Feb. 23, 2013

Results

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Three Gamecocks scored on day two of the 2013 SEC Indoor Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center. Senior Breanna Radford and junior Petra Olsen earned bronze to score for the No. 14 Gamecock women while senior Jarrod Hutchen put the South Carolina men on the board with his finish in the long jump. Five Gamecocks advanced to finals on Saturday as well.

Radford captured bronze in the women’s shot put and continued to scale the South Carolina record book. For the fifth time this season, the senior set a new PR. This time her toss of 54-00 ½ (16.47m) puts her in second place on the Gamecock list, behind Crystal Brownlee’s 1998 mark of 56′. This is the third time that Radford has scored at the SEC Indoor Championships in her career and the mark would put her at 21st in the collegiate ranks entering the day.

Olsen took bronze in the pole vault, also scoring for the third time in as many years at the SEC Indoor Championships. After passing on the first two heights, she entered the competition at 13-01.50 (4.00m). The All-American cleared easily on her first two attempts of the competition before going out at 13-08.50 (4.18m). With the third-place finish, she joins Kylene Nixon and Lori Tvarkunas as Gamecocks to score three times in the women’s pole vault.

Adding the 12 points from Olsen and Radford to the point from sophomore Chalese Davis in the women’s pentathlon yesterday, the Gamecocks stood in sixth place with 13 points after the second day of competition.

On the men’s side, Hutchen scored in the men’s long jump to get the South Carolina men’s squad on the board. His leap of 25-06.00 (7.77m) was a season best and good enough for sixth place in the event. The finish collected three points for the Gamecocks.

Senior Kierre Beckles will run for the 60-meter hurdles championship and sophomore Erika Rucker will compete for the 400-meter win on Sunday. Sophomore Damiere Byrd advanced to the 60-meter dash finals, redshirt senior Robert Razick moved on to the men’s mile run final and junior Clayton Gravesande will run for the 400-meter crown tomorrow.

After winning her heat with the second-fastest time in the prelims, Beckles will look for SEC gold in the women’s 60-meter hurdles tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. ET. The senior is the current conference leader in the event and took home the silver from last year’s championships. Davis and freshman Tyler Brockington also ran in the event, finishing 12th and 13th with times of 8.60 and 8.63, respectively.

Rucker will compete in the women’s 400-meter finals after advancing with a time of 53.77 in the prelims. Sophomore Christal Green and junior Amber Allen set new season bests, running 55.23 and 56.16, respectively.

In the mile run, Razick bettered his personal record to 4:08.65. With the time, Razick placed second in his heat, automatically advancing to the finals in the event. The senior currently sits in the third spot in Gamecock history in the event.

Gravesande’s run in the 400-meters not only qualified him for the finals, but also moved him into South Carolina history, ranking sixth in the record book. The 46.81 is a season best and would rank him 20th in the collegiate ranks entering the day. Senior Chris Maxwell set a new collegiate best with a time of 48.62 while senior Andre Carter along with junior Nigel Redic recorded season bests in the event. Gravesande will run at 2:35 p.m. ET tomorrow.

Byrd nearly equaled his 60-meter dash personal best in the preliminary round, running a 6.67 to advance. The two-sport athlete was one of six athletes to run a sub-6.70 race in the prelims. Sophomore Kendall Kee finished 12th with a 6.75, junior Chris Royster ran a 6.89 for 22nd place and sophomore Chris Walker set a new PR at 6.97. The 60-meter crown will be awarded tomorrow at 1:55 p.m. ET.

In the men’s 60-meter hurdles, freshmen Jermaine Collier and Dondre Echols made their SEC Championships debut. The two were just on the outside of advancing to the finals with Collier in the 10th spot at 8.13 and Echols in 13th after running an 8.18.

Four Gamecocks set season bests in the men’s 200-meter prelims – sophomore Eric Winfrey ran a 21.42 for 16th place, Royster crossed the line just after at 21.43 for 17th, Maxwell turned in a 21.71 to place 26th and Walker had a 21.97 in the event for the 27th spot.

All six South Carolina athletes in the women’s 200-meter dash set a new mark of some sort. Freshman Alexis Murphy tied her personal best with a time of 23.96 to finish in 16th place. Freshmen Tyler Brockington and Gabrielle Gray, sophomore Ahtyana Johnson along with junior Christal Green all set new collegiate bests on Saturday. Brockington finished in 18th place with a 24.21, Johnson had a 24.39 for 20th, Green ran a 24.48 for 22nd place and Gray finished in 28th place with a time of 24.96. Junior Vashti Bandy ran a season-best 24.52 to take 24th in the prelims.

Murphy, Bandy, Johnson and Gray also ran in the 60-meter dash. Murphy was the top Gamecock in the race, finishing in 14th at 7.52. Johnson set a new PR in the event clocking in a 7.63

Freshmen Anna Todd and Lisa Zimmer set new PRs and moved into the Gamecock top 10 in the women’s 800 meters. Todd’s time of 2:10.61 puts her in seventh place while Zimmer’s time of 2:11.00 is good enough for ninth in the record books. They finished in 12th and 13th place respectively at the championships. Sophomore Meredith Mill also moved into the Gamecock top 10 at the eighth spot in the women’s mile run with her new personal best of 4:58.01.

The women’s 3,000-meter run capped the day’s action. Graduate student Chelsea France ran a 9:55.90 to move in to the fifth spot all time at South Carolina. Both France and junior Penny Boswell ran season-best times in the race.

The final day of action at the 2013 SEC Indoor Championships will kickoff tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET with the women’s weight throw. Men’s triple jump will start at 1 p.m. ET and the first running event for the Gamecocks will be the women’s 60-meter hurdles at 1:45 p.m. ET.