Gamecocks Wrap Up Indoor Regular Season

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina track and field team captured 11 victories to wrap up the regular season at the USC Indoor Open on Saturday. Quincy Hall’s performance in the 400m highlighted the day, posting the fifth-fastest time in the country at 45.99. 

“I’m so proud to be a Gamecock today,” South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye said. “We had some of our best performances of the year today and it was outstanding to see the support for this team. Our men’s 4x400m relay had three walk-ons that put up a time of 3:10. To see walk-ons come to Carolina and put up that time is just amazing. That kind of performance shows what we as a staff and as a team are all about.” 

Hall, who is on The Bowerman Trophy watch list, was able to capture the win out of the second heat and took down fellow watch list athlete Trevor Stewart of North Carolina A&T who finished in second overall. 

“Today was a good run for Quincy,” Frye said. “We’ve been waiting for that time this season and we’re glad he put that together today and we know that’ll get him into nationals.”

Down in the men’s 200m, Evan Miller broke through the 21-second mark for the first time in his career to win with a time of 20.93. Miller’s time puts him in the top 20 in the country and No. 7 in the SEC. 

On the women’s side the Gamecocks totaled five wins, with three coming in the field. Hailey Sweatman (Pole Vault) and Jordan Fields (High Jump) both earned victories while Amanda Murphy secured yet another personal best at 18.82m (61-9) to creep her closer to the top 5 in program history. Alycia Springs captured her second-straight win in the shot put. The senior launched a shot put 15.40m (50-6 1/4) to take the win and she’ll head into the SEC Championships with the eighth-best mark in the conference this indoor season. 

The women’s 4x400m relay team were unchallenged on their way to a win. The squad of Davis, Abrams, Nagbe and Young clocked the eighth-fastest time in the country to win the event at 3:34.13. Abrams also saw success in the open 400m, the senior won the event at 52.78 and now sits at No. 14 in the country, moving her up a few spots on the loaded national list. 

Despite not winning the event, Anna Kathryn Stoddard raced out to her third Carolina top 10 indoor mark in the mile run. Stoddard’s 4:53.38 is the fifth-fastest in program history and gives her a top 10 time in the mile run, the 3000m and the 5000m all this season. 

“You know yesterday we had our Cross Country banquet and understanding that the distance group we have here are some of the best student-athletes you can ask for in the entire country,” Frye said. “We’ve had an Academic All-American team for 17-straight seasons and have the third-highest GPA as a team on campus with a team of over 30. They aren’t the blue chip, highly recruited performers on the track always but we see how much they work and someone like [Anna Kathryn Stoddard] is a perfect example of that and we are so proud of how she’s performed this season.” 

Back on the men’s side Carolina men’s throwing group had another great day. Malik Paul tossed another weight personal record at 20.36m (66-9 3/4) and sits at No. 6 in the SEC this season and in the top 40 in the country. Eric Favors matches Paul with a victory and started off quickly with his first toss exceeding 19-meters. Favors improved later on and secured the win with a mark of 19.24m (63-1 1/2). 

Other victories included Stephon Torrence in the 60m hurdles and the men’s 4x400m relay team. The squad of Rivaldo Leacock, Jordan Sessom, Rayon Buttler, and Noah Walker absolutely crushed a time of 3:10.70, all splitting 47.9 or better. Carolina’s USC Indoor Open 4x400m relay is the fourth different team that sits inside the nation’s top 60 this indoor season. 

The 2020 SEC Indoor Championships is next for the Gamecocks. Carolina will head to College Station, Texas to face some of the nation’s top competition from Feb. 28-29. For a look at the Gamecocks full schedule, click here.
 
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