GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 29, 2024) – South Carolina Track & Field opened the 2024 Pepsi Florida Relays on Friday afternoon in Gainesville, Fla., competing in 12 total events.
The men took part in six events on Friday, while a pair of Gamecocks also competed in the Raleigh Relays on Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C. Rogerio Amaral and Bradley Makuvire kickstarted the weekend with strong showings in the 10,000 meter race in Raleigh. Makuvire set a new program record as well as a new personal best when he clocked 28:29.91, ranking fourth overall in the East Region. Amaral also bested his previous PR after running 28:41.31 for the second fastest time in Gamecock history and now ranks 13th in the region. Both Gamecock runners became the first sub-30-minute 10K runners in Gamecock outdoor history on Thursday night.
Down in Gainesville, the men put together some strong performances heading into Saturday. The action began with the men’s 4x100m relay as Andrew Bond, Nyck Harbor, Prescott Jefferson and Anthony Greenhow finished fifth in the prelims with a time of 39.33. The quartet ran the fastest 4x100m time this season for Carolina and now rank seventh in the East Region. Harbor returned to run in the 200m later in the afternoon, leading the charge for South Carolina in the short sprint after running a wind-aided personal best time of 20.38 (3.3) to finish runner-up. Harbor’s time ranks fourth all-time in Gamecock history and currently sits fourth in the region. Joshua Kosgei also put together a Top-10 mark in program history, running 3:46.28 in the 1500m to rank fifth all time.
The Gamecock women competed in six events on Friday afternoon, resulting in five new Top-10 program marks. The day started with the women’s 4x100m prelims in which Zaya Akins, Cynteria James, Jayla Jamison and JaMeesia Ford ran the fastest time in the NCAA this season after clocking 43.36 to qualify for Saturday’s finale. The quartet’s time also ranks seventh in Gamecock history. All four runners turned around to compete in the 200m with Ford and Jamison stealing the spotlight by running the two fastest times in the NCAA this season. Ford clocked a personal best time of 22.37 (0.9) to rank second in Gamecock history, while Jamison turned in a time of 22.58 (0.9) to sit fourth in program history.
The final two Top-10 program marks on Friday came from Hannah Togami and Judy Kosgei. Togami entered the day with a personal best height of 3.85m in the pole vault and far cleared…