July 20, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Two incoming University of South Carolina freshmen, Nejmi Burnside and Sanura Eley-O’Reilly, will compete this week at the 13th IAAF World Junior Championships that are being held in Moncton, Canada at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium. Burnside will compete in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4x400m relay for the Bahamas. Eley-O’Reilly (Fayetteville, N.C.) will run on the gold medal favorite USA 4x400m relay.

The first round of the 400-meter hurdle race is scheduled for Wednesday at 8:35 a.m. (ET). The semifinal is Thursday at 10:20 a.m. (ET) with the final scheduled for 9:10 p.m. (ET) Friday night. The first round of the women’s 4x400m relay will be Saturday at 1:45 p.m. (ET) with the final scheduled for Sunday at 2:15 p.m. (ET). The men’s 4x400m relay will run 30 minutes after the women’s.

Burnside has had a stellar season in 2010. The 18-year old most recently won the Bahamas national championship in the 400-meter hurdles last month at a time of 52.48 in Nassau. Earlier this year he also won the high school division o the Penn Relays and medaled at the CAFIRITA Games. He was one of three flag bearers for the Bahamas this week at the IAAF World Junior Championships. His top time this year is 52.23.

Eley-O’Reilly won several indoor and outdoor North Carolina state championships in 2010 and finished her final high school season ranked No. 9 in the nation in the 400-meter dash with a top time of 53.43, a time that goes down as a North Carolina state record. She claimed sixth at last month’s USA Junior National Championships with a time of 54.64 to earn her bid to Canada.

These two athletes are carrying are carrying on the long tradition of Gamecocks at the World Junior Championships. Given the limited number of qualifiers, South Carolina has enjoyed tremendous success at the World Junior Championships over the years. Held every two years, current and former Gamecocks have won 21 medals at the event since 1998, 15 of those being gold medals. Five Gamecocks earned medals at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Poland with Shayla Mahan, Gabrielle Glenn and Antonio Sales taking gold as members of the USA relays. Hurdlers Johnny Dutch and Booker Nunley both earned silver medals in their respective events.