Feb. 25, 2011

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By Miquel Jacobs
Media Relations Assistant

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The first completed event is in the books as teams concluded competition at the SEC Indoor Championships day one with South Carolina sophomore Ceci Kryst placing 15th overall in the women’s pentathlon. Kryst finished with 3,217 points, an improvement of 349 points from her showing as a freshman last season, while two Gamecock men have completed half of the heptathlon competition.

In the men’s heptathlon, athletes completed four of seven events with competition in the 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put and high jump. Gamecock junior Jerry Thompson III ended the day in eighth place with 2,780 points, an improvement of one spot and 146 points from the same point in last season’s championship. Freshman Chris Sharp sits 11th overall with 2,622 points in his first appearance at the SEC Indoor Championships.

In the women’s competition, Kryst opened the day with a time of 9.27 in the 60-meter hurdles, earning 854 points in the first event. The time was a season best for Kryst and an improvement of one full second from her run at the 2010 SEC Indoor Championships when she clipped the final hurdle to slow her time.

High jump was the second event for the women’s pentathlon, and Kryst had first attempt clearances on the first five bars to finish with a top clearance of 4’10 ½ (1.49m). She then moved to shot put and threw a season best 31’3 ¾ (9.52m) for 498 points before jumping up the final standings with a strong showing in the long jump at 17’11 (5.46m). The final event of the pentathlon was the 800-meter run, and Kryst crossed the finish line at 2:40.47 to end the day with 3,217 points, an improvement of the 2,868 points she had last season.

The men’s heptathlon began with Jerry Thompson III and Chris Sharp both running in the second heat of the men’s 60-meter dash. Thompson took third in the heat at 7.23 to earn 802 points while Sharp ran 7.58 to grab 687 points after one event of seven. In the next event, Thompson hit a season best 20’9 ¼ (6.33m) in the long jump to take ninth in the event with 659 points. Sharp went 20’8 ½ (6.31m) for 655 points, moving up to 11th in the overall standings after two events.

Thompson III began making a move up the chart with a sixth place finish in the shot put. Thompson had a top throw of 41’8 (12.70m), marking another season best and giving him 649 points to stay just nine points out of eighth. Sharp had a top throw of 35’3 ¼ (10.75m) for 531 points, falling shy of his best mark this season but keeping him in 11th position overall with one event remaining Friday night.

The high jump was the early high point for Sharp as expected as the freshman cleared 6’4 ¼ (1.94m) on his first attempt to finish tied for third with 749 points. Thompson III cleared 6’0 ¾ (1.85m) for 670 points, a score that pushed him into eighth place at the end of the day with two of his strongest events – pole vault and hurdles – on tap for Saturday’s final day of heptathlon competition.

South Carolina returns to action Saturday morning beginning with the women’s weight throw at 11 a.m. (ET). The final three events of the men’s heptathlon will begin at 3:10 p.m.