Four Gamecocks entries beat weather to advance

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — South Carolina’s track and field team advanced to four finals and three semifinals before inclement weather delayed the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Senior Jason Cook qualified for today’s final in the shot put. Cook, the 2009 SEC champion, placed sixth in Wednesday’s qualifying round with a throw of 60 feet-11.25 inches.

“It wasn’t as good as I had hoped, but I did well enough to make finals,” Cook said. “I’m ranked sixth now heading into finals. I think it was good preparation because I’ve been in and thrown out of both rings now.”

The women’s 400-meter relay team of LaKya Brookins, Shayla Mahan, Gabrielle Glenn and Breehana Jacobs won its heat and placed fourth overall to qualify for Friday’s final after running at a time of 43.85.

The men’s 400-meter relay placed sixth overall at 39.17. The team was composed of Johnathan Hancock, Antonio Sales, Quentin Moore and Obakeng Ngwigwa. The final will be run Friday.

Sophomore Johnny Dutch had a strong qualifying round in the 400-meter hurdles, winning his heat and placing fifth overall at 50.47 to advance to today’s semifinal round.

In the men’s pole vault, freshman Marvin Reitze tied for 11th place with a clearance of 17-02.75. His finals will be Friday afternoon.

Brookins and Hancock hit their best times in the qualifying round of the 100-meter dash. On the women’s side, Brookins ran an 11.20 to place 13th in the qualifying round to advance to the semifinals.

Hancock ran a 10.31 in the qualifying round to place 17th to advance to the semifinals.

Gamecocks still scheduled to compete Wednesday include women’s pole vaulter Liza Todd, men’s javelin thrower Erik Heymann, women’s 400-meter sprinter Brandi Cross and both competitors in the men’s and women’s 100m dash semifinals.