Indoor Meet #1 – Orange & Purple Elite

CLEMSON, S.C. — The University of South Carolina track & field team earned eight event victories on Friday in its first meet of 2019, the Orange & Purple Elite. The Gamecocks brought home two field titles, four individual track wins and two relay triumphs at the Clemson Indoor Track Facility.

Individually, six Gamecocks were victorious on Friday: Aliyah Abrams (women’s 400m), Arinze Chance (men’s 300m), Otis Jones (men’s 600m), Macie Kavanaugh (women’s 600m), Yann Randrianasolo (men’s long jump) and Armand Woodley (men’s pole vault), and Carolina’s 4x400m relay team crossed the line first on both the women’s and men’s sides. Carolina featured 18 student-athletes making their Gamecock debuts, with Kavanaugh leading the debutantes by earning a victory in her first collegiate race. Newcomers Jeremiah Talbert and Wadeline Jonathas were part of the winning mile relay squads.

Including the eight victories, the Gamecocks featured 17 podium finishes.

Carolina’s first victory of the 2019 calendar year came from Randrianasolo in the men’s long jump. The senior All-American grabbed the lead with his first attempt, 7.58m, and he reached 7.74m (25-4 ¾) on his fourth jump of the day. That is Randrianasolo’s best season-opening attempt in his three seasons as a Gamecock and also the top mark in the nation so far this season.

Woodley was victorious in an all-Gamecock edition of the men’s pole vault. Competing exclusively against his Carolina teammates, Woodley cleared 4.60m (15-1) to start his senior season with a win.

The Gamecocks were victorious on both sides of the 600m. In the women’s race, Kavanaugh took the win in her first-career collegiate competition, posting a time of 1:36.11 to triumph by .07 seconds.

The men’s 600m was equally tight. Jones, a FloTrack Preseason All-American, trailed for much of the race but closed hard on the final lap, winning the event in 1:18.77. His margin of victory was .06 seconds.

Three-time All-American Abrams was out to make a statement in her first run of 2019, and the redshirt junior accomplished that mission with a winning time of 52.87 in the 400m. That time is the fastest in the NCAA so far this season, and Jonathas wasn’t far behind; the nine-time NCAA Division III national champion finished second with a run of 53.00 in her Carolina debut.

Chance opened his season by running the 300m on Friday, and the senior dominated, winning the race in 33.00. The victory is Chance’s first-career individual win as a Gamecock.

The Gamecocks earned their final two wins of the day in the 4x400m relay. On the women’s side, Stephanie Davis, Jonathas, Tatyana Mills and Abrams turned in a time of 3:34.43, the top time in the NCAA so far this season.

Carolina wrapped up the day with a victory in the men’s mile relay. Jones, Ty Jaye Robbins, Talbert and Chance turned in a time of 3:11.23 to top Florida State by more than two seconds. The time ranks third in the nation this year.

NOTABLE

• Though she finished off the podium, sophomore hurdler Caitlyn Little made the program’s first entry of the season into Carolina’s all-time top-10 record book. Her 60m hurdles mark of 8.28 is a new personal best and ranks seventh in Gamecock history.

FROM THE COACH