Young Gamecocks Shine at Gamecock Opener

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina track and field team returned to action 323 days after the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and made a splash in their return on Saturday. The Gamecocks earned 13 wins and posted numerous nationally ranked marks throughout the Gamecock Opener. 

“Our kids are just so tough. They were so resilient with what they had to go through to get to this point and to compete,” South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye said. “Not only our student-athletes, but so many other student-athletes have had to overcome the adversity of this year and for them to do it so close to Martin Luther King Day just makes is more special. We have a great class of young student-athletes who proved why they are a top-five class in the country. They proved that they can show up and can compete on this level.” 

The jumps squad arguably made the most noise among the Carolina performers, with two jumpers posting top-five marks in their debuts in the high jump. Freshman Jackson Marseille posted a 2.14m (7-00.25) mark, the second time he has reached the seven-foot mark in his career, and putting him at No. 5 on the High Jump All-Time Top 10 Indoor List. On the women’s side freshman Rachel Glenn matched Marseille’s top-five mark with a leap of 1.80m (5-11) to win the event. Glenn’s 1.80m mark would of qualified her for last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships. Glenn also competed in the 60m hurdles where she made the final in her first 60m hurdles race in her career. 

Also making their debuts in the jumps department was Christian Lewis who took third, just beating out his high school personal best with his mark of 24-6.50. Freshman long jumper Synclair Savage finished in second in her first action in the Garnet and Black. Savage finished as the runner-up in her debut, leaping to a mark of 5.77 (18-11.25).

“I am so proud of all of our jumpers today. We were all just so excited to be back in this building and competing today,” Assistant Head Coach Delethea Quarles said. “Our administration and Coach [Andrew Allden] did an excellent job with the planning of this meet. The things that stood out was Jackson’s performance in the high jump today, jumping over seven feet and then Rachel Glenn coming out and jumped just under six feet. They just did a phenomenal job today. All of our jumpers did a great job to execute today and were coachable and made adjustments that were needed to perform at a high level today.”

Carolina’s hurdlers made their mark on the Gamecock Opener with some impressive marks. Destinee Rocker returned to the track after missing the conclusion of the 2020 indoor season by posting a PR (at sea level) of 8.21 to win the 60m hurdles. Rocker beat out teammate Caitlyn Little (8.55) for the win with Glenn also competing in the final. Sophomore Filip Demsar dropped his personal record down to 7.86 with his second-place finish in the 60m hurdles. Demsar’s 7.86 improves on his lifetime best of 8.00 that he posted last season and also is good enough for a European Athletics Indoor Championships entry later this year. 

The Gamecocks went three-for-three in the throwing events, with Malik Paul, Alycia Springs and KD Young all grabbing wins for Carolina. Paul started his 2021 season with a solid toss of 20.10m (65-11.50) to take the weight throw win. Springs, a senior, tossed a PR of 16.01m (52-6.50) which is the sixth-best throw in program history. Young’s 17.70m (58-1.00) put her among the top-10 marks in program history and also grabbed the win for the Gamecocks. 

Back on the track the Gamecocks picked up wins in the men’s and women’s 800m with Hayden Cobbe (1:52.84) picking up a PR in his win and Kensi Gray (2:16.90) nearly posting a PR in her season debut. Sean Petersen and Savannah Bowers both grabbed wins in the Mile Run, with Petersen nearly matching his PR in the event with a time of 4:18.05 and Bowers clocking a 5:16.57 in her victory. 

Among the short sprinters it was both Knowledge Omovoh and Doval Simmonds who picked up runner-up finishes for the Gamecocks. Simmonds, a freshman, came out of the third heat to earn the second-place finish with a time of 47.60. Omovoh’s second-place finish came out of the first heat, posting a PR of 54.52 in the process. Other notable finishes among the 400m squad was freshman Alysia Johnson taking third (54.79), William Spencer Jr. taking fourth (48.00) and Bailey Rogers finishing fifth with a huge PR (48.19). 

Carolina will roll right into their next meet on Jan. 23 when they host the Carolina Challenge at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Facility. This season the Gamecocks are set to host four indoor meets along with three outdoor meets.

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