March 7, 2011

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By Miquel Jacobs
Media Relations Assistant

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Selections for the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships were released Monday night by the Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee with the South Carolina track and field programs earning three entries. The event takes place Friday-Saturday, March 11-12, in College Station, Texas, at the Gilliam Indoor Track Facility.

Two Gamecock women earned bids in senior Lakya Brookins and sophomore Kierre Beckles. On the men’s team, senior Michael Zajac earned a bid.

Brookins earned an automatic qualifying bid in the women’s 60-meter dash with her nation-leading time of 7.14. She is the SEC Champion in the event and has been the top model of consistency in the nation in the short sprint after running 10 consecutive NCAA qualifying times. She returns to Texas A&M where she won the NCAA title in 2009 as a sophomore, becoming the first Gamecock to win the 60-meter dash national title.

Beckles earned an at-large bid as the nation’s 10th-ranked 60-meter hurdler with a time of 8.16 set in last week’s Iowa State Last Chance Qualifier. Beckles placed fourth at the SEC Indoor Championships and is the second Gamecock in three years to earn a hurdle berth at the indoor nationals.

Zajac earned the first at-large bid awarded in the men’s weight throw with a top mark of 69’9 ½ (21.27m). It is Zajac’s third consecutive year qualifying in the weight throw as the senior enters the meet ranked eighth in the nation. At the SEC Indoor Championships, he became the first Gamecock to medal at the event three times in a career, and he also became one of two Gamecocks to score in the weight throw in all four seasons of his career.

SOUTH CAROLINA DECLARATIONS
Name – Event – Competition Day/Time
Lakya Brookins – Women’s 60m Dash – Friday 6:30 p.m. (ET) Prelims // Saturday, 7:00 p.m. (ET) Finals
Kierre Beckles – Women’s 60m Hurdles – Friday 5:30 p.m. (ET) Prelims // Saturday, 6:20 p.m. (ET) Finals
Michael Zajac – Men’s Weight Throw – Saturday, 6 p.m. (ET) Finals