May 16, 2014

Results

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Alexandre Asselin and Sarah Graham scored in the multi-events with top-10 performances in school history, and four Gamecocks advanced to event finals on the second day at the 2014 SEC Outdoor Championships at the University of Kentucky.

Asselin began his day in the decathlon by lowering his personal record by nearly a quarter of a second in the 110-meter hurdles to rack up 821 points. After falling a few spots in the standings in the discus, the freshman soared in the pole vault, shattering his lifetime best by just over a foot (4.50m // 14-05.75) to shoot back up to third place with two events remaining.

Asselin PR’ed again in the javelin (47.33m // 155-03) and entered the final decathlon event in fourth place. He gutted through the 1,500-meter finale and finished just off the podium with 6,995 points, a collegiate best and the No. 6 decathlon total in school history. Asselin set new lifetime best in five of 10 events.

It’s the first scoring performance in the event for the Gamecocks since 2010, matching Scott Pierce’s fourth-place finish from the same year.

After setting new personal bests in three of four events yesterday, Graham battled cool, rainy weather to set new PRs in the javelin (27.30m // 89-07) and the 800 meters (2:19.52). Her two-day performance led to a new lifetime best in the heptathlon with 5,254 points, improving her mark as the sixth-best in program history. Graham finished seventh overall and tallied the first points of the weekend for the Gamecocks.

Graham’s finish is the best since Kettiany Clark also took seventh in 2009.

On the track, Ahtyana Johnson pushed Kentucky’s Dezerea Bryant, who posted the top 200-meter qualifying time of the day at 23.15, to the finish line. Johnson clocked in at 23.59, seventh fastest overall, and qualified for Sunday’s final on time. In the prelims of the men’s 200 meters, Chris Royster led the Gamecocks with a time of 21.14, but missed the finals by hundredths of a second with his 10th-place finish.

In the 400-meter hurdles, Jermaine Collier earned automatic entry into Sunday’s finals, running a 53.39. Jussi Kanervo and Juan Stenner were the last two out, finishing in 10th and 11th, respectively. Kanervo, who has been battling injury, ran 54.44, while Stenner posted a season-best 54.62.

Tamera Harris and Tyler Brockington were on the right side of the qualifying line in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, taking two of the three on-time qualifying spots. Harris clocked a 58.62; Brockington crossed in 59.55. The men’s and women’s 400-meter hurdle finals are on Sunday afternoon.

In the final event of the day, Mary Reiser ran her first collegiate 10,000 meters. The freshman finished 13th with the third-best time in Gamecock history, 35:42.96.

A full day of action is set for tomorrow, with the women’s long jump and javelin starting the day at 1 p.m. before running begins at 3:45 with the 1,500-meter run preliminaries.

Men’s 800m Run – Prelims