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. 

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