Sweatman Breaks School Record at South Carolina Invitational

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina track and field team saw it’s best vault in program history, indoor or outdoor, when Hailey Sweatman reached 4.35m (14-3 1/4) on Friday afternoon at the South Carolina Invitational. 

The mark breaks Vica Shobe’s 2010 indoor mark of 4.26m (13-11 3/4) and also eclipses Petra Olsen’s 2014 outdoor mark of 4.26m (13-11 3/4). Sweatman now sits at No. 8 in the country and third nationally among SEC pole vaulters. 

“With all the preparation taking place at practice, there wasn’t a doubt that I couldn’t make the bar,” Sweatman said. “It was just a matter of time, so when I cleared it, the first thing that came to mind was finally!” 

“We knew it was coming,” South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye said. “At one point this season she was undefeated and we are totally excited about today’s performance. That’s a top-10 mark in the country right now and puts her in a good spot in the conference. She was thrilled and it was amazing to see all of her friends and her family here to watch such an amazing accomplishment.”

“[Hailey] just has a tremendous work ethic,” South Carolina Assistant Coach Kevin Brown said. “She’s always ready to go and she never backs out of anything. I told her it was her time today. She’s getting better each week and we told her to trust herself. I asked her if she believed in herself and she said she did so we knew this was going to happen.” 

Shortly after Sweatman’s historic performance the straight sprints were firing on all cylinders in the middle of the track. Darrell Singleton Jr. set a new personal best in the 60m by clocking 6.71 and taking second among collegiate 60m sprinters. The mark helps him reach the top 35 in the country. 

Following Singleton Jr. was Stephon Torrence in the 60m hurdles. The redshirt-junior crushed a 7.73 after missing last week’s Carolina Challenge to drop 0.13 off his personal best and now is in the NCAA top 10 this season. The 7.73 also puts him into the Carolina indoor top 10 in the 60m hurdles just behind Gamecock great Johnny Dutch’s 2009 mark of 7.71 for eighth-best indoors. 

“Stephon had a great meet today, his 7.73 gets him into the top 10 in the country,” Frye said. “We know he can continue to improve and to see him come out this meet after an injury just shows how he is a gamer. He stepped down on the hurdles in the semis and then came back to go 7.73 against some big hurdlers was just so encouraging and we can’t wait to continue to watch him improve.”

On the women’s side of the hurdles it was Caitlyn Little who took the collegiate crown with a season-best mark of 8.31. For Little that puts her in a tie for 37th in the country this season. 

In total the Gamecocks set 18 new personal bests on the first day of the South Carolina Invitational. The women’s mile produced five of those on its own with Heather Stone’s 5:07.67 leading the way in her first appearance in the event this season. 

The Gamecocks continue the South Carolina Invitational Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex. For more information on the Gamecocks, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com.
 
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