COLUMBIA, S.C. — Records continued to fall for the University of South Carolina track & field team as the Gamecocks were back home Friday for the second day of the 2019 Carolina Challenge. Junior Quincy Hall set a new program record in the 400m and was one of three Gamecocks to earn a victory at the Carolina Indoor Track & Field Complex.

Aliyah Abrams won the women’s 400m with the third-fastest time in the NCAA this season, while freshman Timothy McEvoy grabbed his first collegiate victory in the Open Pole Vault.

Hall never lost a race in two seasons at College of the Sequoias, and he wasn’t losing Friday in his first home meet as a Gamecock. The Kansas City, Mo., native ran the 400 in 45.84, matching Baylor’s Will London for the fastest mark on the NCAA leaderboard this season. It’s the second new South Carolina indoor 400m record in three weeks and the fourth-best time in the world this season.

Carolina’s first win of the weekend came from McEvoy, who earned his first collegiate victory in the Open Pole Vault. The freshman cleared both 4.40m (14-5 ¼) and 4.50m (14-9) on his first try, and he was the lone competitor Friday to clear the second height.

Abrams won the 200m two weeks ago at the Gamecock Inaugural, and she was on the track Friday in her first 400m at the new facility. The redshirt junior ran 52.58, topping her previous indoor personal best by .02 seconds. It’s the third-fastest time in the NCAA this season, and Abrams wasn’t alone moving up the national leaderboard on Friday. Stephanie Davis ran 53.07, also a PR and the ninth-best mark in the country this season.

Ten minutes after Abrams scored her victory, Hall was on the track in his first individual event as a Gamecock. The former California junior college and Pan American junior champion did not disappoint, running a school-record 45.84 for the win. That breaks Arinze Chance’s previous record of 46.15 from Jan. 18 at the Gamecock Inaugural.

Allie Mueller turned in a strong run in the women’s mile and earned a podium finish in her second individual race at the new track. Mueller’s time of 4:56.94 was second-best on Friday, behind the 4:50.42 from Auburn’s Pressley Weems.

Isaiah Davenport had his best day as a Gamecock with a podium finish in the Open Weight Throw. The freshman’s fourth and final effort traveled 15.61m (51-2), a new collegiate best and the second-best mark of the competition.

Carolina added a podium finish in the Open Pole Vault on the women’s side, with Pressley Perry finishing third. The freshman cleared 3.40m (11-1 ¾), a new personal record.

Sophomore Benjamin Womble completed his first collegiate heptathlon on Friday, posting a seventh-place finish. Womble tallied 4,044 points.

Two Gamecocks will run for 60m titles on Saturday after advancing through prelims. On the men’s side, freshman Evan Miller qualified seventh with a time of 6.76, while Maiya Dendy will represent the Gamecock women. Her semifinal time was 7.50, the eighth-best mark of the evening.

Carolina also has two finalists in the women’s 60m hurdles. Milan Parks ran 8.32 in the semifinals to qualify fifth, and Caitlyn Little came in seventh with a mark of 8.45.

FROM THE COACH