Scheper Medals at SEC

By Miquel Jacobs
USC Assistant Media Relations Director

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Saint Lucia's Jeannelle Scheper was one of three University of South Carolina Gamecocks to earn medals on the final day of competition at the 2012 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Scheper joined fellow LIME CARIFTA alumnus Kierre Beckles and Marvin Reitze, although she earned bronze while they both got silver.

"The SEC is a team event," said USC head coach Curtis Frye. "We had a lot of good individuals and some great performances. Kierre had a great performance and so did Marvin in the pole vault. Jeannelle did a good job in the high jump. We had some signs there of promise. We finished number nine on the men and 10 on the women, two points from eighth place. We have to roll it up and see if we can go to nationals and get in the top 25 with our women's team and see if Marvin can score."

Scheper, a 17-year old sophomore, holds the South Carolina programme record for High Jump. She became just the second Gamecock woman to medal in that event at any SEC Championship when she cleared 1.82m (5'11 ¾) on her first attempt. Her bronze medal now gives her the distinction of having not only the top mark in school history but also the top SEC finish in school history after matching the bronze medal finish that Monica Bozinski earned at the 2005 SEC Indoor Championships.

"The first two bars, my nerves were getting to me a bit, but as the competition progressed I got more focused and knew what I had to do," Scheper said. "My coach told me to just calm down. I got over on my first attempt because I had my thoughts together. I was happy about my performance. I felt like I could have done better. I wanted to hit an automatic (qualifying mark), but I feel like I'll still make it to nationals, so I'm happy with my performance."