Veterans and New Faces All Shine at Clemson Opener

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina track and field team got some early season work in as 25 Gamecocks competed at the Clemson Opener. Carolina sent 25 student-athletes to Clemson, posting some of its best fall times in history.
 
Highlighted by six victories, the Gamecocks participated in 11 events with seven athletes posting top five collegiate times.
 
“Everyone got a real good idea of where they were at today and we’re off to a great start,” South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye said. “We know there is a bigger goal, but it is a great start before the holidays for this great group of kids. They enjoyed it and that’s what I like about getting this meet in.”
 
Sophomore Evan Miller’s performance in the 200m was arguably the best men’s performance. The Zephyrhills, Fla., native cruised to a 21.16 time to rocket himself to the top of the collegiate leaderboard in just the third day of the indoor season.
 
“It was a great PR for Evan Miller in the 200m today,” Frye said. “He’ll have to run a little faster to qualify for nationals, but to start the season there before the holidays is already a time that is going to be up there in the national rankings.”
 
On the women’s side it was Stephanie Davis who stole the show in the 300m dash. The junior from Gaithersburg, Md., clocked 37.10, the third fastest time in program history and the 14th fastest 300m time in collegiate history, to claim the victory.
 
“Probably the biggest performance of the day was Stephanie Davis,” Frye said. “There aren’t many people that have ran faster than 37.10. Last year we had Aliyah [Abrams] that had an impressive 300m time and Stephanie was even faster this year. I was really impressed with her start.”
 
The 2019 Clemson Opener was a big one for newcomers. Freshman EJ Richardson burst onto the college scene by posting a 47.25 in the 400m to win the event over fellow freshman William Spencer Jr. who’s 47.46 was just behind Richardson in the same heat.
 
“I was really happy with both of those guys today,” Frye said. “They are going to be special and are going to run some fast times. Then they came back and ran an fast time in the relay and we know that 3:10 is a good start especially since we have some guys that are going to be ready to go when we come back.”
 
After missing the 2018-19 indoor season, Rivaldo Leacock showed what he’s worked on since he was last on the indoor track. The junior posted a PR in the 400m with a time of 48.42 to take fourth place.
 
The impressive 400m men’s trio didn’t disappoint later on in the 4x400m relay. With Richardson’s split of 46.7 the Gamecocks cruised to a win with a time of 3:10.05 with Spencer Jr.’s 47.0 split and Leacock’s 47.8 split aiding in the impressive season-opening time.
 
On the women’s side of the 4x400m relay it was the combination of Davis, Pearl Nagbe, Shaianne Sipsey and De’Andreah Young that cruised to the 3:45.95 winning time.
 
Kicking off the day in the field was Hailey Sweatman in pole vault. The senior got her season off by tying her indoor PR of 4.10m (13-05.25). Sweatman’s winning performance didn’t even begin until the rest of the field was already eliminated, Sweatman cleared 3.95m to begin her day and reached 4.10m before attempting 4.28m.
 
Back on the track the Gamecocks had some impressive times in the 60m hurdles. Stephon Torrence easily made the final before finishing in second with a time of 7.95 while Jazmine Tilmon took third with a time of 8.39 while Destinee Rocker made the final with a time of 8.33 before ending her day with a false start. Filip Demsar also made the 60m hurdle final before finishing in seventh in his Carolina debut.
 
Other impressive starts for the Gamecocks in their rare Fall action was Darrell Singleton Jr. who took third in the 60m with a 6.83 while Miller made the final but ended up with a false start. Bailey Rogers, the former Carolina football player, put up a solid time of 21.96 to take eighth in the 200m and De’Andreah Young and Angel Frank took fourth and fifth in the 400m with times of 56.85 and 57.11, respectively.
 
The Gamecocks will take a little over a month off before opening their home schedule on Jan. 17 at the Gamecock Opener. For more information on the Gamecocks, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com. Subscribe to South Carolina on Stanza to get schedule updates directly in your calendars. Keep up with Carolina track and field on Twitter and Instagram (@GamecockTrack) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2019-20 season.