Gamecocks Send Six Entries to NCAA Indoor Championships
National titles on the line March 8-9 in Birmingham
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The University of South Carolina track & field team will send six entries to the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships, the NCAA announced Tuesday. Arinze Chance, Quincy Hall and Yann Randrianasolo will compete individually on the men’s side, while Aliyah Abrams was selected on the women’s side. Carolina will also field 4x400m relay squads in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
The 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships will be held March 8-9 at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala. This is the second time Birmingham will host the NCAA’s indoor national meet, with the first coming in 2016. The Crossplex is also scheduled to host the 2022 Championships.
Carolina fans who can’t make the trip to Birmingham can watch live coverage of the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships on ESPN3. The broadcasts begin Friday, March 8, at 6 p.m. ET and Saturday, March 9, at 5 p.m. ET.
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.
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.
