April 9, 2016

ATHENS, GA. – The South Carolina track and field team rolled out seven winners Saturday afternoon in the final day of the Spec Towns Invitational. The Gamecocks continued to perform well in the sprints in spite of another day of cool temperatures and strong winds.

It would be the men’s 4x100m relay team that started South Carolina’s winning ways. The team of DeVon Lewis, Ncincilili Titi, Dondre Echols and Greg Chiles ran 39.71 to hit a new season-best time and win the race. It moved the Gamecocks into the top 10 nationally based on times entering the weekend. The women’s ‘A’ team of Gabby Gray, Tyler Brockington, Alexis Murphy and Briana Haith also set a new season best, running 44.28 to finish second overall.

Titi followed up his relay win with a big run to win the 100m dash. He beat out Lewis with a time of 10.29 seconds and a legal win, pushing him into the top 10 nationally for the season and all the way up to ninth in school history. His finish was the first wind-legal time to crack the top 10 in school history since 2005.

Ryan Bermudez was also a double winner on Saturday, starting with a top time in the men’s 400. He beat out the field with a time of 47.73, then carried the lead baton on the winning 4×400 team that also included Greg Chiles, Jussi Kanervo and Titi.

Kanervo had to battle the elements to secure an individual win earlier in the day, coming in the 400m hurdles. Despite strong winds on his run, he beat out the field by more than two seconds to win the event for the second time this season, finishing in 51.34. Chiles came in second at 53.83.

For the women, the key moment on the track came in the 400m, where three Gamecocks finished in the top four. Leading the way was Aliyah Abrams, who ran a new personal best of 53.17 to take the win. Coming in third was Precious Holmes, who took a full second off her previous season-best time for a breakthrough time of 54.06. Marisa Bellamy came fourth with a 54.27 run, marking the third-straight race this season where she has improved on her time.

In the field events, Michael Wamer continues to improve in the triple jump, reaching a season peak of 52 feet, six inches to get the win. This is his second-straight meet surpassing the all-important 52-foot barrier, and his performance Saturday ensures that he will remain in the top 10 nationally come Monday.

The women’s top field performance of the day came from the throws, where Shelby Freedman came in third for the javelin with a new personal best. The sophomore threw 155-3 on her fifth attempt of the afternoon, moving her up from the middle of the pack and adding more than two feet to her previous PR, which ranks second in school history.

UP NEXT

Next up for the team will be the Seminole Invitational, running April 15-16. The meet will be hosted by Florida State.

QUOTABLE: HEAD COACH Curtis Frye

Recapping the Weekend
“It was a good week, the kids are coming along quite well. The biggest thing today was Michael (Wamer) jumping 16 meters, that may move him up into the top five of the NCAA. That was a big one for us, that should have an impact on our rankings. Titi and DeVon both had legal-wind personal bests in the 100 and that gives us some stronger pieces for the 4×1.

For the women, Aliyah came through and won the quarter out of lane three against a good field, and for Precious to run 54.0 was good for her with tough winds blowing in their faces on the backstretch. Then with (Marisa) Bellamy running 54.2, that was a really good race for us. We had a few people get banged up, but that’s track season. You’re going to get banged up, but we just can’t have too many people get banged up.”

On the performances from the multis earlier in the week
“You can only do your best, and that’s what they (Alex Asselin and Sarah Graham) did. We’re quite happy with those types of performances, but this league is so tough. You’re going to have to score 7400 on the men’s side to score points, so we’re still looking for improvement out of Alex. He didn’t have a perfect meet, so we know he’s got a lot more left in him. Sarah is the same way, the SEC sent eight women to nationals in the multis indoors, she’ll need to have another personal best to get to the NCAAs this season.”