South Carolina Track and Field Takes On South Carolina Invitational

COLUMBIA– The South Carolina track and field teams wrap up a stretch of three consecutive home meets with the South Carolina Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Gamecocks get one more chance for valuable time on their home track to make adjustments before heading to New York for the Dr. Sander Invitational.

Spectators are allowed at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex. Tickets for each day are $10 for adults, $5 for kids 17 and under and children 2 and under are free. Tickets are cash only and seating is limited. Masking will be required and will be restricted to non-team areas. Live results can be found here.

Fans who can’t make it to the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex can follow along with updates on Twitter @GamecockTrack. A full recap will be posted on Twitter, Facebook and GamecocksOnline.com.

Meet Schedule
Friday’s action is set to begin at 10 a.m. with four different field events. Track events on Friday are slated for a 11 a.m. start with the women’s 60 meters qualifying section. Saturday’s schedule is set for a 9:30 a.m. start with the men’s and women’s 3,000-meter racewalk. Field events begin at 10 a.m. with the men’s pole vault open section and men’s high jump open section.

Last Time Out
The Gamecocks hosted the Carolina Challenge and the Gamecocks had a solid meet.

Defending outdoor national high jump champion Rachel Glenn opened up her season in the high jump. She won the women’s high jump invitational section with a clearance of 1.84m/6-0.50. Her jump puts her in a tie for No. 4 in the NCAA.

Carson Lenser won the men’s pole vault invitational section with a clearance of 5.15m/16-10.75. That was a 25-centimeter college personal best.

KD Young threw two personal-best marks in the shot put and weight throw. She tossed the weight 19.01m/62-4.50 for a fourth-place finish in the event. Young also threw the shot 16.08m/52-9.25 for a runner-up finish.

Anthony Greenhow, Jr. matched his top-10 NCAA 200-meter time of 20.89 to win the 200 meters.

Angel Frank shaved over one second off her personal best in the 400 meters, running a time of 55.22.

Coach Frye on the Meet
On his thoughts heading into this weekend’s South Carolina Invitational
“We’ve got another home meet with an opportunity to improve on some things. The big thing for us, is we want to run two good Mile (4X400-meter) relays and hone in on that. Filip (Demsar), we’re hoping to get him into the 7.70s because he’s at the bottom of qualification right now (for NCAAs). We’re going to have a great women’s 400 meters. We’re going to have Stephanie Davis go with Aaliyah Abrams and this past U.S. champion. Stephanie will have a good shot at the top time in the country with who we’ve got racing that. In the field, we’ve got Dylan Targgart coming back. We had a breakthrough last week in the men’s pole vault, so we’re hoping we have two guys over 17 feet. We’re picking things up and getting healthy. We’re excited to be at home before we go to New York. We’ve got some kids still competing to go to New York and have a great competition there against some great teams we don’t get to see like UCLA and Penn State and BYU.”

On what feeling Anthony Greenhow, Jr. and Jayla Jamison winning SEC Freshman of the Week invokes
“It invokes that we’ve had two great recruiting classes and this is that second great class. We said three years ago when this facility got built, these are the kinds of classes we would bring to Carolina. We expect it. We feel like we have two or three others in that same group who have got to come into it. Last year, we had two great high jumpers and now we’re just adding these classes together. Great teams come off of five great individuals. If you can have five great NCAA individuals, you have a great NCAA team. Everyone has the cake, but it’s about the icing. These are kids that could have gone to any school in America and been competitive. Their performance so far indicates that they are the right ones. Our job is to keep them on track.”

Earning SEC Weekly Honors
The South Carolina track and field teams took home a pair of weekly awards, the SEC announced on Tuesday.

Anthony Greenhow, Jr. and Jayla Jamison both were honored as Freshman of the Week for their performances at the Carolina Challenge. Greenhow, Jr. matched his personal best in the 200 meters to earn Men’s Freshman of the Week honors. He ran a time of 20.89 to win the event. Greenhow, Jr. equaled his already No. 7 in the NCAA and No. 3 time in the SEC in the 200 meters. Greenhow, Jr. also earned a top-five finish in the 60 meters, running a time of 6.80 to take fifth overall.

Jamison made her collegiate 200-meter debut and impressed at the Carolina Challenge to earn Co-Freshman of the Week honors. She ran a time of 23.46 to take third at the meet. Her time slots her at No. 8 in the NCAA and is tied for third-best in the SEC. Jamison’s run is also an indoor personal best.

The Gamecocks will have a chance at weekly honors with another home meet, the South Carolina Invitational, on Friday and Saturday.

Out of the Blocks Fast
The Gamecocks have 11 top-25 NCAA times and marks in sprinting and hurdling events.

On the men’s side, the Gamecocks have five top-25 NCAA times in sprinting and hurdling events. The Gamecock men have two athletes in the top 25 of the NCAA in the 200 meters in Anthony Greenhow, Jr. and Evan Miller. Greenhow, Jr. is No. 7 in the NCAA in the 200 meters with a time of 20.89 and Miller is at No. 16 with a time of 21.05. William Spencer Jr. is 17th in the country in the 400 meters with a time of 47.14 when he ran at the Clemson Opener. Filip Demsar is 17th in the NCAA in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.83. The men’s 4X400-meter relay team is sitting at No. 21 in the country with a time of 3:10.28.

On the women’s side, Carolina athletes have six top-25 times in sprinting and hurdling events. Jayla Jamison owns top-15 times in the 60 meters and 200 meters. Jamison is No. 14 in the 60 meters (7.30) and No. 8 in the 200 meters (23.46). Stephanie Davis is in the top 20 in the 200 meters and 400 meters. She is No. 20 in the 200 meters (23.68) and No. 4 in the 400 meters (52.69). Destinee Rocker is at No. 13 in the country in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.18. The Gamecocks’ women’s 4X400-meter relay team is at No. 8 in the country with a time of 3:36.04.

The Road Less Traveled
The Gamecocks host the final of three consecutive home meets and will hit the road for their first meet outside of South Carolina this season.

The Gamecocks are set to travel to the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge at The Armory in New York City. The Dr. Sander Invitational is set for college and professional competition on Feb. 4 and 5.

After that, the Gamecocks will head to the Tiger Paw Invite at Clemson. The two week road stretch marks the first time this season the Gamecocks will go to meets away from home in back-to-back weekends before heading back home for the UofSC Open on Feb. 18.