When senior sprinter Arinze Chance situated himself in the starting block for his 400-meter race on Friday afternoon, he did, in fact, have some idea that he was about to break a school record.
With a time of 46.15, he didn't just break it. He shattered it.
Earlier in the week, Chance talked with coaches Kevin Brown and Curtis Frye during the practice sessions about Chance's upcoming performance.
“We were just like, ‘You know, I’m gonna go sub-46, I’m gonna break the school record,’ and they were like, ‘Ah, come on, man,’ I’m like ‘Hey, don’t doubt me,’ so, and they didn’t, and I’m happy that I was actually able to break the school record today,” Chance said in a video by Gamecocks Online shortly after his race.
Friday, Jan. 18 will be remembered as a particularly important day in the history of South Carolina track and field for several reasons. Friday and Saturday, the Gamecocks hosted athletes from schools all over the Southeast for the Gamecock Inaugural indoor track meet. This was the first event to be held in their newly renovated indoor track facility.
The start of the home season also meant the starting gun on the final season for key seniors like Allie Mueller, Hanifah Abdulqadir, Yann Randrianasolo and redshirt senior Otis Jones. Each of these seniors posted solid results in their events over the weekend.
Friday’s christening of the new facility was briefly interrupted when the head coaches of all teams in attendance gathered under the South Carolina Track and Field banner at the south end of the indoor facility. Gamecock head coach Curtis Frye gave a short speech, dedicating the new facility as well as thanking all those who played a role in its construction.
Chance made history with his record-breaking 400-meter run that has been standing since Gamecock Jonathan Fortenberry posted a time of 46.19 in 2003. O
Being the fastest male Gamecock to ever run the 400-meter wasn't enough for Chance. He also broke his home country’s national record and now holds the fastest recorded time for the event in Guyana.
Chance has been very successful in all of his collegiate running endeavors, even before he came to the United States. Before attending the University of South Carolina, he competed for the University of Trinidad & Tobago, where he holds the school record for the 300-meter. In 2016, he finished third at the Trinidad & Tobago National Championships in the 400-meter.
Breaking records isn't a new feeling. Last week, Chance broke another national Guyanese record: the 300-meter.
"Yeah, I mean, this is my second record in two weeks, because last week I had the 300 national record in 33.0, and now this week the national record in the 400," Chance said in a video by Gamecocks Online. "I mean, two records in two weeks, what more could a guy ask for?"
Chance found himself on the bench for the 2018 outdoor track season, which has altered his perspective on his goals for the rest of the season.
"Well honestly, I just want to have fun this year. Last year I had some issues with my eligibility," Chance said in a video by Gamecocks Online. "I wasn't able to compete, because these issues affected us — affected me, rather — and I'm just happy I'm here and that I can compete and I can do what I love. What's most important to me this year is just to have fun and to do what I love."
Frye agreed that Chance had a challenge that season, but he "continued to stay positive."
"Last year was difficult for him. He had to sit out after indoors ... he went to class and did work," Frye said in an article by Gamecocks Online. "He came back this fall ready to work out, and he proved that if you do the things you're asked and buy into the system, great things will happen."
In those two days, South Carolina accumulated nine individual wins and two relay wins. Senior sprinter Maiya Dendy placed first in the 60-meter invite with a time of 7.45 and Yann Randrianasolo claimed the first win for the Gamecocks on Friday in the men’s long jump invite with a jump of 7.60 meters.
The Carolina quartet of Allie Mueller, Briana Reckling, Macie Kavanaugh and Anna Kathryn Stoddard placed first in the distance medley relay with a time of 11:48.77. The second place team in the same event was also from South Carolina, posting a time just 20 seconds over the first place team.
Frye believes the results from the Gamecock Inaugural may be a good indicator of what's to come in the 2019 track season.
"I'm really excited," Frye said in an article by Gamecocks Online. "Watching Arinze on this track proves what I thought — this is a wide track, it's a high-banked track, and it's got gentle slopes off the high banks. He's a young man that dropped from 47.2 to 46.1, and he has bought in."
The coaching staff is very pleased at the team’s performance over the weekend, but Frye recognizes the work that still has to be done in order to accomplish the ultimate goal: scoring at their conference meet.
“Right now, being ranked fifth in the country is outstanding," Frye said in a press release from South Carolina Athletics Communications and Public Relations. "It’s exciting, but we’ve got to keep focused."