Gamecocks head to Clemson, Arkansas
The Gamecocks are set to hit the road this weekend to compete in the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson and the Tyson Invitational at Arkansas.
South Carolina’s throwers will look to duplicate last year’s success at CU, while the rest of the squad heads to one of the nation’s largest collegiate track and field meets in Fayetteville.
“Tyson is one of the biggest meets of the year,” coach Curtis Frye said. “Starting last week at the Armory, we call this our championship stretch because of the caliber of competition you face each week. All of these meets are on the national level with teams like Texas A&M, LSU, Oregon, Arkansas and everyone in the SEC. From our kids, this is a good meet to see where they are and what they need to work on as we get closer to SECs and NCAAs.”
Thrower Mike Zajac will look to continue his strong senior year in Clemson, while senior sprinter LaKya Brookins, who has run an NCAA automatic qualifying time in every race this season, will look to build on her successful season.
“LaKya Brookins had a great run last week and is the only person under 7.20 (minutes) this year,” Frye said. “She will have her work cut out for her with (Stormy) Kendrick from Clemson and the girls from schools like Oklahoma and LSU.”
Frye will be looking for his seniors to continue to step up and run well, particularly sprinters Antonio Sales and Gabrielle Glenn.
“On the men’s side, Antonio Sales hasn’t run what we know he’s capable of running yet. We’ve gotten good contributions from our kids like Clayton (Gravesande) and Chris Royster, but we also need our seniors to perform well,” Frye said. “Gabby Glenn just came back for the first time last week and made the finals, so that’s another one we want to see make progressions. She’s not where we want her right now, but she just got back on the track, and we know she has the ability to be one of the top sprinters again this year.”
Senior sprinter Shayla Mahan has also battled injuries recently, unable to participate in last weekend’s meet in New York. With the conference championships just around the corner, Frye is focused on making sure she and others are healthy.
“Shayla Mahan wasn’t feeling good in her leg, and we held her out last week. We hope to see if she can run this week at Tyson,” Frye said. “We just want to keep everyone healthy as we get into the strong part of our season.”