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South Carolina Closes Indoor Track & Field Season in Albuquerque
Track and Field  . 

South Carolina Closes Indoor Track & Field Season in Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (March 9, 2023) – Every indoor track & field meet has let up to this, the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. The Gamecocks will be competing in seven events this weekend, including five prelims on Friday afternoon.

Follow the Meets
Live results for the NCAA Indoor Championships can be found by clicking the link here. Anyone interested in watching the event live can do so on ESPN+. There will be an early and late session on ESPN+ for both Friday and Saturday. Fans can also follow along with updates on Twitter by following @GamecockTrack.

Ticket Information
The 2023 NCAA Indoor Championship is a ticketed event. Fans in attendance can purchase tickets for the entire session for $45 (general admission) or $25 per day. Youth tickets are $25 for the entire session or $15 per day.

Meet Information
The 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships will take place at the Albuquerque Convention Center and will be a two-day meet on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11. The last time this championship was set to run in Albuquerque, the world was shut down from the COVID-19 pandemic. That was three years ago and now we are back in the Land of Enchantment and the Gamecocks are ready.

Friday will feature mostly prelim events, while Saturday will be heavy with finals. The top eight scorers in each event will result in points for their teams in the following format (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1). All-American statuses will be up for grabs this weekend. First Team All-American status is awarded to finishers 1-8 (individual and relays), while Second Team All-American is given to those who finish 9-16 (individual and relays). Athletes must have a valid mark to earn All-American status. Meaning those who do not finish a race, no height, foul three attempts or are disqualified will not be eligible for All-American status if no other valid mark from a previous round exists.

The meet will start on Friday at 9:50 a.m. (MST) / 11:50 a.m. (EST) with the women’s pentathlon 60-meter hurdles. The first Gamecock to appear on Friday will be Silan Ayyildiz in the women’s mile semifinals at 4 p.m. (MST) / 6 p.m. (EST). She will be followed by Jayla Jamison in both the women’s 60m semis (4:15 p.m. / 6:15 p.m.) and the women’s 200m semifinals (5:25 p.m. / 7:25 p.m.). Anass Essayi will be the first male to compete for Carolina in the men’s mile semifinals (7 p.m. / 9 p.m.), followed by Evan Miller to close out the night for the Gamecocks in the men’s 400m at 7:25 p.m. (MST) / 9:25 p.m. (EST).

Coaches Corner
On wearing the Gamecock uniform at NCAAs:
“You have to meet the individual needs of being a student-athlete. The aspirations from the first time they run a collegiate meet is to become and All-American. Once you realize that you are here, your goals begin to change. You start thinking of what I need to do better to lock in a spot as a First Team All-American. The greatest feeling is lining up in that Gamecock uniform on the second day because you are lining up to be a First Team All-American and have one last shot to win a national championship in your event. Putting on that uniform means separation and elevation from the rest of the competition.”

Gamecocks Looking to Make History
South Carolina comes into the NCAA Championship looking to make history in Albuquerque. Anass Essayi enters the meet as the top-ranked men’s mile runner in the NCAA and aims to become the first Gamecock to win the men’s indoor mile championship and the men’s 3,000-meter indoor crown. Evan Miller, a two-time indoor All-American in the 200m, also looks to become the first Gamecock to win the men’s 400m indoor national title. The last Gamecock male to win any indoor national championship was Otukil Lekote in the men’s 800m run in 2002.

On the women’s side, Silan Ayyildiz will be fighting to become the first female miler to win a national title for the Gamecocks. The other individual competing will be Jayla Jamison, who will run in both the 60m sprint and the 200m. She aims to be the first 60m Gamecock winner since two-time NCAA champion LaKya Brookins took home the crown in 2011. The last 200m national champion for the Gamecocks was Shalonda Solomon in 2006.

The women’s 4x400m relay squad represent the lone Gamecock relay team in the NCAA Championship. They are looking to become the sixth 4x400m squad in program history to win an indoor national title. Alysia Johnson returns to the NCAA Indoor Championships as a 2022 All-American honoree. The last time the Gamecocks won the women’s 4x400m indoor national title was the 2019 squad of Stephanie Davis, Aliyah Abrams, Tatyana Mills and Wadeline Jonathas.