Feb. 7, 2014

Day 1 Results

NEW YORK – South Carolina advanced five athletes to event finals and redshirt freshman Marisa Bellamy captured her first collegiate win on the first day of action of the Armory Collegiate Invitational, the USTFCCCA’s National Meet of the Week, at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory.

Bellamy pulled away from the field in both her preliminary and the final of the collegiate 400-meter dash. In her first race of the day, Bellamy ran at a then-personal best pace of 55.36 before shaving even more time in the finals at 55.30 to earn the win.

In the 60-meter dash, junior Kendall Kee moved though three rounds within two and a half hours. Kee ran a 6.75 in both the prelims and the semis. Junior Eric Winfrey joined Kee in the finals, clocking in at 6.77 and 6.78 in the first two rounds.

Facing several SEC competitors, Kee matched his personal best and the fifth-fastest time in school history with a 6.68 to finish fourth in the sprint while Winfrey clocked in at 6.76 for a seventh-place finish.

After advancing through the prelims and the semifinals in the 60-meter hurdles with the third-fastest time, sophomore Jermaine Collier was carded for a false start in the finals. The Gamecock won both his preliminary and semifinal heat to earn a spot in the finals.

Fellow sophomore Dondre Echols won his prelim with the third-fastest time overall (7.94), but did not race in the semifinals as a precaution.

In the 500-meter run, freshman Maya Evans pulled away in her heat and took second place. The eventual winner finished just .07 ahead of the Gamecock’s personal record pace.

Continuing a string of top-five finishes, junior Petra Olsen captured fifth in the women’s championship pole vault section. Olsen recorded a clearance of 13’5″ ¼ (4.10m)

Freshman Alexandre Asselin kept up the stellar start to his career in the Garnet and Black. In the collegiate section of the long jump, Asselin set a new personal best with the seventh-best leap in school history at 23’9″ (7.24m). The French native finished fifth overall. Asselin also competed in the 60-meter hurdles collegiate section (23rd – 8.62).

Freshman Precious Holmes rode the momentum of a two-meet win streak to advance to tomorrow’s finals in the 400-meter dash championship. Holmes’ collegiate-best time of 53.98 is the fastest by Gamecock this season and was the third-fastest time in the prelims.

Junior Erika Rucker earned a chance to defend her championship in the event tomorrow, posting the fifth-fastest time in the prelims at 54.47. It was Rucker’s season debut in the 400 meters. The finals are set for tomorrow at 4:19 p.m.

Action picks back up tomorrow at 8:30 a.m., with the women’s 5,000-meter run. The day features the 200-meter dash, the 400-meter dash finals, the high jump and the 4×400-meter relays.