May 27, 2011

Results

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By Miquel Jacobs
Media Relations Assistant

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Three Gamecocks earned their bids to the NCAA Outdoor Championships after placing in the top 12 in their respective quarterfinals at the end of the second day of competition at the NCAA Preliminary Round on the campus of Indiana University. Seniors LaKya Brookins and Michael Zajac, along with junior Marvin Reitze, have all qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships that will be held at Drake University from June 8-11 in Des Moines, Iowa, with one day of competition remaining in Bloomington.

Brookins ran the fastest time of the East Preliminary with her victory at 11.31 to advance to the outdoor finals. Brookins edged out SEC Champion Semoy Hackett of LSU to cross the line first and earn a preliminary round victory for the first time in her career. Classmate Gabrielle Glenn finished 18th overall at 11.69, missing out on an individual bid to nationals by six spots.

Zajac earned his second consecutive bid to the NCAA Outdoor Championships after placing eighth overall with a season best throw of 204’8 (62.39m) in the hammer throw. The bid gives Zajac one more opportunity to earn an All-America citation after collecting four in his collegiate career.

“I’m just happy to advance,” Zajac said. “The last time national’s were in Des Moines (in 2008), I didn’t qualify but the coaches took me to get the experience of it. This time I’m glad that I could earn my right to go to Des Moines and compete.”

Reitze was the final Gamecock to earn his bid to nationals after clearing 7’0 ¾ (5.20m) in the pole vault on his second attempt. Reitze advances to the outdoor national final for the first time since placing fourth overall as a freshman in 2009. He officially ties for first at the preliminary round as one of 11 athletes to clear the height, making subsequent jumps unnecessary due to the purpose of the preliminary round as a means of getting the field down to 12 athletes.

SEC runner-up Kierre Beckles continues her strong first season at South Carolina with a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal. Beckles ran 13.29 and took second in her heat to automatically advance to the quarterfinal. Janica Austin took 33rd overall at 13.99.

A trio of Gamecocks advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals in the 200-meter dash with one woman and two men advancing after Friday’s first round. In the women’s section, junior Kelsey McCorkle placed 16th overall with a time of 24.08 to earn a spot in Saturday’s quarterfinal. On the men’s side, senior Antonio Sales automatically qualified with a seventh-place finish at 20.87, and sophomore Chris Maxwell qualified with a time of 21.23 to place 11th overall in the first round.

Junior Beatrice Biwott missed her personal best time by one second with her run of 10:21.49 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Biwott placed 18th overall in the steeplechase preliminary, missing her first outdoor final by six spots and four seconds.

Freshman Chris Royster finished 17th overall in the 100-meter dash quarterfinal at 10.50, and Sales ran 10.64 after a stumble out of blocks ended his bid for a berth to nationals. Freshman Clayton Gravesande ran in the 400-meter dash quarterfinal and placed 19th overall at 47.15.

Junior Radiance Basden jumped 39’10 (12.14m) in the triple jump, and freshman Jeannelle Scheper cleared 5’7 (1.70m) in the high jump to open up the field events for the day. A trio of throwers competed in the shot put and all three placed higher than their seeds. Junior Stacee Roberts took 23rd overall at 49’6 ½ (15.10m), and sophomore Breanna Radford had a personal best throw of 49’5 ¾ (15.08m) to follow in 24th place. Junior Katie Vuckovich took 29th at 48’10 ¾ (14.90m).

In the men’s triple jump, sophomore Lincoln Carr placed 23rd at 49’3 ¾ (15.03m) and freshman Dorian Johnson placed 33rd at 48’5 ½ (14.77m) to end the day for South Carolina.

Competition continues Saturday morning at 11 a.m. when the women’s discus throw is contested with Aimee Kodat competing for the Gamecocks. The running events will begin at 6 p.m. beginning with the 4×100-meter relay.