June 5, 2013

Results

EUGENE, Ore. – On the opening day of action at Hayward Field, sophomore Erika Rucker advanced to the 400-meter dash finals. Four other Gamecocks along with the women’s 4×100-meter relay also ran on the first of four days at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Rucker moved on to Friday’s 400-meter dash finals after running her second-fastest time of the season at 52.25. For the running events, the top two finishers in each heat plus the next two fastest times advance. Last season, Rucker narrowly missed qualifying for the event final at the NCAA Championships. She will get her chance in the finals on Friday at 8:55 p.m. ET.

The women’s 4×100-meter relay team of freshman Tyler Brockington, sophomore Tamera Harris, junior Vashti Bandy and freshman Ahtyana Johnson narrowly missed advancing out of Wednesday’s semifinals. The group was just off of their season best of 44.62, clocking in at 44.84. The time was less than .3 seconds short of qualifying on time for the finals. The Gamecocks finished 11th overall.

In the only running final of the day, sophomore Kayla Lampe took home a 17th-place finish. Lampe is the first Gamecock to run the 10,000 meters since All-American Tanya Povey in 1998. In her NCAA Outdoor Championships debut, the school record holder turned in a time of 34:54.35.

Running in the fastest prelim on record in the NCAAs, Brockington and Harris made solid NCAA debuts in the 400-meter hurdles. Brockington finished 16th overall with a time of 59.04 with Harris at 21st clocking in at 1:00.12. Starting at SEC Outdoor Championships, the underclassmen have burst onto the scene lowering their personal bests by more than two seconds apiece.

Gamecock junior Chris Royster, who ran the fourth-fastest all-condition time in school history at the 2013 SEC Outdoor Championships (10.17w), ran a 10.29 to finish 19th overall in the 100-meter dash. The blazing field featured two sub-10 second times, with the lowest qualifier for Friday’s final registering a 10.08.

Tomorrow, the Gamecocks have a light day. Senior Kierre Beckles will be the lone competitor to take the track as she runs in the 100-meter semifinals. Beckles placed a program-best sixth overall at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Her race is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET.