Four Gamecocks Qualify to Final Races at SEC Indoor Championships
Four Carolina athletes advanced to the final races on Saturday in College Station, Texas
COLLEGE STATION, Texas—Four athletes on the South Carolina track and field teams punched their tickets to final races at the SEC Indoor Championships on Friday inside the Gilliam Indoor Stadium.
“We had some good runs, and a lot of ninths,” said head coach Curtis Frye. “The highlight was Anass (Essayi), and we knew he was going to run well. Stephanie (Davis) ran well with an indoor PR.”
Anass Essayi made his Gamecock debut and did so with the best Mile performance in school history. Essayi won his heat with a time of 4:01.46 to advance to Saturday’s Mile final and earned the school record along the way.
Essayi will have the opportunity on Saturday with a competitive field to potentially run South Carolina’s first ever sub-four minute Mile and throw down a qualifying time for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
“He’s going to have to run fast to score big,” Frye said. “All of those guys in that race can run 3:54 or 3:55. I just hope it’s not a strategic race so he can go run fast and get a qualifying time.”
Stephanie Davis was impressive in the women’s 400 meters, qualifying with the second-fastest time in the prelims. She ran a time of 51.68 for an indoor personal best and is set to compete for an SEC crown on Saturday.
The Gilliam Indoor Stadium treated the Gamecock women’s quarter-Milers well. Of the seven Carolina women in the field, six of them (Davis, Makenzie Dunmore, Angel Frank, Aaliyah Pyatt, Alysia Johnson and Pearl Nagbe) had indoor personal bests in the 400 meters.
Evan Miller qualified for his second consecutive 200-meter final at the SEC Indoor Championships. Miller ran a time of 20.81 to earn a spot. He was the fourth-fastest man in the 200-meter prelims.
Miller will look to improve upon his fourth-place finish at the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships on Saturday.
Filip Demsar earned the final qualifying spot for the Gamecocks. He ran a time of 7.88 in the 60-meter hurdles to finish sixth in the prelims and earn a berth to Saturday’s final. Demsar was seventh at the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships.
The Gamecocks also were on the fringe of qualifying in three different events and were one spot away from scoring team points, racking up four total ninth-place finishes on the day.
One of those performances was the men’s distance medley relay. The quartet of Sean Petersen, Jackson Junkins, Jack Mensch and Rogerio Amaral finished ninth with a time of 9:49.50. That time was the second-fastest in school history.
“We didn’t get all ninth-place finishes, but we had so many possibilities,” Frye said. “We got ninth with Makenzie (Dunmore). We’ve never had someone run 52.7 in the 400 meters and not make the final. We got a ninth in the 200 meters. We kept getting ninths, but we’re getting better and our program is young.
“We’ve still got a shot to get our women in the top 10 and our men in 10th or 11th. We’ve still got shot put and high jump tomorrow. We’ve got the women’s pole vault, 400 meters and 4X400-meter relay.”
Action at the Gilliam Indoor Stadium begins at 11 a.m. with the resumption of the men’s heptathlon. Elisha Brooks sits in sveneth place with three events remaining.
Field events are set to begin at 2:15 p.m. with the men’s and women’s high jump. Track events are slatted for a 5:10 p.m. start with the women’s Mile. All of the acion from College Statin will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Men’s Team Results
1. Arkansas – 37.5 points
2. Alabama – 27 points
3. Ole Miss – 22 points
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–. South Carolina – 0 points
Men’s Individual Results
60 Meters – Prelims
20. Dominic Dutton – 6.95
23. Prescott Jefferson – 7.04
24. Gatlin Lawson – 7.12
200 Meters – Prelims
4. Evan Miller – 20.81q
32. Prescott Jefferson – 24.58
400 Meters – Prelims
21. Jackson Junkins – 47.85
–. William Spencer Jr. – DNF
800 Meters – Prelims
12. Hayden Cobbe – 1:51.11
24. Aidan Hatton – 2:02.50
Mile – Prelims
2. Anass Essayi – 4:01.46Q
25. David Olds – 4:14.50
60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims
6. Filip Demsar – 7.88q
Distance Medley Relay
9. Petersen, Junkins, Mensch, Amaral – 9:49.50
Long Jump
14. Christian Lewis – 7.18m/23-6.75
19. Jaden Price-Whitehead – 6.46m/21-2.50
Pole Vault
–. Carson Lenser – NH
–. Dillon McCarthy – NH
–. Seth Rabinowitz – NH
Heptathlon (through four events)
7. Elisha Brooks – 2,973 points
Heptathlon – 60 Meters
1. Elisha Brooks – 6.82
Heptathlon – Long Jump
5. Elisha Brooks – 6.92m/22-8.50
Heptathlon – Shot Put
7. Elisha Brooks – 12.65m/41-6
Heptathlon – High Jump
12. Elisha Brooks – 1.75m/5-8.75
Women’s Team Results
1. Florida – 39 points
2. Ole Miss – 34 points
3. Tennessee – 20 points
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–. South Carolina – 0 points
Women’s Individual Results
60 Meters – Prelims
10. Jayla Jamison – 7.38
12. Tierra Frasier – 7.41
200 Meters – Prelims
9. Tierra Frasier – 23.41
400 Meters – Prelims
2. Stephanie Davis – 51.68Q
9. Makenzie Dunmore – 52.79
15. Aaliyah Pyatt – 53.36
16. Angel Frank – 53.61
17. Alysia Johnson – 53.68
21. Pearl Nagbe – 54.88
27. Jahnile Registre – 56.96
800 Meters – Prelims
18. Kieley Gayle – 2:13.87
19. Grace Zamrowski – 2:16.82
Mile – Prelims
17. Alex Costantino – 5:01.45
60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims
9. Destinee Rocker – 8.17
Weight Throw
15. Kayla Racine – 17.63m/57-10.25
