COLUMBIA, S.C. — The indoor season reaches its conclusion this week as the University of South Carolina takes part in the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships. The Gamecocks field eight entries in the event, which runs Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

On the men’s side, Carolina is represented by Arinze Chance (400m), Quincy Hall (400m), Isaiah Moore (60m hurdles) and Yann Randrianasolo (long jump), while Aliyah Abrams (400m) and Wadeline Jonathas (400m) qualified individually on the women’s side. Carolina also fields entries in both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay.

Multi-event action begins Friday at 12 p.m. CT and Saturday at 1 p.m. CT. The first Gamecock is in action Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT and Saturday at 4:40 p.m. CT.

WATCH THE GAMECOCKS LIVE ON ESPN3

Live streaming of the NCAA Indoor Championships is available both Friday and Saturday on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Friday’s stream begins at 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. local time), and Saturday’s coverage starts at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. local time)

Television coverage is available on a tape-delayed basis. Fans can re-watch Saturday’s championship finals on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and Monday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.

QUOTABLES

“They’re excited. It’s the national championship, and they’re all one of the 16 best athletes in the entire country in their event. You can’t help but be excited. You’ve got a one-in-sixteen chance to be the national champion. All of our kids feel like they’ve got a shot.”

“The kids who made it to nationals are the ones we marked out at the beginning of the season as our favorites we expected to make it to the national championship. We got every one of those kids into this meet.”– Head Coach Curtis Frye

GAMECOCK LINEUP (Click to Expand)

LAST SEASON AT THE NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Gamecocks sent seven student-athletes to the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships, held in College Station, Texas. Then-senior Josh Awotunde led the way, finishing third in the men’s shot put with a throw of 20.15m (66-1 ½).

Two additional Gamecocks earned first-team All-American honors, with Ncincilili Titi finishing fifth in the men’s 200m and Rougui Sow placing eighth in the women’s long jump. Four Gamecocks were second-team honorees, including Jordan Fields (ninth; women’s high jump), Hanifah Abdulqadir (11th; women’s triple jump), Lissa Labiche 14th; women’s high jump) and Yann Randrianasolo (14th; men’s long jump). Randrianasolo is the lone 2018 qualifier to make the 2019 meet for the Gamecocks.

Overall, the Gamecock men finished 21st last season, with 10 points, and the Carolina women placed 54th.

GAMECOCK HISTORY AT THE NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

The South Carolina women own 10 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing as high as second place in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Fifteen different Gamecocks have combined to capture 14 NCAA indoor national titles, including four victories in the 4x400m relay. Demetria Washington leads the Gamecock program with three indoor NCAA crowns, winning the 400m dash in 2001 and the 4x400m relay in 2001 and 2002. Carolina’s most recent national titles came in 2009 and 2011, when Lakya Brookins won the 60m dash.

On the men’s side, the Gamecocks have finished in the top-10 nine times at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Carolina’s best finish came in 1974, when the squad finished third, and in both 1999 and 2003 the Gamecocks finished fourth. South Carolina has won eight NCAA indoor titles, with Terrence Trammell earning the 60m hurdles crown in 1999 and both the 60m dash and 60m hurdles titles in 2000. Brad Snyder garnered the shot put national title in 1998 and 1999, and the most recent NCAA indoor victory came in 2002 when Otukile Lekote was the national 800m champion.

GAMECOCKS TAKE HOME THREE ALL-SEC HONORS

South Carolina earned three All-SEC nods at the 2019 SEC Indoor Championships, held Feb. 22-23 in Fayetteville, Ark. Junior Quincy Hall collected first-team All-SEC honors by winning the individual men’s 400m championship. Hall set a school record in the final, running 45.69 to earn Carolina’s first SEC title on the indoor track since Jason Richardson took the 60m hurdles in 2009.

The Carolina women’s 4x400m relay squad and senior hurdlers Isaiah Moore earned second-team All-SEC honors. The 4×4 quartet of Stephanie Davis, Aliyah Abrams, Tatyana Mills and Wadeline Jonathas won silver with a time of 3:29.56, second-fastest in the nation this season. Moore tallied his second-career SEC medal by winning bronze in the 60m hurdles.

Overall, Carolina finished 10th in the men’s competition and 12th on the women’s side.

STUDENT-ATHLETES USE NEW FACILITY AS SPRINGBOARD TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

The South Carolina track & field program will be represented by more than just its eight entries this week in Birmingham. Overall, 10 of the qualifiers at the NCAA Indoor Championships obtained their qualifying marks at the brand-new Carolina Indoor Track & Field Complex.

• MEN

• Shelby McEwen, Alabama – No. 1 | High Jump – 2.31m (7-7)

• Tyrell Richard, South Carolina State – No. 4 | 400m – 45.39

• Yann Randrianasolo, South Carolina – No. 6 | Long Jump – 7.94m | 26-0 3/4

• Chance, O. Jones, Hall, Robbins, South Carolina – No. 8 | 4x400m – 3:05.68

• Daniel McArthur, North Carolina – No. 10 | Shot Put – 19.77m (64-10 ½)

• Michael Dickson, North Carolina A&T – No. 13 | 60mH – 7.75

• Rodney Rowe, North Carolina A&T – No. 15 | 200m – 20.70

• Arinze Chance, South Carolina – No. 16 | 400m – 46.15

• Isaiah Moore, South Carolina – No. 16 | 60mH – 7.76

• WOMEN

• Aliyah Abrams, South Carolina – No. 11 | 400m – 52.58

Counting NCAA Divisions I, II and III and the NAIA, 36 student-athletes from 18 different institutions earned their national qualifying marks at the Carolina Indoor Track & Field Complex.

ALIYAH ABRAMS – R-JR – GRAYSON, GA. – 400 METERS

Abrams is ranked 11th nationally in the women’s 400m with a mark of 52.58, which came Feb. 1 at the Carolina Challenge. Last week, she finished ninth at the SEC Championships with a time of 53.23.

This will be Abrams’ fourth trip to an NCAA Championships meet. As a freshman in 2016, she finished ninth individually in the 400m and third in the 4x400m relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. In 2017, she was part of a ninth-place finish in the 4×4 at the indoor meet, and last season, she placed 17th in the mile relay and 18th in the individual 400m at the outdoor meet.

ARINZE CHANCE – SR – GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – 400 METERS

Chance grabbed the 16th and final qualifying spot in the men’s 400m. He ran his time of 46.15, which at the time was a Carolina program record, on Jan. 18 at the Gamecock Inaugural. That mark also set the Guyanese national indoor record. Most recently, Chance finished 24th at the SEC Championships.

This will be Chance’s first appearance at an NCAA Championships event. He is no stranger to the bright lights, however, as he was a national champion at the collegiate level during his time at the University of Trinidad & Tobago.

QUINCY HALL – JR – KANSAS CITY, MO. – 400 METERS

Hall enters the NCAA Championships ranked seventh nationally in the 400m with a mark of 45.69. That time, which is a school record, came last weekend in a gold-medal performance at the SEC Indoor Championships.

A six-time CCCAA state champion at the junior college level, Hall will make his first NCAA Championships appearance this week. In addition to his JuCo success, Hall’s trophy case already includes gold medals from the USATF and Pan American junior championships.

WADELINE JONATHAS – JR –GONAIVES, HAITI – 400 METERS

Jonathas enters the NCAA Indoor Championships with a season-best time of 52.86, which she ran Feb. 8 at the Tiger Paw Invitational. Most recently, she finished 14th at the SEC Championships with a time of 53.63, and she anchored Carolina’s 4x400m relay to a silver-medal finish with a time of 3:29.56, which ranks second nationally.

This is the first NCAA Division I Championships appearance for Jonathas, but she is no stranger to the national stage. The Gonaives, Haiti, native spent her first two collegiate seasons at UMass Boston, where she won nine individual NCAA Division III national championships, earning indoor 400m and outdoor 200m and 400m titles in 2017 along with indoor 60m, 200m, 400m and long jump titles and outdoor 200m and 400m titles in 2018. As a sophomore, she scored enough points at the 2018 NCAA indoor meet to single-handedly win the team title for the Beacons.

ISAIAH MOORE – R-SR – BURLINGTON, N.C. – 60M HURDLES

Moore ran his best time of the season, 7.76, at the USC Indoor Open on Feb. 16. The redshirt senior has been incredibly consistent in the season’s final two weeks, running 7.78 in the USC Open prelims and 7.77 in both the prelims and final at the SEC Indoor Championships. The latter run netted him a bronze medal at the conference meet.

Moore is headed to the NCAA Indoor Championships for the first time in his career, and the late entry is especially sweet after he finished just two spots out of qualification for both the 2017 NCAA Indoor and 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Moore did qualify for the NCAA’s 2017 outdoor meet, where he earned first-team All-America laurels in the 110m hurdles.

YANN RANDRIANASOLO – SR – TOULOUSE, FRANCE – LONG JUMP

Randrianasolo is ranked sixth nationally in the long jump with a season-best mark of 7.94m (26-0 ¾) from the USC Indoor Open on Feb. 16, which ranks fourth in Carolina history. The senior won the event in all six regular-season meets he entered and placed fourth last week at the SEC Championships at 7.72m (25-4)

Randrianasolo is a two-time NCAA qualifier and second-team All-American. He jumped 7.21m (23-8) to finished 14th at last season’s NCAA indoor meet and 7.73m (25-4 ½) to take 13th at the 2018 NCAA outdoor meet. A European Championships and Athletics World Cup qualifier last summer, he’s a prime candidate to earn first-team All-America honors at the NCAA level for the first time.

Men’s 4x400m Relay

The South Carolina quartet of Chance, Otis Jones, Hall and Ty Jaye Robbins enters the NCAA Championships ranked ninth in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:05.68, which came in a school-record performance on Feb. 2 at the Carolina Challenge. The Gamecocks have won the men’s 4×4 at four separate meets this season and have shaved nearly six seconds off their time this season.

The Gamecocks own one men’s 4x400m national championship, which came in 2002 with James Law, Otukile Lekote, Otis Harris and Jonathon Fortenberry running 3:02.16 to win the outdoor title in Baton Rouge, La.

Carolina last sent a men’s mile relay to the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2009, when Aaron Anderson, Johnny Dutch, Quentin Moore and Obakeng Ngwigwa finished fourth. The team earned third-place finishes indoors in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2007.

Women’s 4x400m Relay

Carolina enters the NCAA Indoor Championships ranked second in the nation in the women’s mile relay with a time of 3:29.56. Stephanie Davis, Abrams, Tatyana Mills and Wadeline Jonathas ran the time last week at the SEC Championships as they earned a silver medal behind Texas A&M’s 3:29.15.

Curtis Frye’s program owns six national titles in the women’s 4x400m relay, including indoor crowns in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2007 and outdoor titles in 2000 and 2002. Olympian Demetria Washington was part of four of those winning relays.

Abrams, Davis and Mills were part of the Carolina 4x400m relay that finished 17th last season at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Abrams also ran a leg on the team’s last NCAA indoor appearance, when the Gamecocks finished ninth in 2017.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The outdoor season begins March 15-16 as the Gamecocks travel to Orlando, Fla., for the Black and Gold Invitational, hosted by UCF.