April 29, 2017
PHILADELPHIA, PA. – It was an eventful final day of the 123rd Penn Relays for the South Carolina track and field program, as the team crowned two more individual champions and also won a relay title on Saturday. For the meet, the Gamecocks won five individual events, and claimed the 21st relay Wagon Wheel in the program’s history.
The highlight of the day came in the women’s 4x200m relay, where the team of Precious Holmes, Tyler Brockington, Aalayah Sanders and Maiya Dendy set the top qualifying mark on Friday to set up a shot at a Wagon Wheel Saturday afternoon. The quartet took more than a full second off its qualifying time, crossing the finish line in 1:33.79 on Saturday for the win.
It is the program’s 21st relay title in its history at the Penn Relays, and the fourth in the women’s 4×200. The last victory in the 4×2 came back in 2007, which is also the last time the women won a Championship of America trophy (they won three total that year).
Not to be outdone, the men had two big performances to headline the team’s Saturday. Tye Williams broke a 29-year-old school record in the high jump and won the high jump championship. The junior broke Paul Wiechern’s record of 7-3.25 that had stood since 1988. He now rockets up the national ranks, passing up to the second best mark in the country based on results heading into the weekend. Williams went without a miss from 2.12m to 2.22m, and hit the record on his third and final chance at the height.
Following shortly after that was Clarence Gallop, who unleashed a hammer throw of 220 feet, 11 inches to win the championship division. The mark moved him up to second in school history; he is the first Gamecock to crack 220 feet in the hammer since John Stoikos in 1995. On the national level, his 220-11 throw moves him into top 20 nationally based on marks entering the weekend.
Back on the track, the men had two relay teams in the Championship of America finals. The 4×200 team of Darrell Singleton Jr., David Winters, Ryan Bermudez, Ncincilili Titi finished third overall, and Singleton, Winters and Titi joined with DeVon Lewis to take seventh in the 4×100 final.
Quotable: Head Coach Curtis Frye
“Our kids are very coachable, and they have really developed this year. We didn’t have any five-star recruits, we have a great coaching staff that works hard to take advantage of our great facility. You look at Coach Brown’s pole vault yesterday, Coach Dee and her jumpers winning three championship of America events, and Coach Sergent getting new PRs and wins for his guys. I think our kids can build confidence off performing in front of thousands of fans this weekend as we get ready for SECs. I’m looking forward to watching our kids finish off a great year.”
UP NEXT
This weekend wraps up the regular season for the team. The team will have a week off from competition to prepare for the conference championships May 11-13. South Carolina will host the meet at Sheila and Morris Cregger Track. For more information on the event, FOLLOW THIS LINK.
| APRIL 27-29 • 123rd PENN RELAYS • MEN’S RESULTS • | ||
| 4x100m Relay (Championship of America Final) | ||
| 7. Darrell Singleton Jr., David Winters, DeVon Lewis, Ncincilili Titi | 40.09 | |
| 4x200m Relay (Championship of America Final) | ||
| 3. Darrell Singleton Jr., David Winters, Ryan Bermudez, Ncincilili Titi | 1:22.01 | |
| 4x400m Relay (College Final) | ||
| 6. Ryan Bermudez, Ty Jaye Robbins, Markus Leemet, Jordan Griffin | 3:10.01 | |
| Hammer / Championship Division | ||
| 1. Clarence Gallop | 67.35m | 220-11 | |
| Discus / Championship Division | ||
| 6. Josh Awotunde | 58.50m | 191-11 | |
| High Jump / Championship Division | ||
| 1. Tye Williams | 2.25m | 7-4.5 (SCHOOL RECORD) | |
| APRIL 27-29 • 123rd PENN RELAYS • WOMEN’S RESULTS • | ||
| 4x200m Relay (Championship of America Final) | ||
| 1. Precious Holmes, Tyler Brockington, Aalayah Sanders , Maiya Dendy | 1:33.79 | |
| 4x800m Relay (College Final) | ||
| 14. Allie Mueller, Maya Evans, Molly Jackson, Emily Crounse | 9:23.31 | |
| High Jump / Championship Division | ||
| 4. Nakita Gray | 1.74m | 5-8.5 | |
