Skip to main content
Partner logo
Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link Gamecocks+
Carolina Posts Impressive Marks to Wrap Up South Carolina Invitational
Track and Field  . 

Carolina Posts Impressive Marks to Wrap Up South Carolina Invitational

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina track and field team wrapped up an impressive weekend of competition on Saturday at the South Carolina Invitational with nine different facility records going down. Carolina posted a number of impressive national marks, highlighted by the men’s 4x400m relay that posted the sixth-fastest time in the country in the final event of the historic weekend. 

“It was just a great track meet this weekend,” South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye said. “Seeing our progress from last week at Clemson to this week was great. Bailey [Rogers] effort in the quarter mile was big for us, to see that drop in his time from a walk on kid to be able to contribute and help one of the top 10 relays in the country. For me, I coach the quarter milers, so that’s huge for a kid to walk out here from a football team and then a year and a half later come out and be one of our best.” 

The combination of William Spencer Jr., EJ Richardson, Jackson Junkins and Bailey Rogers trimmed down their national time to a 3:07.94, which was highlighted by another impressive performance from Rogers who clocked a split of 46.39 as the anchor leg along with Richardson who’s split of 46.59 put Carolina in a good position after two legs of the race. 

It was the Filip Demsar show in the 60m hurdles, claiming the victory over teammate Stephon Torrence who made his home debut on Saturday. Demsar’s winning time of 7.81 is tied the eighth-fastest time in the country this season and helped him edge the likes of Clemson’s Lafranz Campbell who was ranked 11th in the nation, and ahead of Demsar, coming into the weekend. Torrence’s time of 7.88 was not good enough to win, but instead it gives him the 18th fastest time in the nation this year in his home debut. 

“To see Filip [Demsar] become as consistent as he has been has been phenomenal,” Frye said. “The next step for him is taking that next step to becoming an All-American. When you can run 7.80 back-to-back like he has done now, that puts him in a great spot moving forward. Stephon’s 7.88 is a good start. We’ve seen him be very dominant in practice so to see him come out and put down a time after a false start last weekend was a great sign. Putting these little things together as we get closer to the conference meet is really going to be a huge difference.” 

Among the Carolina women it was Heather Stone who once again stole the show at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex. The graduate student clocked a 17:10.39, a personal record, in the 5000m to earn the victory in the event. Stone has picked up back-to-back top-10 program performances at home after she dropped a top-10 time in the 3000m at the Gamecocks’ Carolina Challenge back on Jan. 23. Brooke Wilson also got in on the fun as the senior entered the program top 10 in the 5000m for the first time in her career with a 17:17.44, dropping her PR down by 14 seconds since last season for the eighth-fastest time in program history. 

In the field it was Hailey Sweatman who’s vault of 4.08m (13-4 1/2) helped her finish tied for the runner-up spot, but more importantly got her on the national list, putting her at the No. 30 spot in the country. Sweatman was followed by Kelsey Worthington who posted a nice PR herself with a vault of 3.78m (12-4 3/4).

In the open sprints for the Carolina men it was Evan Miller who made the most national noise with his 20.93 time in the 200m. The junior’s time was identical to his PR he posted last season, also at home, and slots him inside the top-15 nationally with just a few weeks remaining in the indoor season. In the 400m it was Rogers who once again rose above expectations and dropped a half of a second off of his previous PR to finish seventh overall in a time of 47.43. The time propelled the former football player to the No. 33 spot in the nation this season. 

It was Stephanie Davis who was the top finisher among the women’s 400m open competitors. Davis, who was making her season debut in the 400m open, finished fourth in a time of 54.11, good enough for the 25th best time in the nation this season with still a pair of meets to go for the senior. Knowledge Omovoh was also bold in her performance, bolting into a huge first-lap lead before settling for a 54.47, just a tenth of a second off of her PR, to finish in seventh. 

It was another third-place finish for freshman high jumper Jackson Marseille. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., product reached 2.10m (6-10 3/4) before bowing out at 2.15m (7-0 1/2), which would of been a PR. Marseille has finished in the top three in all four meets he has competed in this indoor season. 

Another impressive record for the Gamecocks included freshman Alexander Galbraith who entered the all-time program top 10 in the men’s mile run. His time of 4:14.94 is the eighth-fastest in program history. 

Next weekend will be the conclusion of the Gamecocks indoor regular season when Carolina hosts the USC Indoor Open on Feb. 13. Following the regular season finale South Carolina then shifts to the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships which will take place in Fayetteville, Ark., from Feb. 25-27. 

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 2021 season.
 

FEB. 5-6, 2021 • SOUTH CAROLINA INVITATIONAL • MEN’S RESULTS
60m
Gatlin Lawson 17th. 7.00
Parker Howard 23rd. 7.22
200m
Gatlin Lawson 25th. 22.46
Parker Howard 30th. 22.86
Evan Miller 5th. 20.93 (PR)
Jordan Sessom 21st. 22.25
400m
Jackson Junkins 11th. 48.16
EJ Richardson 8th. 47.56
William Spencer Jr. 9th. 47.88
Bailey Rogers 7th. 47.43 (PR)
800m
Ian Fladd 11th. 1:56.23 (PR)
Hayden Cobbe 4th. 1:52.82
Blake Newcomb 3rd. 1:52.81
Kyle Reers 12th. 1:56.24
Mile Run
Sean Petersen 18th. 4:17.21 
Alexander Galbraith 12th. 4:14.94 (PR)
Collin Kilgore 25th. 4:32.64
David Olds 21st. 4:19.63
60m Hurdles
Filip Demsar 1st. 7.81 (7.91 prelims)
Stephon Torrence 3rd. 7.88 (7.91 prelims)
4x300m
Miller, Lawson, Demsar, Torrence 2nd. 2:17.93
4x400m
Spencer Jr., Richardson, Junkins, Rogers 3rd. 3:07.94 (SB)
Weight
Malik Paul 6th. 18.30m (60-0.50)
High Jump
Kobe Franklin 9th. 1.95m (6-4.75)
Jackson Marseille 3rd. 2.10m (6-10.75)
Long Jump
Christian Lewis 7th. 7.10m (23-3.50)
Desmond Gaillard 11th. 6.52m (21-4.75) (PR)
Jalen Herring 13th. 6.27m (20-7)
Pole Vault
Timothy McEvoy 11th. 4.41m (14-5.50)
Jonathan Togami 8th. 4.71m (15-5.50) (PR)
Dillon McCarthy 7th. 4.86m (15-11.25)
Heptathlon 60m
Benjamin Womble 8th. 7.41 (742 points)
Elisha Brooks 1st. 6.88 (PR) (925 points)
Heptathlon Long Jump
Benjamin Womble 9th. 6.01m (589 points)
Elisha Brooks 5th. 6.55m (709 points)
Heptathlon Shot Put
Benjamin Womble 6th. 11.68m (587 points) 
Elisha Brooks 7th. 11.51m (577 points) (PR)
Heptathlon High Jump
Benjamin Womble 9th. 1.67m (520 points)
Elisha Brooks 7th. 1.73m (569 points)
Heptathlon 60m Hurdles
Benjamin Womble 9th. 9.54 (631 points) (PR)
Elisha Brooks 3rd. 8.31 (905 points) (PR)
Heptathlon Pole Vault
Benjamin Womble 6th. 3.90m (590 points)
Elisha Brooks –. NH (0 points)
Heptathlon 1000m
Benjamin Womble 8th. 2:58.07 (683 points) (PR)
Elisha Brooks 6th. 2:53.64 (728 points) (PR)
Heptathlon Total
Benjamin Womble 8th. 4342 points (PR)
Elisha Brooks 7th. 4413 points
FEB. 5-6, 2021 • SOUTH CAROLINA INVITATIONAL • WOMEN’S RESULTS
400m
Stephanie Davis 4th. 54.11
Casey Douglas 21st. 1:03.27
Angel Frank 13th. 56.67
Macie Kavanaugh 19th. 58.75
Ashton Lindley 9th. 55.58
Knowledge Omovoh 7th. 54.47
Kyna Robinson 20th. 59.48
Shaianne Sipsey 18th. 58.54
800m
Sierra Biber 15th. 2:14.44
Christina Ceniccola 29th. 2:29.77
Kensi Gray 20th. 2.17.39
Isabella Pisani 25th. 2:20.43
Mile Run
Savannah Bowers 20th. 5:08.08 (PR)
Hannah Cella 25th. 5:18.16 (PR)
Elizabeth Davison 29th. 5:34.04
Jenna Pellizzari 32nd. 5:49.16
Emily Pierontoni 27th. 5:25.23 (PR)
Claudia Satzke 31st. 5:35.71
Emily Smith 30th. 5:35.37
Lyndsey Fowler 28th. 5:29.13
3000m
Kathleen Abrams 19th. 10:56.22 (PR)
Katerina Hendrix 18th. 10:46.76 (PR)
Sarah Riser 20th. 11:04.33
5000m
Hope Dominique 5th. 18:32.71
Heather Stone 1st. 17:10.39 (PR)
Hannah Twine DNF
Brooke Wilson 2nd. 17.17.44 (PR)
60m Hurdles
Caitlyn Little 7th. 8.58 (8.47 prelims)
Kiera Hughes 18th. 9.47
4x400m
Davis, Omovoh, Lindley, Sipsey 4th. 3:39.45
Pole Vault
Hailey Sweatman 2nd. 4.08m
Kelsey Worthington 11th. 3.78m (PR)
Pressley Perry 16th. 3.38m
High Jump
Dymier Jeffery 7th. 1.61m (5-3.25)
Long Jump
Synclair Savage 6th. 5.67m (18-7.25)
Shot Put
KD Young 7th. 15.77m (51-9)
Carisma Holland 13th. 13.06m (42-10.25)
Pentathlon 60m Hurdles
Rachel Glenn 8th. 9.06 (895 points)
Pentathlon High Jump
Rachel Glenn 2nd. 1.74m (903 points)
Pentathlon Shot Put 
Rachel Glenn 13th. 7.83m (388 points)
Pentathlon Long Jump
Rachel Glenn 12th. 4.01m (310 points)
Pentathlon 800m
Rachel Glenn –. DNS (0 points)
Pentathlon Total
Rachel Glenn –. DNF (2496 points)