Gamecocks Secure Six More Tickets to NCAA Outdoor Nationals
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina track and field team completed its time at the NCAA East Regional on Saturday night, punching six event entries to the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., in June.
The finale of the four-day event was kicked off with SEC champion Rachel Glenn securing her first spot to outdoor nationals in the women’s high jump. Glenn cleared three heights and then retired after clearing 1.82m without missing. Glenn was nearly joined in Eugene by Jordan Fields, but the sixth-year senior finished 13th overall based on misses to just miss out.
.@rachelglenn417 is all set for Eugene! 😎
Hear from the #Gamecocks latest national qualifier!! #ncaaTF pic.twitter.com/spx1FCyrwm
— Gamecock Track & XC (@GamecockTrack) May 29, 2021
Carolina saw a massive personal best from Stephanie Davis in the 400m, securing a spot to the NCAA semifinals in the event with the third-best time in the region at 51.36. Davis won her heat to automatically qualify, and also dropped nearly a second off of her previous lifetime best outdoors. Davis’ time of 51.36 also moved her into Carolina’s all-time top 10 list to No. 9, passing the likes of Brandi Cross (51.63 – 2008) and Tonique Williams (51.99 – 1998).
Davis will be joined by Aliyah Abrams at the national meet in the 400m. She also earned an automatic qualifying spot in her heat and finished sixth overall at the meet in a time of 51.77. Abrams, who is a five-time All-American for the Gamecocks, is headed to Eugene for the second time and to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the fourth time in her career.
Carolina’s 400m veterans took care business today to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships! 🗣@aliyahliaa | @SdTrackstarr pic.twitter.com/Eqwzc4AFxh
— Gamecock Track & XC (@GamecockTrack) May 30, 2021
Just 35 minutes later it was the 400m hurdles group that earned another pair of tickets to Eugene for Carolina. De’Andreah Young posted a 57.49, nearly an identical time to her first-round lifetime best, to earn a time qualifier spot while true freshman Ashton Lindley earned an automatic qualifying spot by finishing third in her heat in a time of 57.52. For Young, she wraps up the weekend with her first-round time moving her to No. 10 all-time at South Carolina in the 400m hurdles. Lindley becomes the first true freshman for the Gamecocks to make the national meet in the 400m hurdles since Tyler Brockington in 2013.
We had a BIT going on, but we finally caught up to our 400m hurdles national qualifiers Ashton Lindley and De’Andreah Young! 🗣 #ncaaTF pic.twitter.com/PQwuwxAp0J
— Gamecock Track & XC (@GamecockTrack) May 30, 2021
The women’s 4x400m relay sent out the Gamecocks in style at the NCAA East Regional, winning their heat and automatically qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the process. The team of Davis, Abrams, Lindley and Alysia Johnson finished fourth overall with a time of 3:29.15 to edge Duke by 0.04 seconds.
Carolina’s remaining performances include Johnson finishing 14th overall in the 400m as a true freshman, missing out on the national meet as an individual by about a half of a second. Johnson posted back-to-back personal bests at the regional meet with her 52.51 on Saturday capping off her individual season with great optimism for the future. Caitlyn Little finished 18th in the 100m hurdles in a time of 13.20 while the women’s 4x100m relay team finished in 15th to just miss out as well.
In total the Gamecocks secured national qualifying tickets for seven different events and will send nine student-athletes to Eugene, along with alternates for the women’s 4x400m relay team.
Carolina’s outdoor season will continue for those who qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships from June 9-12. The meet will take place at the newly reimagined historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
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ALL ESTIMATED START TIMES ARE IN EASTERN TIME:
| MAY 26-29 • NCAA EAST REGIONAL • MEN’S RESULTS | ||
| 200m | ||
| Evan Miller | –. False Start 20.72 (in prelims) |
|
| 400m | ||
| Jackson Junkins | 28th. 46.86 | |
| 110m Hurdles | ||
| Filip Demsar | 13th. 13.69 (PR) 23rd. 13.88 (prelims) |
|
| 400m Hurdles | ||
| Noah Walker | 32nd. 52.30 | |
| William Spencer Jr. | 2nd. 49.68 (Qualified) 50.48 (in prelims) |
|
| EJ Richardson | 18th. 51.66 51.52 (PR) (in prelims) |
|
| 4x400m | ||
| Junkins, Richardson, Spencer Jr., Walker | 12th. 3:07.58 | |
| High Jump | ||
| Jackson Marseille | –. NH | |
| Discus | ||
| Malik Paul | 9th. 57.30m | 188-0 (Qualified) | |
| Shot Put | ||
| Eric Favors | 7th. 19.06m | 62-6 1/2 (Qualified) | |
| Pole Vault | ||
| Dillon McCarthy | 25th. 5.15m | 16-10 3/4 (PR) | |
| MAY 26-29 • NCAA EAST REGIONAL • WOMEN’S RESULTS | ||
| 400m | ||
| Aliyah Abrams | 6th. 51.77 (Qualified) 3rd. 52.21 (in prelims) |
|
| Stephanie Davis | 3rd. 51.36 (PR – Qualified) 13th. 52.71 (in prelims) |
|
| Alysia Johnson | 14th. 52.51 (PR) 14th. 52.89 (in prelims) |
|
| Knowledge Omovoh | 24th. 53.88 20th. 53.17 (in prelims) |
|
| 5000m | ||
| Anna Kathryn Stoddard | 27th. 16:32.72 | |
| 10000m | ||
| Anna Kathryn Stoddard | 28th. 35:03.48 | |
| 100m Hurdles | ||
| Caitlyn Little | 18th. 13.20 14th. 13.11 (in prelims) |
|
| 400m Hurdles | ||
| De’Andreah Young | 9th. 57.49 (PR – Qualified) 3rd. 57.45 (in prelims) |
|
| Ashton Lindley | 10th. 57.52 (Qualified) 10th. 58.25 (in prelims) |
|
| 4x100m | ||
| Davis, Lindley, Abrams, Omovoh | 15th. 44.66 | |
| 4x400m | ||
| Davis, Abrams, Lindley, Johnson | 4th. 3:29.15 (Qualified) | |
| Shot Put | ||
| KD Young | 18th. 16.00m | 52-6 | |
| Alycia Springs | 39th. 15.04m | 49-4 1/4 | |
| High Jump | ||
| Jordan Fields | 13th. 1.77m | |
| Rachel Glenn | T1st. 1.82m (Qualified) | |
| Pole Vault | ||
| Hailey Sweatman | 17th. 4.17m | 13-8 1/4 | |
