Gamecocks Selected to NCAA Indoor Championships
Feb. 28, 2017
WOMEN’S ENTRIES // MEN’S ENTRIES // 2017 GAMECOCK ROSTER // 2017 GAMECOCK SCHEDULE
Dates: March 10-11, 2017
Friday’s Start Time: 6:15 p.m. ET
Saturday’s Start Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
Friday’s WatchESPN Coverage: 6:25 p.m. ET
Saturday’s WatchESPN Coverage: 4:55 p.m. ET
Location: College Station, Texas
Venue: Gilliam Indoor Stadium
INDIANAPOLIS – Four individuals and one relay team from the Gamecock track & field program were selected to the 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, the NCAA announced Tuesday night. Josh Awotunde, Natasha Dicks, Rougui Sow and Ncincilili Titi will each compete for national titles March 10-11 in College Station, Texas, along with the women’s 4x400m relay team.
The 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships are the culmination of the collegiate indoor track & field season. Each of the qualifiers will look to bring home an NCAA crown and springboard into the outdoor season.
WATCH THE GAMECOCKS LIVE ON WATCHESPN
WatchESPN will have full coverage from College Station throughout the weekend. Live streaming begins at 6:25 p.m. ET on Friday, March 10 and 4:55 p.m. Saturday, March 11.
Josh Awotunde ââ’¬” JR ââ’¬” SHOT PUT ââ’¬” FRANKLINVILLE, N.J.
Awotunde enters the NCAA championships ranked 11th nationally with a shot put mark of 63-0 ¾. The junior set the mark Jan. 21 at the Vanderbilt Invitational, when he was the top collegiate finisher. He won the season-opening Clemson Invitational and finished with four total podium results. Last week at the SEC Championships, Awotunde finished seventh with a mark of 60-2.
This will be Awotunde’s first appearance at the NCAA Indoor Championships; he finished seventh last season to earn All-America accolades at the outdoor championships.
Natasha Dicks ââ’¬” SR ââ’¬” TRIPLE JUMP ââ’¬” AIKEN, S.C.
Dicks is ranked 16th in the triple jump, with a mark of 43-5 ¼. She set the mark in a winning performance Feb. 17 at the Tiger Tuneup and equaled the effort last week when she finished ninth at the SEC Championships. The Aiken, S.C., native finished on the podium in every regular-season meet this year, and in addition to her victory at the Tiger Tuneup she was also triumphant at the Armory Invitational on Feb. 4.
Last season, Dicks finished third at the NCAA Indoor meet with a school-record mark of 43-9 3/4 and added a sixth-place result in the 2016 outdoor championships.
Rougui Sow ââ’¬” JR ââ’¬” LONG JUMP ââ’¬” LE HAVRE, FRANCE
Sow enters the NCAA Indoor Championships ranked 12th in the nation in the long jump, at a mark of 20-11 ¼. She set the mark, which ranks third in school history, at the Tiger Tuneup, and she posted the exact same mark in a fifth-place result at the SEC Championships. In her first season with the Gamecocks, Sow has leapt over 20 feet in five of her six appearances.
This will be Sow’s first appearance at indoor nationals
Ncincilili Titi ââ’¬” JR ââ’¬” 200m ââ’¬” BUTTERWORTH, SOUTH AFRICA
Titi holds the ninth-fastest time in the nation in the 200m after running a time of 20.67 at the Tiger Paw Invitational on Feb. 10. That mark ranks third in school history. The junior won the 200m at the Clemson, Vanderbilt and Armory Invitational events and added two podium finishes in the 60m.
Last season, Titi finished 12th in the 200m at NCAA indoors and added a 16th-place result outdoors. He also qualified for the indoor meet in 2015 and finished ninth.
WOMEN’S 4x400m RELAY
South Carolina sprints into the NCAA Championships with the nation’s 13th-best mile relay time after Aliyah Abrams, Precious Holmes, Tyler Brockington and Briana Haith stopped the clock in 3:32.77 at the Razorback Invitational on Jan. 28. Abrams, Brockington and Holmes were part of the 4×4 relay team that took third last season at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The women’s 4×4 relay has long been one of the centerpieces of the program, as the Gamecocks won the NCAA Indoor national title in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2007. Carolina also won the outdoor national championship in the event in 2000, and in 2002 it helped the Gamecocks win the overall team title.
