April 25, 2013

PHILDELPHIA, Pa. – In front of 23,310 fans, the Gamecocks started their weekend at the 119th Penn Relays at Franklin Field. With just the No. 25 South Carolina women in action on Thursday, the Gamecocks racked up four top-10 finishes.

Senior Breanna Radford, who finished fourth in the championship division of the shot put at Penn Relays last season, added a third-place finish to her resume. After being honored with the President’s Award at the annual Gamecock Gala on Monday night, Radford recorded a mark of 53-03.50 (16.24m). The mark made Radford the second-place collegian in the championship section.

The women’s distance medley relay team ran the second-fastest time in school history. The quartet of freshman Lisa Zimmer, junior Amber Allen, freshman Anna Todd and sophomore Meredith Mill ran a time of 11.47.93 just off the all-time Gamecock record of 11:40.52 set in 1996. The foursome’s time gave them eighth place.

In the women’s long jump, senior Ceci Kryst set a new personal record and recorded her fourth top-10 finish of the season. Kryst’s new PR of 19-03.50 gave her seventh place in the collegiate section.

Graduate student Chelsea France also collected a top-10 finish on the first day of the meet, running 10:48.02 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. France finished 10th overall with her time.

The Gamecock men join in on the action tomorrow. Freshmen hurdlers Jermaine Collier and Dondre Echols kick off the action at 9 a.m. in the 400-meter hurdles. Kryst is back in action as the first Gamecock woman to compete tomorrow, competing in the triple jump at 11 a.m.