Both Gamecock Squads Open Indoor Season with Top-25 Rankings
Jan. 9, 2017
MEN’S RANKINGS // WOMEN’S RANKINGS // 2017 GAMECOCK ROSTER // 2017 GAMECOCK SCHEDULE
NEW ORLEANS — Both University of South Carolina track & field programs are ranked in the USTFCCA Preseason Top-25 National Indoor Rankings, which were released Monday. The Gamecock men are ranked No. 22 to begin the season, with the Carolina women checking in at No. 24.
“We are excited to open the season with both the men and the women ranked in the indoor top-25,” Carolina head coach Curtis Frye said. “Our fall training has gone very well, and we are working every day to exceed expectations. We’re looking forward to our first meet this weekend.”
Both Gamecock programs return a strong roster of former All-America honorees in 2017. On the women’s side, Natasha Dicks (triple jump) and Briana Haith (400m) return after claiming Indoor All-America laurels last season, while Ncincilili Titi and David Winters were both men’s indoor All-Americans last year in the 200m dash. In addition to the All-America winners, Aliyah Abrams (women’s 400m) and Josh Awotunde (men’s shot put) are back in the fold after winning All-SEC hardware last year.
Carolina’s ranks are bolstered by the return of several former All-Americans who did not compete indoors in 2016. Women’s team members Tyler Brockington, Marisa Bellamy and Precious Holmes are each looking to build upon past All-America accolades for the women’s team, and Jussi Kanervo owns past All-America experience for the men.
On the women’s squad, Haith (2nd) and Abrams (9th) enter the season with top-10 returning times, and as a squad Carolina holds the 16th-fastest 4×400 returning mark. Also, Dicks sports the country’s seventh-best returning effort in the triple jump.
For the men, six Gamecocks enter the season with past marks that rank in the national top-30. Winters ranks fourth in the 200m and 14th in the 60m, and Isaiah Moore is listed 10th in the 60mH. Titi’s 200m time ranks 11th, while transfer Ben Bonhurst checks in 11th in the shot put with Awotunde 14th. Last but not least, Markus Leemet opens the season with the nation’s 26th-best returning heptathlon score.
Ranked 24th, the Carolina women hold their highest national indoor ranking since the third week of the 2014 season, when they were listed 14th. The No. 22 ranking on the men’s side is the best mark since the preseason of 2016, when the Gamecocks were slotted 19th. This is the first time since week 6 of the 2010 campaign that both Carolina squads were listed in the top-25 of the indoor rankings.
Defending national champion Oregon is the preseason No. 1 team on the women’s side, with Arkansas, Georgia, Southern Cal and Texas rounding out the top five. Florida leads the men’s pack, followed by Oregon, LSU, Arkansas and Syracuse. The SEC makes up nine of the top 25 women’s teams and eight of the top 25 for the men.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
South Carolina opens the 2017 season on Saturday, when they compete at the Clemson Invitational. The meet begins with field events at 11 a.m. inside of the Clemson University Indoor Complex.
