Jan. 29, 2016

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. || UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. – The South Carolina track and field team opened its weekend at a pair of meets Friday. The multi-event athletes went north for the Penn State National, and other members traveled to the Camel City Invite.

The day started with Chalese Davis and Sarah Graham in the pentathlon and Alexandre Asselin, Markus Leemet and Simon Gyllensten in the heptathlon. Davis and Graham traded off wins in the first two events; Davis earned a commanding 991 points by winning the 60m hurdles but Graham answered back with a win in the high jump.

Davis broke open the competition in the long jump, where she set a new personal best in the event and earned another win. Her mark of 5.88 meters also moved her into a tie for tenth in program history, making her and Alexis Murphy the only two Gamecocks in the last eight years to earn a spot on the top 10.

In the final standings for the pentathlon, Davis won with a score of 3,825, 30 points off her personal best. Graham finished third, at 3,690 points.

The men’s heptathlon, Leemet and Asselin had strong opening efforts in the first four events and are in the running for the win heading into tomorrow’s final three events. Leemet finished in the top five in all four of the events, highlighted by a pair of third-place finishes in the shot put and high jump. Asselin’s top finish would be second in the long jump, with the team’s top mark of the season to date (7.06m / 23′ 2″).

Out at the Camel City Invite, the Gamecocks had six finals on the opening day. On the track, Allie Mueller had the team’s top finish after placing 13th in the 800. She set a new season best after running a time of 2:17.58. In the team’s lone field event, Kierstin Williams finished 11th in the weight throw. The men would only have one final Friday, with Otis Jones placing 18th to lead a group of five Gamecocks in the 800m.

UP NEXT

Tomorrow will wrap up both meets, with the final three events in the heptathlon starting things off Saturday morning. At the Camel City Invite, the men will have finals in the 200m, 60m hurdles and triple jump; the women will run the 60m and 60m hurdles, and both side will cap the day with the 4×4 relay.

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