Olsen, Sullivan Lead Gamecocks on Opening Day at Penn Relays

April 24, 2014

PHILADELPHIA – The Gamecock women took center stage on the first day of the 120th Penn Relays on Thursday in front of 21,422 fans at Franklin Field. Senior Petra Olsen finished fourth in the women’s championship pole vault and junior Kaysee Sullivan took fifth in the women’s college discus throw.

Sullivan opened the day for South Carolina with a heave of 157’6″ (48.02m) in the discus. The mark is just 3″ off her personal best, which is the ninth-best discus throw in school history. Her best mark of the day came on her second attempt and took fifth in a field of 32.

In the women’s pole vault, a pair of Gamecocks turned in solid finishes. In the women’s championship, Olsen recorded a clearance of 13’9 ¼” (4.20m) for her fourth-place finish. Earlier in the day, junior Megan Wall took sixth in the women’s college pole vault with a mark of 11’11 ¾” (3.65m).

Sophomores Alexis Murphy and Chalese Davis notched top-10 finishes in the college women’s long jump. Murphy took ninth with a leap of 19′ ½” (5.80m), and Davis was right behind in 10th place at 18’11 ¾” (5.78m).

A surging Ahtyana Johnson out-leaned a competitor from Kentucky at the line to win the Gamecocks’ 4×100-meter heat. The quartet of Johnson, Tyler Brockington, Tamera Harris and Vashti Bandy finished 11th overall with a time of 45.65 and will run in the college women’s championship tomorrow at 12:55 p.m.

The Gamecock women will also run in the college women’s championship in the 4×400-meter relay on Saturday at 5:35 p.m., after finishing 19th in today’s heats. The team of Precious Holmes, Briana Haith, Tamera Harris and Marisa Bellamy clocked in 3:45.90.

Penn Relays continues tomorrow with the men’s 400-meter hurdles at 9 a.m. In addition to the women’s 4×1 final, the men’s and women’s 4×200-meter relay and the shuttle hurdle relay are also set for tomorrow. The men will run heats in the 4×1 and 4×4, while the sprint medley relay closes the day’s action.