Jan. 15, 2016

BLACKSBURG, VA. – A tremendous debut from Gamecock Irene Vian was the highlight of day one for South Carolina track and field. She and a number of other student-athletes opened their weekend of competition at the Virginia Tech Invitational Friday evening.

Vian, a native of Padua, Italy, made a big splash in her first-ever race for the Gamecocks, running a time of 2:51.52 in the 1,000 to finish fourth overall. The time is good for second fastest in program history, behind only her current teammate Anna Todd.

In other results for the women, Maya Evans finished fifth in the 500 (1:15.53) and Monica York came in fifth for the 3,000 (10:21.89).

On the men’s side, Drew Trusty led the way with a seventh-place finish in the 3,000. In his debut with the team after coming in as a graduate transfer, Trusty ran a time of 8:44.24. It is the best time in the event for the men since Robert Razick in 2013.

South Carolina will wrap up the weekend in Blacksburg tomorrow afternoon, with three events apiece scheduled for the men’s and women’s teams.