Charleston Southern opened the 2023 Indoor Track & Field season at the Clemson Invitational over the weekend. Led by their distance runners, the Bucs turned in several strong performances, including two event wins.

Notable Finishes

• Shawn Langley Jr. - 2nd in 400, 47.54
• Rob Howorth - 2nd in 800, 1:53.15
• Micah Gilpatric - 1st in the Mile, 4:02.30
• Micah Gilpatric - 1st in the 3K, 8:03.10

Sprints/Hurdles

Shawn Langley Jr. took second in the 400 with a time of 47.54 that was just 0.4s off the winner. Luciano Custodio was not far behind in 9th with a PR of 48.93. 

Jumps

Holden Gerth took ninth in the High Jump, clearing a 1.90m bar.

Throws

Michael Calhoun set a new indoor Shot Put personal best of 16.78m and placed sixth in the event. Aaron also placed ninth in the Weight Throw with a best throw of 13.96m.

Distance

Micah Gilpatric won two events in the season opener, taking first in the Mile (4:02.30) and the 3K (8:03.10) running personal bests in both. Rob Howorth (4:08.07), Zack Wedding (4:12.10), Jack McGahey (4:21.24), and Mason Raasch (4:21.76) finished close behind Gilpatric as the Bucs placed five runners in the top ten of the Mile.

The 800 looked similar as Howorth took second with a time of 1:53.15 to lead four Bucs in the top 10, including Garrett Ricardo (1:54.52), Zack Wedding (1:54.99), and Griffin Gillespie (1:56.76). Gilpatric also led Ben Thomas (8:21.12) and Alan Deogracias (8:21.87) for three CSU runners in the top 10 of the 3K.

Records, Records and More Records

Micah Gilpatric rewrote the record books with his 4:02.30 mile, setting a CSU School record, also good enough for fourth-best in Big South history. The time also sits 16th in the country this year. His 3000m time of 8:03.10 is also a CSU School Record, seventh-best all-time in the Big South and currently sits 14th in the country. Shawn Langley's 400m time of 47.54 is second-best all-time at CSU as well as top-10 all -time in the Big South and currently in the top-25 in the country.
Michael Calhoun also set a school record with his shot put measure as well as Griffin Gillespie in the 1000m with a 2:31.34 mark for a program best. His 800m time of 1:56.76 stands as a top-10 mark in prgram history as well.

Other marks that rank int he top-10 in program history from Saturday's action: 
Garrett Ricardo in the 800m (1:54.52) - seventh-best 
Ben Thomas in the 3000m (8:21.12) - sixth-best
Sam Waldin in the 3000m (8:25.30) - eighth-best
Jaden Kingsely in the 3000m (8:27.04) - ninth-best             
Luciano Custodio in the 400m (48.93) - ninth-best

Up Next

The Bucs return to Clemson in two weeks for the Bob Pollock Invitational. The action starts on January 27th in Clemson.