Feb. 6, 2016

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NEW YORK, N.Y. – More Gamecocks racked up season and personal best as the track and field team wrapped up competition at the Armory Track Invitational Saturday night in New York City. The men claimed second place overall in the team scoring, and the women came in third.

David Winters overcame a pair of roadblocks to earn a big win in the 60m dash to get the men started for the day. Despite suffering from a bout of food poisoning and a false start by an opponent off the first gun, Winters went out and ran a 6.71 sprint to take home the team’s first win of the weekend. The women also scored in the 60, as Gabby Gray came in eighth with a time of 7.58.

The men had a big chance to make waves in the team scores heading into the 60m hurdles finale after putting three in to the field Friday. Dondre Echols posted the trio’s top finish in fourth place (7.78 seconds), followed by Jermaine Collier in sixth (7.90) and Isaiah Moore in seventh (7.92). The top five finishers in the race were separated by just eight thousandths of a second.

Wrapping up the sprints Saturday was the 200m. Carolina put a finalist in the men’s and women’s races; Maiya Dendy would be the top female qualifier and Ncincilili Titi had the third-best qualifying time among the men. In the finals, Dendy ran 24.19 to take third overall, and Titi came second with a time of 21.23.

It was also relay day in The Armory, with the men running the 4×2 and 4×4 and the women trotting out 4×2, 4×4 and 4×8 teams. The 4x2s started the day, both the men and women earned places on the podium. The women’s quartet of Alexis Murphy, Ahtyana Johnson, Milan Parks and Funlayo Oluwole finished third (1:38.64) and the men’s team of Greg Chiles, Ryan Bermudez, Markus Leemet and DeVon Lewis took second (1:26.68).

The women’s 4×8 team joined the record-setting group in their run late in the day. The team of Allie Mueller, Irene Vian, Maya Evans and Meri Heneage ran fifth overall with a time of 9:27.69. It puts them in fourth in school history, with the second-best time since 2005.

In the field events, Natasha Dicks continued to tear up the runway at The Armory, hitting a second personal best in as many days. This time it would come in the triple jump; her top mark of 42 feet, six inches put her in second place for the day and moved her up a notch to fourth in program history, passing Radiance Basden’s 2012 mark of 43-3 ¼.

The men went 3-for-3 in field event scorers, led by Tye Williams’ third-place finish in the high jump invitational. Clarence Gallop returned to his first competition since Jan. 16 and finished fifth in the weight throw, and Michael Wamer claimed sixth in the men’s triple jump.

Closing out the meet were the 4x4s. Both the men and women needed top times to keep pace in the crowded team standings, and they would do just that. The women earned crucial points with a big win, crossing with a season-best time of 3:34.24. Erika Rucker out-kicked her Miami counterpart to come from behind and take the win in the final leg. The men finished third to also score, posting a time of 3:13.17.

UP NEXT

The schedule does not get any easier, as another nationally renowned meet awaits Carolina next weekend. The team will travel to SEC foe Arkansas for the Razorbacks’ Tyson Invitational. It will be a preview for the conference championships, which will run at the facility on Feb. 26-27. The two-day meet begins Friday.