JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (May 24, 2023) – South Carolina Track & Field opened the NCAA East Regional on Wednesday evening at the Jax Track at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Gamecock men were in action and saw five individuals advance out of the first round and into the quarterfinals on Friday.
“I was pleased with how we performed on the track,” stated Head Coach Curtis Frye. “We only came into the day with five track events scheduled and we advanced in four of them. I was proud of Anass and Evan qualifying in their events after finishing near the top of their heats. Filip did what he does best and that is compete and advance to live another day. Also, what a resilient performance by Anthony. To not qualify in the 100 meter and then turn around later in the night and perform the way he did in the 200 to earn a qualifying spot on Friday, that is what being a Gamecock is all about. I tell the student-athletes all the time, just compete to your absolute best ability and the rest will fall into place. Overall, I felt that was a good tone to start the regionals and now we will turn our attention to the women competing tomorrow.”
Filip Demsar kicked things off in the 110-meter hurdles and earned one of the six final qualifying spots. The Slovenia native ran 13.62 (3.5) and finished 14th overall in the event, qualifying for Friday’s quarterfinal at 6:15 p.m. Shortly after Demsar, Anass Essayi secured his spot into Friday’s quarterfinal in the men’s 1500m after winning his heat with a time of 3:46.48. Essayi will run in the quarterfinals on Friday at 5:15 p.m.
Evan Miller qualified for a pair of quarterfinal appearances, doing so in both the 200m and the 400m. The Florida product began his regional participation in the 400m, posting a time of 46.01 to finish second in his heat and seventh overall, earning a spot in Friday’s quarterfinal at 6:50 p.m. Later in the evening, Miller finished second in his heat in the 200m after stopping the clock at 20.49 (1.1) to secure a position into the quarterfinal race at 7:50 p.m. on Friday night.
Joining Miller in the 200m quarterfinal on Friday will be Anthony Greenhow, Jr. The Virginia native ran a collegiate best, wind-legal time of 20.70 (1.6) to secure the final qualifying spot in Friday’s event.
South Carolina will be back in action at Jax Track at Hodges Stadium tomorrow at 10 a.m. as the women’s portion of the regionals gets under way with KD Young in the hammer throw. The first Gamecock…