Gamecocks Shatter Five Program Records on Final Day of SEC Championship

Gamecocks Shatter Five Program Records on Final Day of SEC Championship

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (May 11, 2024) – South Carolina Track & Field finished 10th in both standings following the final day of the 2024 SEC Outdoor Championship. The 10th place finish for the men was the best since 2019 as they matched their point total from that season with 41. On the women’s side, the 10th place finish was the best since 2021, while the 37 points was the most since scoring 40 in 2013. There were five program records broken on the final day, including four by the women’s team.

Women’s Program Records

Sylvia Chelangat was the first program record broken for the women, doing so in the 800m when she ran 2:01.23 to finish third overall, resulting in a second consecutive season medaling in this event. She was followed by JaMeesia Ford who broke her own program record in the 200m finals, finishing runner-up with a time of 22.11 (0.6). Ford’s second-place finish was the best finish for the Gamecocks in the women’s 200m since 2006. The third program record for the women came from Judy Kosgei in the 5000m event, running 16:12.65 to best the previous record of 16:12.77. Kosgei just missed out on scoring in the 5K event, finishing 10th overall. Fellow teammate, Teresa Cherotich, finished 11th in the 5K and ran the third best time in program history at 16:33.55. The final program record came from the most exciting event on the track, the women’s 4x400m relay. The tandem of Zaya Akins, Jayla Jamison, Sylvia Chelangat and JaMeesia Ford ran a collective time of 3:25.02 to finish runner-up in the event. Their silver medal honors was the best result in the conference outdoor meet since 2016. In addition to the records, Carolina scored in two more events for the women, including two 100m scorers for the first time since 2011. Ford ran 11.24 (0.3), while Cynteria James clocked 11.37 (0.3) to finish seventh and eighth, respectively. Judy Kosgei scored six crucial points in the women’s 1500m when she ran a time of 4:15.07 for the second-best result in the SEC Outdoor Championship.

Men’s Program Records

The men finished the day with 24 points and had five scorers in five events. Anass Essayi scored 16 points himself on the day, finishing runner-up in both the 800m and the 5K. The Morocco native clocked a personal best time of 1:46.06 in the 800m, finishing with silver medal honors as the first male Gamecock to do so since Otukile Lekote in 2002. He then broke a program record in the 5K later in the evening, running 13:34.92 and becoming the first scorer in the SEC outdoor 5K in Carolina history. He was joined by teammate Rogerio Amaral who finished eighth in the event with a time of 14:01.32 to score one more point. Three more individuals scored for the Gamecock men, including Theo Mudzengerere who placed fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 15.95m (52-4) to become the first Gamecock to score in the outdoor triple jump since 2012. Nyck Harbor and David Warmington each placed eighth in their respective events, with Harbor running 20.55 (1.0) in the 200m for one point and Warmington clocking 13.77 (0.4) in the 110-meter hurdle.

Second Team All-SEC Squad

Eight total Gamecocks were named to the Second Team All-SEC squad. CJ Licata and Dylan Targgart recorded Second Team performances in the men’s shot put on Friday. Anass Essayi joined the duo as the other male on the Second Team All-SEC squad. Five different Gamecock women made the Second Team All-SEC squad: Zaya Akins, Sylvia Chelangat, JaMeesia Ford, Jayla Jamison, and Judy Kosgei. South Carolina will now turn its attention to the NCAA East Regional that will take place Wednesday, May 22 – Saturday, May 25 in Lexington