April 25, 2015

Photo Gallery

PHILADELPHIA, PA. – The South Carolina track and field team closed out competition at the Penn Relays Saturday, capping one of the most successful trips to the meet in program history. The men competed in three Championship of America relay finals, and the field events posted two more top-five finishers.

After qualifying for the championship division of the javelin throw, Kaleb Zuidema performed well on Saturday morning with a sixth-place finish. His fifth attempt of 67.65 meters (221-11) would be his best of the morning, matching his season best for the event. Closing out the throwing events for the weekend was Clarence Gallop in the hammer. He would hit his best mark on the sixth and final attempt, clearing 206-5 to finish fourth overall.

In his first meet after setting the new program record in the triple jump, Michael Wamer again cracked 50 feet in the event, passing 50-7.25 to finish sixth in the event. It is his second-best jump of the season, behind only his own record.

Back on the track, the men’s 4×1, 4×2 and 4×4 relay teams faced still competition in the hunt for a second title. In the 4×1, the team found itself behind early after Dondre Echols was sideswiped by the inside runner while taking the baton on the first hand-off. He recovered, but it would factor into the team’s sixth-place finish and final time of 40.55. In the 4×2, Carolina would finish fourth overall, with Jamaican schools University Tech and G.C. Foster running to a convincing 1-2 finish. The quartet of Chris Walker, Eric Winfrey, Ryan Bermudez and Markus Leemet crossed in 1:24.11.

After running the bulk of their events on Thursday, the women would run in just one event on the final day – the 4×800. The team of Maya Evans, Ashley Miller, Allie Sprague and Martha McCoy ran a time of 9:13.25 to finish 19th in the college division, 29th overall.

Closing out the night was the Championship of American final for the men’s 4×4. Despite missing two potential runners, the group of Winfrey, Walker, Leemet and Echols finished ninth overall with a time of 3:13.51.

NOTABLES

• The attendance for the final day of the relays was 48,920. It brings the weekend total to 110,587, marking the 12th year in a row that the event drew over 100,000.
• The five event wins for Carolina are the most since the 2002 season, when it won six (four relays, two individuals. The five wins surpass the output from the 2007 team that won four.

QUOTABLE South Carolina Head Coach Curtis Frye

Opening Statement
It was a great weekend, it was a tough day but our kids kept lining up. I’m proud of them – they line up and they give it a big Gamecock fight.

Looking Ahead to the SEC Championships
I feel like we’re going to have a good SECs, particularly our guys. Our girls have struggled, we don’t have the number, but I think our guys will do a really good job. They represented themselves well here (at Penn)… The kids recognize that we can compete with anybody.

UP NEXT

Now with the regular season in the books, the team will have a long break before heading to the SEC Championships. The conference meet will run May 14-16, hosted by Mississippi State.