March 16, 2014

Complete Results

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – South Carolina senior high jumper Jeannelle Scheper won her second-straight silver medal and the women’s 4×400-meter relay earned a spot on the podium at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Saturday.

The women’s team finished 19th overall at the competition with 10 points, the best finish since the 2010 squad also posted a 19th place finish.

After passing the first bar, Scheper entered the high jump competition at 5’10” (1.78m) and cleared three-straight bars with ease, rolling through heights of 5’10”, 5’11 ½” and 6′ ½”. Only Scheper and Georgia’s Leontia Kallenou moved through the initial rounds unscathed.

With the bar up to 6’1 ½” (1.87m) and just six competitors remaining, Scheper ran into trouble. The Gamecock was unable to clear in her three attempts. Only Kallenou survived the height, clearing on her first try, and Scheper received her second-straight NCAA indoor silver medal.

In the 2012 indoor season, Scheper became the first high jump All-American in South Carolina history. She is now a five-time All-American in the event.

The women’s 4×400-meter relay entered the competition as the 12th seed, but saved their best performance of the season for NCAA Indoors. With a quartet of three freshmen in Precious Holmes, Briana Haith and Marisa Bellamy and sophomore Tyler Brockington, the Gamecocks turned in a 7th-place finish.

As she has done all season, Holmes gave the Gamecocks a lead with her lead-off leg, posting the second-fastest split of heat at 52.98. She handed to Haith who held on to the top spot until the final 100 meters when she lost the lead to Arkansas. Brockington pulled ahead on the third leg and on the anchor leg, Bellamy held off a surging Arkansas. Clocking in at 3:33.95, South Carolina won the heat with its fastest time of the season by just over a second.

The finish marks the first time the Gamecocks have scored in the women’s 4×400-meter relay since a fourth-place finish in 2010.

Making her NCAA debut, Graham put forth a strong outing in the women’s pentathlon, scoring 3,968 points and finishing in 16th place.

The Gamecocks begin the 2014 outdoor season at the Shamrock Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C., next weekend.