Davis posts top-10 national time to open Carolina Challenge

Led by junior Stephanie Davis' victory in the 400m the Gamecocks closed out the first day of the Carolina Challenge with 15 personal bests. Davis' time in the 400m currently is the seventh-fastest time in the country.

"We are always excited about personal bests and today was a great day for that here at South Carolina," South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye said in a press release issued by the school. "We can't be better than who we are and that's what we showed today. I was excited for a lot of our young student-athletes, especially for Stephanie Davis. She was just behind her personal best, but a top seven time in the country right now. And our entire quarter mile crew had personal bests which is just great to see."

Nearly matching her personal best, Davis' time of 53.10 was enough to take out 2009 NCAA Champion Joanna Atkins who ran the meet as a professional.

The Carolina women's 400m crew all had outstanding races, clocking three personal bests. Pearl Nagbe put up a 55.34 to take seventh place while De'Andreah Young's 55.68 was good enough for another personal best and a 10th place finish.

In the hurdles the Gamecocks had a combined three finalists, including a personal best time from freshman Filip Demsar to take fifth place. His 8.00 in the semifinals and the 8.01 in the final both improved on his previous personal best of 8.08. Caitlyn Little posted a time of 8.38 to take fourth, nearly matching her season-best time, while freshman Jazmine Tilmon reached the final with a time of 8.49.

In other notable personal bests, Noah Walker made his first appearance in the high hurdles since his sophomore campaign. Although he did not run in the semifinals or the final, Walker posted a personal best of 8.30 to finish in 14th. Kaden Briggs and Elisha Brooks both made their first appearances in the high hurdles this season. Briggs' time of 8.33 was enough to reach the semifinals while Brooks' time of 8.43 just missed the semifinal cut.

Despite another impressive performance, Hailey Sweatman was unable to capture her fifth victory of the season, but settled for third with a vault of 13-7 1/4.

"Our young group has handled this season very well," Frye added. "We just need to be careful because we know they are a bit tired because we haven't tapered yet. Our goal is to keep all of these outstanding athletes healthy as we move forward in the season and begin to approach indoor championship season."

South Carolina continues the Carolina Challenge on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. The Gamecocks will remain home next weekend for the South Carolina Invitational from Feb. 7-8.

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