April 22, 2015
PHILADELPHIA, PA. – After enjoying a weekend off from competition, the Carolina track and field team will now refocus for its biggest meet so far this season. The team will head north for the Penn Relays, which begin Thursday with the women starting competition. The men will open the weekend on Friday. The nationally renowned event will feature high school, college and professional athletes from all over the world.
WEEKEND INFORMATION
Date: Thursday, April 23 – Sat., April 25
Start Time: Thu. – 10:00 a.m. ET | Fri. – 9:00 a.m. ET | Sat. – 9:00 a.m. ET
Location: Philadelphia, Pa.
Facility: Franklin Field
Live Video: Subscription Required
Live Results: Live Results
Tickets: Purchase
The team has historically done well at the meet, winning 18 relay championships, four different Gamecocks winning the “Athlete of the Meet” honors, and five earning a spot on the Wall of Fame (Dawn Ellerbe, Corey Taylor, Fred Townsend, Charles Ryan and Kenneth Ferguson.
The Gamecocks were able to positively build on a strong showing at the Florida Relays to open the month of April, going out and dominating the Bill Carson Invitational in its most recent competition. The men won 12 of the 17 total events it competed in and led the meet wire-to-wire, and the women would take home five wins and came from behind to take the win from the host, East Carolina. Day one would be dominated by the throwers, with Carolina sweeping the three men’s events (discus, hammer, javelin).
With the track opening up for day two, Carolina’s men won all four sprints, from the 100 to the 800. Dondre Echols showed up in a big way in the 100 dash, winning the a time of 10.47, the best by any Gamecock this season despite having not run the event since high school. Eric Winfrey also set a season best en route to the win in the 200, taking nearly a full second off his previous best for 2015.
In the quarter and half mile sprints, Clayton Gravesande ran his second-straight sub-47 second 400, winning with a time of 46.94. Ryan Bermudez was close behind, running a personal best time of 46.97 and Winfrey would score with a fourth-place finish. In the 800, Kevin Keating won in a time of 1:52.44, and Drew Galang scored as well.
Echols would win his second individual race of the day in his primary event, the 110-meter hurdles. He and Jermaine Collier finished 1-2, with Echols winning in 13.84 seconds. In the 400 hurdles, Jussi Kanervo set a new personal best with a time of 49.78, which ranks in the world’s top 20. He moved up the program’s all-time rankings to sixth, passing Gamecock great Jason Richardson.
The men’s team have finished no worse than second in every regular season scored meet, dating back to the start of the indoor season.
After starting the day in third place overall, and a dropped baton in the 4×100 relay costing them early points, the women turned to their upperclassmen to come back and win. Alexis Murphy and Chalese Davis each scored in three different events to lead the way, with Murphy winning the long jump and finishing second in the 100 and 200 dashes. Murphy’s times in the 100 and 200 were the team’s fastest the season. Davis placed second in both hurdle events and third in the long jump.
The women also posted season-best times in the 400 (Briana Haith, 54.54) and Maya Evans (2:11.91, fastest by almost three full seconds). New ground was broken in the distance events, starting with the 1500. Three runners finished faster than the previous season high, led by Emily Harding (4:38.82, third place). Five finished faster than the previous season best in the 3000, with Hannah Giangaspro the top finisher in fourth. Capping off the distance events were the steeplechasers. Allie Whitley and Sarah Falta finished second and third, respectively, with Whitley taking 10 seconds off her personal record.
It would be the field events that Carolina would gain the most ground in the team score. Jeannelle Scheper won the high jump for the fourth-straight weekend, besting her teammate Nakita Gray by six inches. Following Murphy’s long jump win, Natasha Dicks won the triple jump with a season best and Megan Wall won the pole vault after adding four inches to her previous best this season.
Despite having the week off, the men fell only one spot in the USTFCCCA’s weekly poll. It now sits at No. 14 in the country, and the women also moved back a spot and are 34.
