July 27, 2002

Manchester, England – South Carolina’s Otukile Lekote, running in the blue and white colors of Botswana, advanced today to tomorrow’s semi-finals of the 800m at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.

Lekote, who won his heat with the fastest qualifying time of the day, crossed the finish line at 1:47.68.

Former Gamecock Charmaine Howell (running for Jamaica) was third in her heat and also advanced to the semi-finals for the women’s 800m on Sunday. Her time was 2:04.45.

Another former Gamecock, Marvin Watts, wasn’t as lucky as he finished sixth in his heat of the 800m and did not advance. His time was 1:51.39.