CLEMSON, S.C. (Feb. 10, 2023) – South Carolina Track & Field concluded the opening day of the 2023 Tiger Paw Invite on Friday afternoon, with a pair of Gamecocks advancing up the NCAA leaderboard. In addition, Silan Ayyildiz represented the Gamecocks in Boston, improving on her program record in the mile while also advancing into the NCAA Top 16 in the women’s mile.
“The team did a good job competing today,” stated Head Coach Curtis Frye. “Svenja had a really good run in the mile and our girls did a good job in the 5K. We keep developing in that area, so I was pleased with that. We also had Silan in Boston, she moved into the top 10 on the NCAA leaderboard with another school record. The next big thing was Filip running a personal best in the 60-meter hurdles. He had a great run with a great group of athletes, including four of the top five NCAA athletes running against him. That pushed him to compete at a high level and now he is in the top 16 so that was good for us and for Filip. I also like what I am seeing out of our football guys, Emory broke seven seconds in the 60m and DJ jumped over 23 feet.”
One week removed from setting the South Carolina indoor record in the women’s mile, Turkey native Silan Ayyildiz struck again, this time in Boston. Ayyildiz, competing for the Gamecocks at the David Hemery Valentine Invite, clocked another program-record time of 4:32.74 in the mile. Her mark was four seconds faster than her previous program record set last week in Columbia. In addition, Ayyildiz’s time moved her into eighth in the NCAA and 34th in the world rankings.
In Clemson, S.C., it was Jayla Jamison who stood out for the women’s team after running 7.23 in the women’s 60-meter semifinals. Jamison finished eighth in the semifinals when she set her new personal record, registering the fourth best 60m time in program history. More importantly, the Columbia native moved into 11th on the NCAA leaderboard in the women’s 60m.
Another newcomer for the Gamecocks secured a top 10 program record as Svenja Sommer ran the women’s mile in a time of 4:48.23 to capture her first win as a Gamecock. Sommer’s mark was a 15-second improvement on her personal best and secured the fourth best mile in South Carolina history.
On the men’s side, a trio of Gamecocks set program top 10 marks, including Filip Demsar who improved on the NCAA leaderboard. The Slovenia native jumped from 10th to eighth on the Gamecock leaderboard when he set a new…