Feb. 24, 2018
Indoor Meet #7 — SEC Indoor Championships
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Yann Randrianasolo jumped into the Carolina record books on Saturday, while a quartet of Gamecock women posted scoring efforts to start the 2018 SEC Indoor Championships. Randrianasolo took second place in the men’s long jump, matching the best-ever finish at the meet by a Gamecock in that event.
After one day of action, the Gamecocks hold the seventh spot in the men’s competition, with eight points, and they’re in ninth place on the women’s side, with nine points. Florida leads the men’s competition, with Arkansas on top of the women’s standings.
Carolina’s first scoring effort of the weekend came from Jordan Fields in the pentathlon. The sophomore opened the day with a personal-best effort of 8.64 in the 60m hurdles, and that carried her into an eighth-place finish. Fields scored 3,849 points on the day.
Two Gamecocks brought home points in the women’s shot put. Alycia Springs came up clutch on her final attempt, hitting a new PR of 50-8 to finish sixth and score at the SEC Championships for the second-straight year. KD Young scored in her first postseason meet, finishing seventh with a mark of 50-2 ¾.
Otis Jones punched Carolina’s first ticket to Sunday’s track finals with a blistering effort in the 800m. The Sumter, S.C., native was in fifth place to start his final lap, but Jones rocketed past the competition to win the heat with a mark of 1:49.85, the third-best qualifying time of the day.
Ncincilili Titi will join Jones on Sunday after finishing as the top qualifier in the 200m prelims. The senior glided to a time of 20.67, easily claiming his heat and booking a spot in tomorrow’s SEC Championship race.
Randrianasolo’s long jump effort was the highlight of the day for Carolina. The Toulouse, France, native bested his previous PR four times, including a top mark of 25-10 ¾, to earn the silver medal. His finish matches Greig Cryer for the best result by a Gamecock men’s long jumper at SEC Indoors, and he’s the first Gamecock since Cryer to stand on the podium at the meet. His mark also ranks eighth on the NCAA leaderboard this season, putting Randrianasolo in prime position to return to College Station in two weeks to compete for a national championship.
Carolina also picked up points in the women’s long jump. Two-time All-American Rougui Sow matched a season best, jumping 20-11 ¼ on her fifth attempt. That was good for sixth place on Saturday.
NOTABLE
• Simon Gyllensten is in eighth place with three events remaining in the heptathlon. The senior set a personal best in the 60m and the shot put on Saturday and has 2,754 points.
• Allie Mueller just missed a spot in the Sunday’s mile run final, as her time of 4:52.45 was just .23 seconds off of a qualifying spot. Still, the run was a PR for the Beaverton, Ore., native and the fourth-fastest mile in Carolina history.
FROM THE COACH
“I really feel great about what Yann did, and it couldn’t have happened to a finer young man. He just got here last year, in January, and this is really his first full year here. His transition has been very smooth. Coach Dee has worked with a language barrier to get him to understand what she’s asking him to do, and he has a great will to do what he’s asked to do. When you can do it at SECs, on the big stage, that speaks to the strength of your character.”
“Our kids are having an incredible meet, and everyone in the conference is noticing that, but we haven’t gotten to the point where (we’re scoring) a lot of points. You can’t ask kids to do anything other than their best, and that’s what we’re going to keep talking about. Keep having personal bests, and they will lead you to points.” – Head Coach Curtis Frye
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
The 2018 SEC Indoor Championships conclude Sunday, with the bulk of the trophies up for grabs. The heptathlon resumes at 2:30 P.M. CT, while action both on the track and in the field gets rolling at 5 p.m. CT.
| SATURDAY, FEB. 24, 2018 • SEC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS • MEN’S RESULTS |
| Heptathlon 60m |
| 7. Simon Gyllensten |
7.26 |
