April 27, 2012

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By Miquel Jacobs
Assistant Media Relations Director

PHILADELPHIA – The South Carolina quartet of Damiere Byrd, Chris Royster, Andre Carter and Eric Winfrey advanced to the Championship of America final in the 4×200-meter relay Friday afternoon to lead day two of action for the Gamecocks at the 118th Penn Relays Carnival.

The quartet ran 1:24.08 with Winfrey edging North Carolina A&T over the final 100 meters to secure the Championship of America berth and the win in heat four. The Franklin Field crowd of 39,531 watching the relay was the third-largest Friday crowd ever in the 118 years of the Penn Relays.

The men’s 4×200-meter Championship of America final will be held Saturday at 2:45 p.m., and will be one of the highlights of the final day of competition with the USA vs. The World events also taking place. The professional segment, the first event of the Visa Championship Series, will feature as many as six former Gamecocks and will air live on NBC from 1-3 p.m.

The Gamecock men qualified for the 4×100-meter college final after placing ninth in the prelims at 40.47. That relay squad consisted of Byrd, Royster, Winfrey and Clayton Gravesande and will compete in the college final Saturday at 1:45 p.m. In the 4×400-meter relay, the men’s team of Gravesande, Carter, Juan Stenner and Chris Walker ran 3:13.36 to place 18th overall and qualify for the college final Saturday at 5:40 p.m.

Two medley relays competed for the Gamecock men Friday. The distance medley (1200-400-800-1600) team of Robert Razick, Nigel Redic, Kevin Keating and Daniel Novak ran 10:50.29 to place 16th overall, and the sprint medley (200-200-400-800) team of Chris Walker, Nejmi Burnside, Nigel Redic and Thomas Gaither placed 27th at 3:34.76.

The South Carolina women participated in one relay Friday with the 4×200-meter relay team of Kelsey McCorkle, Vashti Bandy, Christal Green and Amber Allen taking 13th at 1:38.91.

The day began with an early 9 a.m. start for freshman intermediate hurdler Juan Stenner. With the wind blowing and 51-degree weather greeting the athletes at Franklin Field, Stenner placed 42nd in his first time competing at the Penn Relays with a time of 55.75.

Louis Day placed ninth in the shot put with a throw of 54’5 ½ (16.60m), and freshman Chalese Davis placed 16th in the women’s 100-meter hurdles at 13.96. Dorian Johnson competed in the long jump and placed 14th with a best jump of 22’4 ½ (6.82m).

South Carolina concludes competition Saturday beginning with the Dorian Johnson in the men’s triple jump at 9 a.m.