Feb. 19, 2011

Complete Results

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By Miquel Jacobs
Media Relations Assistant

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina track and field athletes set four facility records to pace the team Saturday at the Gamecock Invitational held at the USC Indoor Fieldhouse. The Gamecock women hit four facility marks, and the men’s team hit one as Carolina dominated the distance events and the women’s high jump.

Sophomore Jessica Hartman set a new record in the women’s mile run at 5:28.49 while a pair of freshmen made their marks in the Gamecock record books. Penny Boswell set a new record in the women’s 3,000-meter run at 10:35.91, finishing nearly a minute faster than the next competitor, and Jeannelle Scheper cleared a personal best 5’8 ¾ (1.75m) in the women’s high jump, breaking the 16-year old record by three inches. Scheper jumped from 17th to fourth on the SEC performance list in one day while also cracking the national top 40 in the event. She is now tied for eighth among the nation’s freshmen in the women’s high jump and is second all-time in the Gamecock record books.

On the men’s side, junior Vince DePiano took the honors in the men’s 3,000-meter run at 8:52.30. Senior Matt Shuler won the men’s pole vault and attempted the facility record by putting the bar at 5.50m, but his attempts at the record fell slightly short. Also, Michael Zajac improved his personal best mark in the men’s weight throw to 21.27m (69’9 ½), keeping him in a tie for fifth place in the nation this season.

WOMEN
Senior Shayla Mahan ran the fastest time of the day in the women’s 55-meter dash at 6.83 in the preliminary round. Freshman Vashti Bandy placed third at 7.17. The 55-meter hurdles were led by junior Kierre Beckles with a silver medal finish at 8.08, although her fastest time of the day was 7.88 in the prelims. Ceci Kryst placed fourth at 8.42. In the 400-meter dash, Amber Allen earned the win with Ashley Hunter placing fourth. The Gamecocks also went 2-3-7 in the 800-meter run in the order of Erin Fedewa, Jessica Hartman and Patrice Frierson. Hartman then ran her record-breaking mile run to earn the win, and Fedewa took second in the mile at 5:30.10. Carolina took first and third in the 3,000-meter run as Boswell claimed the win with Laura Beggs taking third.

The Gamecocks won every women’s field event among collegiate competitors. Scheper earned her record breaking high jump to get the victory with Staley Foster (5’5 // 1.65m), Kayla Blake (5’3 // 1.60m) and Kryst (5’1, 1.55m) taking second, fourth and fifth, respectively. Kryst also won the long jump at a season best mark of 18’10 (5.74m). Freshman Angie Rummans won the women’s pole vault at 12’9 ½ (3.90m), a mark that ties teammate Petra Olsen for fifth in the SEC and first among freshmen in the league. Olsen came in second Saturday at 12’1 ½ (3.70m), and teammates Tamra Stanish (10’10) and Tylar Mangan (10’2) took sixth and seventh.

In the women’s throws, Stacee Roberts, Breanna Radford and Katie Vuckovich led Carolina in the shot put and weight throw. Roberts was the collegiate winner in both events at a personal best 50’2 (14.73m) in the shot put as well as a toss of 53’0 (16.15m) in the weight throw. Radford threw a personal best 47’9 (14.55m) in the shot put to finish second among collegiates and Vuckovich followed right behind at 45’10 ¾ (13.99m). Radford took fourth in the weight throw and Vuckovich took sixth at a season best 47’6 ¼ (14.48m).

MEN
In the men’s 55-meter dash, Chris Maxwell placed seventh (6.62) and Eyong Oma placed ninth (6.66) to start and end the day, while freshman Chris Royster ran a fast time of 6.55 in the semifinals before being disqualified in the final race. On the hurdles side, Jerry Thompson III took fourth and Kevaughn Griffith took fifth at times of 7.77 and 7.85, respectively.

Nejmi Burnside won the men’s 400-meter dash and was followed by Alex Loose in fourth and Steve Hunsaker in sixth. The Gamecocks also earned a win in the 800-meter run courtesy of Alex Bermudez as he and Drew Ricci claimed first and third overall. In the final distance event, DePiano earned his facility record in the 3,000-meter run at 8:52.30.

Much like on the women’s side, Carolina’s men dominated in the field events with wins in every event they competed in except for one. Zajac hit a new personal best in the weight throw to lead a contingent that finished 1-3-4-8. Louis Day had a PR of 53’10 ¼ (16.41m) and Chris Campbell had a PR of 50’3 ¼ (15.32m) to take third and fourth, and Trey Suhrstedt tossed a season best 42’8 ¾ (13.02m) to take eighth. In the shot put, Day hit another personal best at 53’11 (16.43m) to earn the win and move into the SEC top 10. Andrew Finley also had a career day to take second at 51’2 ¼ (15.60m).

The trio of Lincoln Carr, Joshua Jones and Jarett Gerald finished 2-3-4 in the men’s long jump to round out the competition. Carr jumped 22’11 ¾ (7.00m), Jones jumped 22’9 (6.93m) and Gerald jumped 22’6 ¼ (6.86m).

South Carolina travels to Fayetteville, Ark., next week to participate in the SEC Indoor Championships. The meet will be held Friday through Sunday at the Randall Tyson Track.