time is now the tenth-fastest in school history and the best of any Gamecock since 2010.

The next competition featuring Gamecock athletes will be at the Pan-American Games. Recent graduate and reigning high jump national champion Jeannelle Scheper will compete in the high jump finals on July 22. The Pan-Am games will be held in Toronto, Canada.