FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Feb. 23, 2024) – South Carolina Track & Field concluded the opening day of the SEC Indoor Championships on Friday evening at the Randal Tyson Track Center with three new program records in hand.
The men’s distance medley relay highlighted the events for the Gamecocks, scoring 10 points after becoming the program’s first-ever SEC Indoor Champion in the men’s DMR. The quartet of Jaouad Khchina, Bryson Miller, Joshua Kosgei and Anass Essayi ran a program record time of 9:34.50, besting the previous record of 9:43.26 set back in 1995.
Bradley Makuvire added two more points for the men’s squad to put the Gamecocks in a tie for sixth with 12 points heading into the final day. The Zimbabwe native finished seventh in the men’s 5,000 meter after running a new program record time of 13:49.20, besting teammate Rogerio Amaral’s record of 13:49.33 set earlier this season. Makuvire’s seventh-place performance marked the second consecutive season that the Gamecocks scored in the 5K at the SEC Indoor Championship.
A trio of Gamecock men advanced out of Friday’s prelims and into the finals on Saturday. Freshman standout Nyck Harbor finished eighth in the 60m qualifying with a time of 6.663, edging out Georgia’s Micah Larry who clocked 6.664. He also finished eighth in the 200m prelim after tying his personal best time of 20.83. Anthony Greenhow moved on to the 200m finale on Saturday after running 20.75 to qualify on time, posting the seventh fastest mark in the prelims. Anass Essayi will look to defend his title for the third consecutive year in the men’s mile tomorrow after he finished second in his heat with a time of 4:04.05 to automatically qualify for the Saturday finale.
On the women’s side, Judy Kosgei was responsible for the third program record on the day, besting her own record in the 800m. The Kenya native clocked 2:04.61 to finish second in her heat to automatically qualify, besting her own program record of 2:05.10. Teammate and fellow Kenya native Sylvia Chelangat ran a new personal best in the indoor 800m, clocking 2:06.93 for the fifth fastest indoor 800m in program history.
JaMeesia Ford was the final Gamecock female to advance out of the prelims on Friday, finishing second overall in the women’s 200m after running 22.72 to qualify on time.
South Carolina will close out the 2024 SEC Indoor Championships tomorrow with 12 final events. The first field event will be at 3:15 p.m. (ET) for the men’s high…