Feb. 24, 2012

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – South Carolina freshman Chalese Davis placed eighth overall in the women’s pentathlon to lead the Gamecocks in day one at the SEC Indoor Championships held at the Nutter Field House on the campus of the University of Kentucky.

Davis scored a point for the women’s team in her first appearance at the SEC championship, and classmate Sarah Graham placed 11th overall. Davis scored 3,667 points after the five-event competition, and Graham scored 3,460 points.

“They started off the day really good,” South Carolina associate head coach Delethea Quarles said. “They had great efforts. We’re excited that we’re on the board and have scored team points. This is what SEC’s is all about – team scoring. The young ladies had a good day. In particular Sarah did well in the high jump, and they really ran a gutsy 800-meter. We’re pleased with their efforts. It was a good initiation to the SEC’s for the freshman so they’ll know what to come back to in the outdoor season.”

In the men’s heptathlon, sophomore Chris Sharp ends the first of two days of competition in ninth place overall with 2,804 points.

“Chris shows great promise as we go into day two tomorrow,” Quarles said. “He had some solid events across the board today and came close to some personal bests. We feel like tomorrow will be another good day for him. We look to score and put some points on the board for the men’s side. I know he’s grateful to get past his freshman experience. He’s a lot stronger and faster. We look forward to tomorrow and hopefully putting some points on the board.”

After a slower start in the 60-meter hurdles where she placed 12th with a time of 9.14, Graham rebounded in the high jump getting a big season best mark of 5’7 (1.70m) to take fourth and pick up 855 points, pushing the freshman up to sixth with three events remaining in the competition. Davis earned 989 points in the hurdles at 8.63 before placing 10th in the high jump with a mark of 5’1 (1.55m), putting the freshman in ninth midway through the pentathlon competition.

Davis moved up to eighth after scoring 535 points in the shot put with a top throw of 33’1 ¼ (10.09m), a personal best mark that was over three feet further than her previous 2012 season best. Graham had a toss of 27’4 ¾ (8.35m) to earn 422 points in the event. After competing in the long jump, Davis (18’1 // 5.51m) and Graham (16’6 // 5.03m) put themselves in position to score heading into the final event of the pentathlon. Davis was in ninth place and needed to score 76 points more than Ole Miss’s Brittany Bozeman in the 800-meter run to place eighth and score. The freshman responded by running 2:24.63 to move into eighth and score in her first SEC event. Graham followed right behind in the 800-meter at 2:26.71 and finished 11th overall.

Sharp began his day with a pair of ninth-place finishes in the 60-meter dash and long jump in the heptathlon competition. In his first run of the 60-meter dash this season, Sharp crossed the line at 7.52 to collect 706 points before long jumping to a season best mark of 21’10 ¾ (6.67m) to collect 736 points. His long jump surpassed his previous season best by one foot to keep him in contention of scoring overall in the competition.

In his third event of the day, Sharp took eighth in the shot put with a toss of 41’1 ½ (12.53m), earning 639 points before heading to the high jump, the final event of the day, where he cleared 6’3 ¼ (1.91m) to end the day in ninth overall.

Competition resumes Saturday at 11 a.m. with the men’s weight throw final. Sharp will continue the men’s heptathlon competition beginning at 2:50 p.m. with the 60-meter hurdles