2019 Season Preview - Sprints & Hurdles
Returning veterans, talented newcomers look to push Carolina into nation's elite
2019 Track & Field Preview – Sprints & Hurdles
The University of South Carolina track & field team returns to action in January for head coach Curtis Frye’s 23rd season in charge. In the days leading up to the start of the 2019 season, GamecocksOnline.com will preview each section of the Carolina squad, taking a glance at key returners and highlighting key newcomers who could make their names as the next great Gamecock superstars. Today’s preview focuses on Carolina’s sprints & hurdles squads.
FROM THE COACHES
“Quincy brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and he’s a great team player. The special thing about him is how he goes, and when someone else is not finishing a rep or down on the ground, he picks them up and finishes their last rep with them. He brings an energy and enthusiasm that is really high level.” – Head Coach Curtis Frye on newcomer Quincy Hall
“It’s always good, when you have hurdlers, to have two good hurdlers training together, competing in practice and pushing each other. That’s great in the event. Both Milan and Caitlyn have already run their fastest season-openers. A big part of improving in the 100m hurdles is securing that first half of the race. I really feel good about where they’re at right now. They had really good fall training. I think they believe in what we’re doing, and they’re excited.” – Assistant Coach Karim Abdel Wahab on the women’s short sprints squad
“We’re very excited about Isaiah. He is healthy and as strong as he’s ever been. His training is going really, really well, and it’s showing on the track right now in practice. Isaiah has been to the NCAA Championships. He’s a scorer from the NCAA Championships. He brings great leadership to our group of men.” – Assistant Coach Kevin Brown on returning All-American Isaiah Moore
2018 REVIEW – MEN’S TEAM
The Carolina sprint squad was anchored one final time in 2018 by senior Ncincilili Titi. In his final collegiate season, the Butterworth, South Africa native earned two more All-America finishes in the 200m and set a new Carolina record – 20.00 – in the outdoor 200m. After graduation, he competed internationally over the summer, winning the 200m at the African Championships.
Titi wasn’t the only returning All-American for the sprints and hurdles group in 2018, though senior Isaiah Moore took a medical redshirt after offseason surgery. In his absence, true freshman Rivaldo Leacock made an impact, qualifying for the NCAA East Regional in the 400m hurdles.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICAN – ISAIAH MOORE
After suffering a foot injury late in the 2017 season, Moore redshirted in 2018 with the goal of being at full strength this year. As a junior, he narrowly missed out on the NCAA Indoor Championships in March when his 60mH time of 7.80 finished just .04 seconds out of a trip to College Station. But the Burlington, N.C., native used the close call as motivation for the outdoor campaign; he won the 110mH twice in the regular season before earning bronze at the SEC Championships. He easily qualified for outdoor nationals with a PR time of 13.47, then finished eighth in Eugene for first-team All-America status. Moore has shown plenty of promise during his injury sabbatical, including strong efforts running unattached late in the spring, and he’s primed to make one more run to the national podium this season.
OTHER KEY RETURNERS – MEN’S TEAM
Veterans Ty Jaye Robbins, Darrell Singleton Jr. and Yohance Thomas continued to make strides last season, with Robbins and Singleton setting new PRs, while newcomers Kaden Briggs, Arinze Chance, Spencer Flores and Parker Howard each played a role. Each of those athletes looks to make an impact at the postseason level and add to what should be a strong relay crew in 2019.
KEY NEWCOMERS – MEN’S TEAM
Few event groups have as much new blood as the men’s sprints and hurdles squad in 2019. Leading the way is junior college transfer Quincy Hall, who won the 400m hurdles title at the 2017 Pan American U20 Championships and the 2017 USATF Junior Championships. In two seasons at College of the Sequoias, he never lost a race in the 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay.
Hall isn’t the only newcomer to bring top-line collegiate experience to the Carolina roster. USC Upstate transfer Noah Walker was an NCAA regional qualifier, and Texas State transfer Carlos Wilson ran in Eugene as a freshman in the 4x100m relay.
A deep group of freshmen will also look to make an impact this season. Rookies Kobe Franklin, Ronald Fuller, Jalen Herring, Evan Miller, Jordan Sessom and Jeremiah Talbert bring state championship pedigrees from their high school days and have the speed to make a difference at the next level.
2018 REVIEW – WOMEN’S TEAM
The return of Aliyah Abrams to full-strength competition was the highlight of the season for the Gamecock women’s sprints and hurdles group last season. After missing the 2017 outdoor and 2018 indoor seasons with an injury, Abrams was back for the 2018 outdoor campaign, where she qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 400m and led the 4x400m relay to Eugene.
Carolina’s most successful group at the postseason level was the 4x100m relay. Maiya Dendy, Stephanie Davis, Milan Parks and Makyla Stanley finished 14th in Eugene to secure second-team All-America honors.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICAN – ALIYAH ABRAMS
After leading Carolina 4×4 squad to a bronze medal finish at the 2016 NCAA Championships and qualifying for the Rio Olympics later that summer, Abrams was poised for big things in 2017. But an injury derailed her season before the outdoor campaign could begin and kept her out for nearly a full calendar year.
But the Grayson, Ga., native was back in a big way for the 2018 outdoor campaign. She won the 400m at four regular-season meets, finished 10th at the NCAA East Regional to qualify for Eugene and also led the mile relay at the national meet. As a junior, Abrams looks to take the next step, including breakout individual 400m performances at the conference and national level.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS – 4x100m RELAY
Dendy, Davis, Parks and Stanley each earned second-team All-American laurels in Eugene after speeding around the track in 49.02, good for 14th place. For Dendy and Parks, it was the second All-America finish in as many seasons.
The quartet now looks to up their efforts in 2019, not just as a group, but individually. For Davis, who was also a part of the 4×4 squad in Eugene and later competed at US Junior Nationals over the summer, a repeat trip to the NCAA meet is a major goal as a sophomore.
Dendy, Parks and Stanley are all seniors, with one final chance to make nationals individually. Each member of the trio gained ground in 2018, including Parks, who was a regional qualifier in the 100m hurdles.
OTHER KEY RETURNERS – WOMEN’S TEAM
As a freshman, Caitlyn Little announced her presence in a big way, forming a strong 100mH duo with Parks. The Hoover, Ala., native was a Penn Relays and SEC Championships finalist and barely missed a trip to the NCAA Championships with a 13th-place finish at regionals.
Another rising sophomore, Amecia Pennamon, has big goals in mind after serving as a 4×1 alternate in Eugene and scoring with the relay group at the conference meet. Senior Tatyana Mills was part of Carolina’s 4×4 squad that competed at nationals, and the 2017 NJCAA Division III Athlete of the Year aims to end her collegiate career with another nationals bid.
KEY NEWCOMERS – WOMEN’S TEAM
The Gamecocks made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason when rising junior Wadeline Jonathas announced her intention to join the Carolina squad. Jonathas spent her first two collegiate seasons at UMass Boston, winning nine individual NCAA Division III national championships. She set DIII records in the 60m, 100m, indoor and outdoor 200m and both 400m races, and her goal in Columbia is to find national glory at the highest level.
Freshman Mathilde Coquillaud-Salomon was one of the stars of Carolina’s 2017 fall signing class, and she brings a strong international background to Columbia. The Nantes, France, native won multiple youth national titles and competed in the 100m hurdles at the 2018 U18 World Championships.
