March 1, 2009

Complete Results

LEXINGTON, Ky. – It took five years but Jason Richardson finally jumped over the hump and earned his first SEC Indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles Sunday afternoon in the final day at the SEC Indoor Championships. Running on the same track that he hit his nation-leading 7.58 in the first meet of the season, Richardson took the title at 7.72 in only his fourth run of the season, giving the Gamecocks their first 60m hurdle champion since Terrence Trammell won the title in 2000.

In the overall team standings, the men used an automatic qualifying time in the 4x400m relay at the end of the day to jump into a tie for fourth with 65 points, the team’s best finish since taking third in 2003. The women, however, jumped up to fifth overall with 57 points after the 4x400m relay team of Brandi Cross, Nadonnia Rodrigues, Breehana Jacobs and Porche Byrd won the SEC title with the nation’s fastest time at 3:33.50. The title was the first for the women’s 4x400m relay team since 2003, a streak that included four runner-up finishes in the event. The finish is the Carolina’s women’s 12th top-five finish in Coach Curtis Frye’s 13 seasons.

“As far as I’m concerned, the entire team exceeded expectations this weekend,” South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye said. “They did everything you can possibly do today, and they did it right. These kids go to school, they make good grades and they don’t get in trouble. We came in seeded ninth and seventh for the women and men and finished fourth and fifth. I’m proud of them.”

Richardson’s only other meet this season was the season opening Kentucky Invitational that was held at the Nutter Field House on Jan. 17. After taking first in the prelims and finals that day, Richardson did not see the track again until winning the preliminary round yesterday to open the SEC Championships.

“It was really good,” said Richardson, who last year won his first SEC Outdoor and NCAA Outdoor titles in the 110m hurdles. “This was my second race of the entire season. I just wanted to stay confident after my injury. It feels great. Some things are elusive in a person’s career and an indoor title has been elusive. To come out here and have success just lets me know that I have a big outdoor season ahead of me.”

“Jason Richardson managed his race like a professional and got through it as a champion,” Frye said. “I think our entire team is ready for nationals. We’re young and inexperienced but have a lot of kids that work extremely hard. Our slogan is that hard works beats talent when talent doesn’t work. Our kids learned a lot of lessons this week.”

With the women trailing Auburn and Kentucky by one point heading into the final event, assistant coach Lawrence Johnson encouraged the Gamecocks cheering on their team with a speech while Coach Frye told his relay team one thing: “You need to win.” Consisting of four ladies that already ran in the 400m final earlier in the day with mixed results, the Gamecocks jumped out in front immediately with Cross running the first leg, and the team never squandered the lead as Byrd crossed the line with her hands raised in the air.

“We’re real excited,” Cross said. “Getting the SEC Championship is a real big win for us. We’ve been running in the 3:40’s all season, and today we all decided to come together and do it the way we know we can.”

“Coach Johnson gave our teammates and us energy and strength,” Rodrigues added. “He pushes and encourages us to be our best, and we’re proud of that.”

Not only did Richardson and the relay team step up, but the entire South Carolina contingent did their part to contribute to the men’s and women’s team success. For the women, the day began with the high jump, and two sophomores responded to the inspiration of Saturday’s Gamecock performances by jumping season bests to score in the meet. Kayla Blake grabbed five points with a fourth place finish at 5-07.25 (1.71m), and Staley Foster hit a personal best 5-05.25 (1.66m) to tie for seventh.

The mood drifted to the throws where redshirt sophomore Michael Zajac twice threw a personal best 68-01.50 (20.76m) in the men’s weight throw to grab second place, matching fellow Gamecock Jason Cook’s second place finish yesterday in the shot put. From there, the South Carolina teammates moved to the pole vault area where freshman Marvin Reitze and junior Kevin Brinkley added seven points to the mix with their performances. Reitze, the only freshman to clear a height, hit a collegiate best 17-00.00 (5.18m) to take third in the event while Brinkley surpassed his PR by seven inches to claim eighth at 16-04.75 (5.00m). Fellow Gamecock Matt Shuler took ninth at 16-00.75 (4.90m).

After watching their teammates step up in the pole vault, South Carolina prepared for the running events where 17 Gamecocks qualified for the finals after Saturday’s preliminary round. The first event up was the 60m hurdles as Richardson, sophomore Johnny Dutch and freshman Booker Nunley again set the pace with a 1-6-7 finish. With Richardson earning Carolina’s first individual indoor title since 2002, Nunley and Dutch both ran 7.92’s to take sixth and seventh, respectively, bringing Carolina’s total in the event to 15 points.

The Gamecocks also had three finalists in the women’s 60m hurdles as seniors Ronnetta Alexander and Trier Young teamed up with sophomore Janica Austin to represent Carolina in the event. Alexander and Austin both ran season bests to place third and sixth, respectively. Young was narrowly edged out for eighth place but ran an 8.56 for ninth.

The hurdles then gave way to the men’s and women’s 60m dash with three Gamecock sophomore women also claiming points in that event. Lakya Brookins ran an automatic qualifying time for the second consecutive day to place third at 7.24. Shayla Mahan and Gabrielle Glenn went sixth and seventh after Mahan ran a 7.35 and Glenn ran a 7.47, marking the first time that the Gamecocks earned three point scorers in the short sprint at the indoor meet.

Running for the men, senior Johnathan Hancock took sixth in the 60m at 6.70 and was followed in the 400m by junior Obakeng Ngwigwa who stepped up to the challenge to take fourth at a season best 47.08.

The Gamecock women accounted for half of the finalists in the 400m dash, a feat also accomplished in 2005 when Natasha Hastings, Tiffany Ross-Williams, Shevon Stoddart and Stephanie Smith went 2-3-4-5. This year, it was a junior, one sophomore and two freshmen that formed the tandem as Rodrigues, Cross, Byrd and Jacobs went 3-5-7-8 in the event for 13 points. Rodrigues ran a season best 53.41, Cross ran a 53.99, Byrd had a 54.58 and Jacobs ran a 55.14 in just her second time running the event all season.

Junior Danielle Barnes then brought the entire Gamecock crowd to its feet when she ran the second-fastest mile time in program history to claim fifth at 4:47.19, her first provisional time of the year. Barnes is one of only three Gamecock women to score in the event and matches former Gamecock Tracey Capper (1995) as the highest placing woman in the event for Carolina.

Barnes then ran the first leg of the women’s distance medley relay team that claimed eighth at 11:53.75. Kelsey McCorkle ran the second leg, Erin Fedewa the third and Beatrice Biwott ran the final leg.

The final men’s event of the day was the 4x400m relay, and Carolina went into the event with the intent to defender their 2008 indoor title. The Gamecocks finished second but ran their first automatic time of the year after Quentin Moore, Johnny Dutch, Obakeng Ngwigwa and Aaron Anderson ran the 3:06.11, a time that also is second in the nation. The mark is the second-fastest in program history.

“I can’t say a big enough thank you to (Associate Athletics Director) Charles Waddell for making concessions that ultimately helped us finish this high. He made sure we had two buses to travel, computers for the kids to do their schoolwork and everything else that we needed. We do well because we have great support from our administration.”

South Carolina will send a few athletes to the NCAA Last Chances Meets in Ames, Iowa and Blacksburg, Va., on March 7 before heading to College Station, Texas for the NCAA Indoor Championships from March 13-14.