University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Buccaneer Track & Field Invitational
Sykes Sets New School Record during Opening Day of Buccaneer Track & Field Invitational
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Johnson City, Tenn. – Destinie Sykes broke a school record while Theodore Kountourogiannis began his indoor season in impressive fashion to lead the USC Upstate track and field team Friday on the first day of the Buccaneer Track & Field Invitational from the Mountain States Health Alliance Athletics Center.
The individual performances by Sykes and Kountourogiannis highlighted a day which saw Upstate record 17 personal-best marks with the men turning in nine and the women eight.
Sykes would finish 5th in the triple jump as her personal-best leap of 11.49-meters surpassed the previous jump of 11.37-meters by Draneisha Griffin at the ETSU Track & Field Invitational less than a month ago. Kountourogiannis, running in his first meet of the 2014-15 indoor campaign, posted the top individual showing as he placed 3rd in the 5000-meter run with a time of 15:07.43.
Alexis Jacobs had the best finish on the women's side as the senior compiled a throw of 15.58-meters in the weight throw en route to an 8th place performance. Alex Love, also competing in his first indoor meet of the season, finished several spots behind Kountourogiannis in the 5000-meter run as he placed 7th with a personal-best time of 15:17.64.
The two Spartan distance medley relay teams both collected finishes of 6th or better in their respective races. In the women's event, the combination of Anastasia Kolesnitchenko, Rebecca Elliott, Ashleigh Torres and Molly Bliss ran a time of 12:45.64 to finish in 5th place. The men's quartet of Dan Castello, Josh Lee, Ethan Dopp and Jacob Collins placed 6th following their time of 11:11.11.
Love was one of eight Upstate men to achieve new personal-bests on Friday. Kyle Drollette set two personal-bests in the 60-meter hurdles and 400-meter dash; and was joined by Donnie Hutchinson (60-meter hurdles), Jaleel Williams (200-meter dash), Jake McKown (200-meter dash), Kyle Jones (200-meter dash), Patrick Jamison (400-meter dash) and Cody Ellison (5000-meter run).
Courtney Bradley led the Spartan women with two personal-best times in the 200- and 400-meter dashes. Semaj Tolliver and Sierra White each attained personal-bests in the 200-meter dash, while Essence Jackson, Adia Simpkins and Kennedy Holton all had new career times in the 400-meter dash.
Upstate returns to the track Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. for the final day of the Buccaneer Track & Field Invitational.
Follow Upstate track and field on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
