Track & Field Sets Eyes on Big Apple
NEW YORK, N.Y. (Jan. 26, 2023) – South Carolina Track & Field is taking its talents to New York City this weekend to compete in the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge hosted by Columbia. The two-day meet begins on Friday and will take place at the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory.
Follow the Meet
Live results for the Columbia Challenge can be found by clicking here. For any that are interested in live video, the meet will be streamed through USA Track & Field TV for a nominal fee of $12.99 per month (can cancel at any time). The link for the live video can be found here. Fans can also follow along with updates on Twitter by following @GamecockTrack.
Meet Information
The annual Columbia Challenge is a scored meet, with the top eight places scoring points in the following format (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1) The event will begin on Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. with the women’s shot put, men’s triple jump and the men’s pole vault. The first track event will be the women’s 60-meter prelims at 12:15 p.m. followed by the men’s 60-meter prelims at 12:40. Saturday’s events will start at 9:30 a.m. with the women’s weight throw, followed by the first track event at 10:10 a.m. with the men’s 3K. As usual, the meet will conclude with the 4x400m relays. The Gamecocks will be one of 20 collegiate teams competing this weekend. The majority of the competitors hail from the Northeast, with the exception of South Carolina and UCLA.
Coaches Corner
What he is looking for from the Gamecocks this weekend:
“This will be a good test for us, competing away from home for the first time this calendar year. We will be going up against tough competition, so we are looking forward to see what we have right now. We still have some student-athletes that are injured but others that are making their debuts this weekend, so excited to have them competing again. As always, The Armory is a fun place to compete. The student-athletes get to experience New York City and get to run at an elite track.”
Gamecocks in the Rankings
South Carolina is off to a strong start to open the 2023 indoor season. The men’s team ranks 17th in the first USTFCCCA Top 25 rankings that came out on Monday, while ranking third in the Southeast Region. The women’s team sits fourth in the Southeast Regional rankings. The Gamecocks have 31 different Top 50 marks in the NCAA, including 16 Top 25 marks. More importantly however is that South Carolina possesses 10 Top 16 marks, which ultimately is what is needed to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championship. Evan Miller holds a pair of Top 10 marks, including hanging on as the national leader in the men’s 400m (45.91), while holding the eighth-best mark in the men’s 200m (20.76). Jayla Jamison is a part of three Top 16 marks, including the women’s 60m (7.25), women’s 200m (23.39) and the women’s 4x400m relay with a time of 3:32.40. Both William Spencer, Jr. (14th in 400m) and Filip Demsar (13th in 60mH) hold Top 16 marks in their respective events, while Kobe Franklin (eighth in high jump) and Dylan Targgart (16th in shot put) round out the individual Top 16 marks. The women’s Distance Medley Relay team of Emily Pierontoni, Svenja Sommer, Emily Smith and Ella Zeigler hold the final Top 16 mark, placing 15th in the DMR with a time of 12:10.64.
