Feb. 8, 2008

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The South Carolina track programs concluded the first day of competition at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational held at The Armory in New York City. The Gamecocks had four provisional times on the day and will conclude the second day of competition Saturday.

Freshman Lakya Brookins finished seventh in the 60-meter dash finals in 7.37, and classmate Shayla Mahan placed ninth in 7.40 seconds. Both times were provisional qualifying marks. Gabrielle Glenn ran a 7.54 to finish 14th in the finals. Jason Richardson placed eighth in the finals of the men’s 60-meter hurdles in 7.87 while Trier Young placed 15th in the finals of the women’s 60-meter hurdles in 8.54.

Other runners in the women’s 60-meter dash preliminaries included Lakya Brookins (7.42) in seventh and Dishari’ck Howzee (7.87). Kayla Parker and Bianca Blair competed in the women’s 60-meter hurdles prelims while Curt McGill also ran in the men’s 60-meter hurdles.

Carolina will have runners in the men’s and women’s 400-meter dash compete in Saturday’s finals. In the men’s 400-meter dash, Keith Hinnant ran 47.58 in the prelims to finish eighth and qualify for the finals. In the women’s 400-meter dash, Brandi Cross and Krystal Cantey both ran sub-55’s to qualify for the finals, and Porche Byrd edged out runners from Texas A&M and Arkansas to claim a spot in the finals. Cross placed seventh in 54.46 while Cantey placed ninth in 54.88. Byrd ran a 55.18 to finish 12th in the prelims.

The Gamecocks had six other runners in the men’s 400-meter dash. Ray Miley (22nd), Derron Flood (24th) and Quentin Moore (26th) finished right behind each other after running hundredths of a second apart. Aaron Anderson, Jussi Heikkila and Jamil James rounded out the Carolina men’s effort in the event. On the women’s side, Faraign Giles and Sade St. Louis also competed in the 400-meter dash and placed 16th and 37th, respectively.

Three sprinters set new PR’s in the men’s 60-meter dash. Johnathan Hancock bested his time last week by .02 seconds to finish in 6.85 Friday (19th). Freshmen Lamar Markett and Antonio Sales ran their collegiate bests at The Armory as Markett finished in 6.88 (23rd) and Sales placed 30th in 6.93. Nick Lytle also competed and ran a flat 7.00 (40).

Jason Cook set a new personal record in the shot put to finish fifth in the finals. Cook threw a 56-10 for Carolina’s second-best distance this season. David Zaycek also posted a new PR after hitting 52-4 and placing 20th overall. Curt McGill finished 43rd with a distance of 44-1 ½ in his second event of the day.

Sallie Gurganus and Vica Shobe notched season-bests in the women’s pole vault as each cleared 11-9 ¾ Friday. Gurganus placed fifth and Shobe eighth in the finals. Liza Todd placed 11th after clearing 11-3 ¾.

Derek Pressley competed in the long jump for the first time this season, hitting a distance of 21-10 to finish 29th in the finals. Aaron Searles was right behind at 21-9 (31) with McGill jumping 20-11 ¾ (43) in his third event of the day. Kayla Blake cleared a height of 5-4 ¼ in the women’s high jump to place fifth overall.

Two men and one woman competed in the 500-meter dash, led by Scott Pierce who finished in 1:04.67 to place 11th. Michael Varner ran a 1:08.14 in his first race of the season. Nikeshia Brown ran a 1:19.75 in the women’s race.

Ashley Evens and Rebecca Chain represented the Carolina women in distances. Chain recorded Carolina’s best time in the 3000-meter this season, placing 26th in 10:12.68. Evens competed in the 800-meter run in 2:31.23 in her first race of the season.

Women’s 500m Dash (Final)
40. Nikeshia Brown, 1:19.75

Women’s 3000m Run (Final)
26. Rebecca Chain, 10:12.68

Men’s 500m Dash (Final)
11. Scott Pierce, 1:04.67; 49. Mike Varner, 1:08.14

Women’s High Jump (Final)
5. Kayla Blake, 5-4 ¼

Women’s 400m Dash (Pre)
7. Brandi Cross, 54.46; 9. Krystal Cantey, 54.88; 12. Porche Byrd, 55.18; 16. Faraign Giles, 55.51; 37. Sade St. Louis, 56.88

Men’s 400m Dash (Pre)
8. Keith Hinnant, 47.58; 22. Ray Miley, 48.16; 24. Derron Flood, 48.18; 26. Quentin Moore, 48.26); 31. Aaron Anderson, 48.53; 41. Jussi Heikkila, 49.04; 58. Jamil James, 49.39

Men’s 60m Hurdles (Pre)
8. Jason Richardson, 7.90^; 55. Curt McGill, 8.56

Women’s Pole Vault (Final)
5. Sallie Gurganus, 11-9 ¾; 8. Vica Shobe, 11-9 ¾; 11. Liza Todd, 11-3 ¾

Women’s 60m Hurdles (Pre)
15. Trier Young, 8.60^; 62. Kayla Parker, 9.23; 75. Bianca Blair, 9.50; 88. Brittney James, 13.64

Women’s 60m Dash (Pre)
7. LaKya Brookins, 7.42^; 13. Shayla Mahan, 7.52; 14. Gabrielle Glenn, 7.54; 66. Dishari’ck Howzee, 7.87

Women’s 60m Dash (Final)
7. Lakya Brookins, 7.37; 9. Shayla Mahan, 7.40; 14. Gabrielle Glenn, 7.54

Men’s 60m Dash (Pre)
19. Johnathan Hancock, 6.85; 23. Lamar Markett, 6.88; Antonio Sales, 6.93; 40. Nick Lytle, 7.00

Men’s Shot Put (Final)
5. Jason Cook, 56-10; 20. David Zaycek, 52-4; 43. Curt McGill, 44-1 ½

Men’s Long Jump (Pre)
29. Derek Pressley, 21-10; 31. Aaron Searles, 21-9; 46. Curt McGill, 20-11 ¼

Women’s 800m Run (Final)
68. Ashley Evens, 2:31.23

Men’s Pole Vault
19. Kevin Brinkley, 14-9

Women’s Shot Put
53. Aimee Kodat, 35-7 1/4