March 21, 2015

Results

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Gamecock track and field team closed out competition at the Shamrock Invitational Saturday, with a two more facility records set and seven event wins for Carolina. The men’s side would claim six events, including a sweep of the hurdle events.

Dondre Echols opened with a win in the 110-meter hurdles, running a time of 13.91 (+1.2). Isaiah Moore finished fourth in the final. In the 400 event, Jussi Kanervo beat the facility record of 51.15 to take first, running a time of 50.89. Greg Chiles finished fifth in the race.

Records would also be set in the women’s hurdles, as Chalese Davis won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.59 (+0.7). She now holds the facility record, breaking a four-year old mark set by former Gamecock Janica Austin in 2011.

The men continued to roll in the sprints and relays portion of the day. Eric Winfrey beat former Gamecock great Chris Royster in the 200-meter dash, edging him by six thousandths of a second to win the event. Kendall Kee would take second in the 100m (missing the win by a thousandth of a second), and the two would then combine with Chiles and Chris Walker to win the 4×100 relay. A team of Clayton Gravesande, Ryan Bermudez, Winfrey and Kanervo then won the 4×400 relay to cap a dominating day.

In the women’s relays, the quartet of Ahtyana Johnson, Alexis Murphy, Davis, and Gabby Gray finished third in the 4×100. It capped a successful return to action for the senior All-American Johnson, who also competed in the 100m dash and finished sixth, behind Gray (who finished fourth).

In the field events, Olivia Hassler opened her javelin season with a second-place finish, toss a mark of 151 feet, two inches. Freshman Shelby Freedman had a solid debut as a Gamecock, finishing third with a throw of 150 feet, one inch. Josh Awotunde posted top-four finishes in both of his throwing events on Saturday, taking second in the discus and fourth in the shot put.

The team will have its quickest turnaround of the season thus far, as it will have three days to prepare for the Texas Relays, hosted by the Longhorns. The event begins Wednesday. The team will also send select members to the Crimson Tide Invitational, which begins next Friday.