COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb. 3, 2023) – The opening day of the 2023 South Carolina Invitational has come and gone, and another program record has succumbed to a new Gamecock.
“Today was a special day with Silan making her season debut,” stated Head Coach Curtis Frye. “She showed today what she can do, setting a new Gamecock record and a new facility record in the women’s mile. Today was a fast day at the track with a few Olympians competing, pushing our team to compete at the highest level. I was happy with what we saw from Jayla in the 60 and Filip in the 60-meter hurdles. Emma cleared a new indoor personal record that happened to place her inside the Top 10 in program history. Today was a good day and tomorrow will be even better.”
Newcomer Silan Ayyildiz, making her collegiate debut, set both the South Carolina program record in the women’s mile run while also setting a new Carolina Indoor Track & Field Complex facility record. The Turkey native ran the mile in a time of 4:36.33, breaking the facility record by 3.64 seconds and the program record by 7.57 seconds. Ayyildiz won by 11 seconds, picking up the lone South Carolina win in the opening day. Ayyildiz’s time ranks 20th in the NCAA and 31st in the world rankings.
In keeping with the women’s competition, the Gamecocks had a trio of competitors finish third overall in their respective events. Jayla Jamison placed third in the 60-meter sprint, sitting as the top collegiate athlete in the event. Jamison ran 7.26 in the final, falling to Tamari Davis who ran a time of 7.07 to set a new facility with the fourth fastest 60m in the world this year.
Emma Stone and Cailyn Scharneck placed third overall in their respective events, both setting new indoor personal bests. Stone vaulted 3.90m (12-9.5) to place third with the 10th-best pole vault in program history. Stone cleared a then-PR of 3.75m before clearing 3.90m in her first attempt. Scharneck threw 15.36m (50-4.75) in the women’s open weight throw for a new personal best, a full three feet further than her previous indoor best.
The men’s team featured several new faces at home, including Emory Floyd and DJ Black who made their home debuts. Floyd ran a personal-best time of 6.95 in the 60m trials, qualifying for the semifinals where he finished 19th overall with a mark of 6.97. Black ran 7.03 in the 60m sprint, while jumping 6.92m (22-8.5) in the long jump to place seventh.
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