South Carolina track and field hosted and competed in the South Carolina Invitational on Friday and Saturday for the fourth meet of the season. The team's athletes ranked nationally in multiple events and also beat personal records.
Carolina welcomed 13 other teams at the event, including six conference opponents.
Sophomore sprint/multi-athlete Elisha Brooks finished Friday by placing sixth overall as well as making a new personal record with a 6.88 in the 60-meter. Assistant head coach Kevin Brown said he and Brooks have "talked about and trained for that [time]."
Benjamin Womble also played a role in the Gamecocks' success by placing ninth in the heptathlon, including sixth place in the shot put and eighth in the 60-meter.
In her first collegiate meet, freshman Rachel Glenn had her best finish in the high jump with the second-best overall mark of 1.74 meters.
South Carolina began to crank up the intensity on Saturday by winning two events.
Sophomore hurdles athlete Filip Demsar edged out his own teammate to win the 60-meter at a time of 7.81, tied for the eighth-best time in the country for the 2021 season.
South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye has big expectations for Demsar.
"The next step for him is taking that next step to becoming an All-American," Frye said.
Senior Stephanie Davis made her season debut with her fourth-place finish in the 400-meter with a time of 54.11.
Graduate student Heather Stone finished the invitational with a victory in the women's 5,000-meter. Her winning time of 17:10.39 was a personal record for the athlete.
The day was wrapped up by a men's 4-x-400 meter relay that went down as the sixth-fastest run in the country this season with 3:07.94. Jackson Junkins, Bailey Rogers, EJ Richardson, and William Spencer, Jr., put together the race that gave Carolina another near-record.
Frye was impressed with Rogers, a former member of Gamecock football, and his run in the race.
"Bailey['s] effort in the quarter-mile was big for us, to see that drop in his time from a walk-on kid to be able to contribute and help one of the top 10 relays in the country," Frye said.
South Carolina indoor track and field has one more meet of the regular season at home on Feb. 13.