KD Young

position Throws
class Senior
Hometown Decatur, Ill.
High school Warrensburg-Latham

position Throws
class Senior
Hometown Decatur, Ill.
High school Warrensburg-Latham

Academic Honors

2023 Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll
2022 Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll
2020 Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll
2019 Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll

Season and Career Results
2023

Indoor

Competed in seven indoor meets for the Gamecocks, throwing the shot put and the weight throw … Finished seventh at the SEC Indoor Championship in the shot put, throwing a new personal best distance of 16.84m (55-3) – the second longest throw in Gamecock indoor history … Also competed in the weight throw at the SEC Championship, finishing 16^th overall … Won a total of six events during the season, including four shot put victories … Began the season with three consecutive wins in the shot put at the Gamecock Opener (15.67m), Carolina Challenge (15.74m) and the Columbia Challenge (16.03m) … While at the Columbia Challenge in New York City, she threw a new PR in the weight throw with a distance of 19.25m (63-2) to finish runner up with the sixth longest weight throw in Gamecock history … The following week, she won the South Carolina Invitational weight throw event when she logged a distance of 18.81m (61-8.5) … Made it a clean sweep in Carolina’s final indoor meet of the season, winning both the shot put (16.27m) and the weight throw (19.21m).

Outdoor

Threw in seven meets during the season, competing in the outdoor shot put and the hammer throw … Competed at the 2023 NCAA East Regional, finishing 33^rd in the shot put and 45^th in the hammer throw … Scored at the SEC Outdoor Championship in the shot put when she threw a distance of 16.45m (53-11.75) for a new PR to finish eighth overall … Her PR throw at the SEC Championship is also the fourth longest outdoor shot put throw in Gamecock history … She cleared 16.00m one other time in the shot put during the season, doing so at the Florida Relays with a throw of 16.13m to finish third … Her best shot put finish of the season was second at the USC Open, throwing 15.84m … She also won the USC Open hammer throw that same day, logging a distance of 58.48m (191-10) … Her furthest hammer throw of the season was in Gainesville at the Tom Jones Memorial, throwing 59.70m (195-10).

2022
Indoor

Appeared in six meets during the indoor campaign, competing in the weight throw and shot put … Had an indoor season to remember with three victories, three runner-up finishes and a third-place finish … Kicked off the indoor season with a win in the shot put (15.09m/49-6.25) and in the weight throw (18.91m/62-0.50) at the Orange and Purple Elite … The very next meet in the Gamecock Opener, she claimed another shot put title with a distance of 15.05m (49-4.50) and finished runner up in the weight throw with a distance of 18.10m (59-4.75) … Set her new indoor personal bests in both events at the Carolina Challenge (Jan. 22), recording a shot put throw of 16.08m (52-9.25) and a weight throw distance of 19.01m (62-4.50) … Took part in the SEC Indoor Championship in the shot put with a distance of 15.04m (49-4.25).

Outdoor

Competed in eight meets in the outdoor campaign, emerging on the scene for the Gamecocks in the shot put, hammer throw and the discus throw … Kicked off the season with a fourth-place finish in shot put in the Tiger Track Classic with a distance of 14.60m (47-10.75) … Had a Weems Baskin event to remember, finishing atop the leaderboard in the shot put (15.22m/49-11.25), second in the hammer throw (56.36m/184-11) and second in the discus throw (41.64m/136-7) … Earned a trio off Top-3 finishes in the hammer throw and a pair of Top-3 finishes in the shot put over the final five events, including finishing second at the Penn Relays in the hammer throw with a distance of 58.21m (190-11) … Scored at the SEC Outdoor Championship in both the hammer throw and the shot put, finishing seventh in the hammer (60.41m/198-2) and eighth in the shot put (15.93m/52-3.25) … Saved her best performance for last in the NCAA East prelims, setting her new outdoor personal-bests in both the hammer (62.23m/204-2) and the shot put (16.23m/53-3).

2021
Indoor

Threw in 10 competitions at six meets … Threw the shot put and the weight throw at the SEC Championships … Finished seventh at the SEC meet in the shot put with a toss of 15.73m/51-7.25 … Took 13^th in the weight throw with a mark of 18.19m/59-8.25 … Threw a season-best in the shot put at the Carolina Challenge with a mark of 15.83m/51-11.25 … Threw a season-best mark in the weight throw at the Bob Pollock Meet with a time of 18.35m/60-2.50 … Earned three top-five finishes in the shot put … Earned four top-five finishes in the weight throw, including a win at the Gamecock Opener.

Outdoor

Qualified for the East Regional in the shot put … Took 18^th in the shot put at the East Regional with a season-best toss of 16.00m/52-6 … Also competed in the shot put at the SEC Championships and finished in 15^th with a mark of 15.30m/50-2.50 … Earned a second- or third-place finish in the shot put at the Gamecock Invitational, USC Open, Charlotte Invitational and UNF Invitational … Threw the hammer throw four times for Carolina … Had a season-best toss of 56.38m/184-11 in the hammer throw at the USC Open … Earned third-place finishes in the hammer throw at the Gamecock Invitational, USC Open and Charlotte Invitational … Also threw the hammer throw at the UNF Invitational.

2020
Indoor

Competed unattached during the indoor season while redshirting.

Outdoor

Cancelled.

2019
Indoor

Was a member of the Gamecocks lineup seven different times during the indoor campaign… Competed in both the Shot Put and the Weight Throw, throwing both in all seven appearances… Won the Shot Put at the USC Indoor Open with a mark of 14.54m (47-0 1/4)… Picked up three other top-5 finishes in the Shot Put throughout the indoor season… Was the runner-up at the Gamecock Inaugural… Had her season-best mark in the Shot Put at the Carolina Challenge with a throw of 15.11m (49-7)… Had her best Discus finish at the Orange & Purple Elite, capturing fourth place with a toss of 16.73 (54-10 3/4)… Had a season-best toss of 16.91m (55-5 3/4) at the SEC Championships to take 19th… Finished in 16th at the SEC Championships in the Shot Put.

Outdoor

Did not compete.

2018
Indoor

Competed in both the shot put and the weight throw as a freshman… won the shot put in her debut meet, throwing 15.30m (50-2 1/2) at the Navy Winter Invitational… finished second in the weight throw at Navy… also won the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational with a mark of 15.64m (51-3 3/4)… had her best shot put effort at the Columbia Challenge, a mark of 15.93m (52-3 1/4) that ranked seventh in Gamecock history at the conclusion of the season… also had her best weight throw effort at the Columbia Challenge, throwing 17.51m (57-5 1/2)… scored for the Gamecocks at the SEC Championships, earning SEC All-Freshman laurels with a seventh-place result… took 15th in the weight throw at the conference meet.

Outdoor

Earned another SEC All-Freshman Team nod and grabbed a spot at the NCAA East Regional in her rookie outdoor season… competed in the shot put, the discus and the hammer… won the shot put at the Gamecock Invitational with a mark of 15.96m (52-4 1/2), the sixth-best effort in Carolina history… took third in the discus at the Gamecock Invitational… added second-place shot put finishes at the Tennessee Relays and the USC Open… placed second in the hammer at the USC Open… took seventh at Penn Relays in the shot put and scored for the Gamecocks at the SEC Championships with a mark of 15.82m (51-11), tops among freshmen… also came in seventh at Penn in the hammer with a mark of 53.29m (174-10), eighth in Carolina history… placed 11th in the hammer and 12th in the discus at the conference meet… finished 20th in the shot put at her first NCAA East Regional… competed at the USATF Junior Championships after the end of the college season, finishing fourth in the shot put and ninth in the hammer… her shot put mark of 16.05m (52-8) was her best of the 2018 campaign… won the 17-18 division of the shot put at the USATF Hershey National Junior Olympics while finished second at the meet in the hammer and the discus.

Pre-South Carolina
High School

Was a four-year letter-winner at Warrensburg-Latham High School under head coach Tami Davis… Was named Illinois’ Gatorade Athlete of the Year in each of her last two seasons… Won eight individual state championships, earning the shot put and discus titles in each of her four high school years… Named the ESPN Decatur Athlete of the Year four times… Competed twice at New Balance Nationals, including a second-place finish in the shot put in 2017… Won the shot put at the USATF Junior Olympics.

Personal

Daughter of Brett and Jennifer Young… Has one brother, Joe… Was a member of the National Honor Society in high school and graduated with a 4.96 GPA… Majors in business at South Carolina… Chose Carolina over dozens of NCAA Division I offers… Picked the Gamecocks because she loved the team and the people on it.

Personal Records
Indoor