Carolina Headed to NCAA Indoor Championships
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina track and field team qualified five events for the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships that takes place in Fayetteville, Ark. from March 11-13. The meet for the Gamecocks, which will be streamed live on ESPN3 starting on Thursday, March 11, at 12:00 p.m. ET, will begin with the men’s 60m hurdles semifinals on Friday at 2:15 p.m. The event will still go on, without fans.
NCAA QUALIFIERS (click to expand)
LAST TIME OUT – SEC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jackson Marseille highlighted South Carolina’s time in Fayetteville last weekend at the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships, bringing back a bronze medal to Columbia in the high jump. Marseille, a freshman, finished in a tie for third for Carolina. The women’s 4x400m relay secured its spot in the NCAA Indoor Championships with an impressive performance in the final event. The squad of Knowledge Omovoh, Rachel Glenn, Ashton Lindley and Stephanie Davis dropped three seconds off their previous season-best time to finish fifth in the event.
The Gamecocks also saw SEC finalists Blake Newcomb, Filip Demsar, Evan Miller, Destinee Rocker and KD Young all score points for the Gamecocks. Miller impressed in his first SEC final in the 200m, finishing in fifth and setting a new PR in the prelims at 20.87. Newcomb also impressed with his 1:50.14 in the 800m prelims to secure a spot in the final where he finished sixth. Rocker finished sixth in the 60m hurdles and Demsar finished seventh in his first SEC final. Young also collected a seventh-place finish with her performance in the shot put while the men’s 4x400m relay team rounded out the meet with an eighth-place finish.
Freshman Rachel Glenn also secured points for Carolina in the women’s high jump. Her 1.80m leap matched her lifetime best that helped her finish fifth in her postseason debut in the Garnet and Black.
CAROLINA’S HISTORY AT INDOOR NCAAs
The South Carolina women own 11 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships, including seventh in 2019, and finishing as high as second place in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Nineteen different Gamecocks have combined to capture 15 NCAA indoor national titles, including five victories in the 4x400m relay. Demetria Washington leads the Gamecock program with three indoor NCAA crowns, winning the 400m dash in 2001 and the 4x400m relay in 2001 and 2002. Carolina’s most recent national title indoors came in 2019 when the Gamecocks won the 4x400m relay with the team of Davis, Mills, Abrams and Jonathas.
On the men’s side, the Gamecocks have finished in the top-10 nine times at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Carolina’s best finish came in 1974, when the squad finished third, and in both 1999 and 2003 the Gamecocks finished fourth. South Carolina has won eight NCAA indoor titles, with Terrence Trammell earning the 60m hurdles crown in 1999 and both the 60m dash and 60m hurdles titles in 2000. Brad Snyder garnered the shot put national title in 1998 and 1999, and the most recent NCAA indoor championship victory came in 2002 when Otukile Lekote was the national 800m champion.
EVAN MILLER – JR – Zephyrhill, Fla. – 200 METERS
Miller enters his first NCAA Championships as the 15th-ranked 200m at the meet with a lifetime best time of 20.87. Miller set the time at the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships last weekend at the same track and will look to make a tight final in his first attempt on the national stage.
This season Miller has clocked four sub-21 200m times, including each of his last four performances. Miller has finished sixth or better in the 200m in every single meet he has competed in this season. Miller hopes to become the first Carolina All-American in the indoor 200m since Ncincilili Titi in 2018.
FILIP DEMSAR – SO – Slovenia – 60m Hurdles
After a solid freshman season Filip Demsar returned to Columbia in stellar form, dropping a personal best time of 7.80 in the 60m hurdles twice during the season to qualify for his first NCAA Championships. Demsar finished seventh at the 2021 SEC Championships and has made the final in every single meet he has competed in this season.
Demsar is aiming to become the third different Gamecock to earn All-America honors, joining his Carolina training partners Stephon Torrence and Isaiah Moore in 2019 and 2018.
DESTINEE ROCKER – SR – Lithonia, Ga. – 60m Hurdles
Rocker enters her first NCAA Indoor Championships ranked 16th among the impressive 60m hurdles field with her lifetime best time of 8.13. That time, set at the Bob Pollock Meet in January, sits as the second-fastest time in program history.
Now in her second season with the Gamecocks, Rocker aims to become the first women’s 60m hurdles All-American for Carolina since Kierre Beckles in 2013.
RACHEL GLENN – FR – Long Beach, Calif. – High Jump
As a true freshman Rachel Glenn made her stamp on the national stage right off the gate in 2021. She leaped 1.80m in her collegiate debut at the Gamecock Opener and then matched that performance at the SEC Indoor Championships to finish fifth and score for Carolina.
Glenn, who also helped the Gamecocks qualify in the 4x400m relay, enters the NCAA Championships as the 16th-ranked high jumper and will aim to become the third different indoor All-American in the event for the Gamecocks since 2018 (Jordan Fields, Lissa Labiche).
Women’s 4x400m Relay
Carolina enters the NCAA Indoor Championships ranked seventh in the nation in the women’s mile relay with a time of 3:31.86. That time set by Omovoh, Glenn, Lindley and Davis, was clocked last week at the SEC Championships as they earned a fifth-place finish. The time is also the 11th-fastest in program history, missing out on a top-10 program performance by just 0.01.
Curtis Frye’s program owns seven national titles in the women’s 4x400m relay, including indoor crowns in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2019 and outdoor titles in 2000 and 2002. Olympian Demetria Washington was part of four of those winning relays.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks indoor season concludes with the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Gamecocks are scheduled to participate in their first outdoor meet at the Tiger Track Classic from March 19-20, in Auburn, Ala.
