South Carolina Track & Field athletes set two new program records on April 17 during dual-meet competitions, with distance runners competing at the Wake Forest Invitational in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and other team members starting the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida.
The performances included record-breaking times in the men’s and women’s 1500-meter races. These results are significant for the South Carolina program as they highlight both individual and team progress early in the outdoor season.
At Wake Forest, Salma Elbadra won her race with a time of 4:02.63, which is not only a school record but also marks the fastest NCAA women’s 1500m time this season and ranks third all-time in NCAA Division I history. Jaouad Khchina finished third overall in his event with a new men’s program record of 3:35.07. Other notable finishes included Abigail White’s personal best of 4:20.13 for fourth fastest in school history, Eline Mast’s debut time of 4:26.05 for fifth place on the school’s list, and Ella Zeigler running a Top-10 mark as well.
Anya Arroyo posted a personal best of 15:52.56 to move to second all-time among Gamecocks in the women’s 5000 meters.
Meanwhile at Florida’s Tom Jones Memorial meet, Akala Garrett won the women’s invitational section of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.46 seconds while Kyndall Harrington-Spain clocked an eighth-fastest school mark at 56.94 seconds for eighteenth place overall. Tristen Harris matched her personal best by winning the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.34 meters (20 feet-9¾ inches).
The Gamecocks will continue competition tomorrow during day two of the Tom Jones Memorial meet.
