With 12 student-athletes qualifying in 13 events for the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, it has already been an outstanding season for South Carolina first year head coach Tim Hall. Although seven of South Carolina’s 12 competitors are making their first trip to the Outdoor Nationals, including six freshmen, the Gamecocks are not just happy to be there.
“It’s a young group, so that’s promising for the future,” Hall said. “Those young people are coming in and really buying in to the process and having goals and aspirations of doing this at a high level. This is just the beginning of it.”
“I think we’re laying the groundwork for years to come,” said senior Dylan Targgart, who is competing in the shot put. “I think big things are coming to Columbia, South Carolina. We’re a very battle-tested team. We’ve seen every sort of competition throughout the regular season. We feel ready to go and we’ve seen everybody that’s going to be there before.”
Hall added that he is not surprised that many of the younger competitors have made an instant impact.
“That was my expectation coming into our program – to be one of the best programs in the country in year one,” Hall said. “They accepted that challenge. Here we are. We’re in the top 15 on the women’s side, and in the top 20 on the men’s side. Year one has yielded some tremendous success, but we’re not done yet.
“I look at myself as being very fortunate to be in this space with this young talent. We’re going to continue to cultivate that talent and put them in the position to be at their absolute best and then watch them take off.”
On the men’s side, junior Anass Essayi will compete in the 1500-meter race after finishing fourth in the event at last year’s championship, while junior Channing Ferguson is back at nationals for the second straight year and will compete in the high jump and long jump. Targgart and graduate C.J. Licata both made nationals in 2022 and are among the top five favorites in the shot put, while freshman Nyck Harbor is making his national championship debut in the 100 and 200-meter races.
For the women, freshmen Zaya Akins (400m, 4x100m, 4x400m), JaMeesia Ford (200m, 4x100m, 4x400m), Cynteria James (200m, 4x100m), Teresa Cherotich (steeplechase), Judy Kosge (1500m) and sophomore Sylvia Chelangat (800m, 4x400m) are first-timers for the Outdoor Championships, while junior Jayla Jamison (200m, 4x100m, 4x400m) has…