USF Track & Field Opens Indoor Season With Program-Record Relay Performance

Friday, January 16

Gainesville, Fla.

University of South Florida

Jimmy Carnes Invitational

USF Track & Field Opens Indoor Season With Program-Record Relay Performance

January 16, 2026 | Track & Field

South Florida opens 2026 campaign with strong performances across events.

TAMPA, Fla, Jan. 16, 2026 – The Bulls started their 2026 indoor track and field season in dominant fashion, highlighted by a program-record performance from the men's 4x400-meter relay and strong showings from the freshman class.
South Florida opened the meet with consistent results across the field and track events, posting multiple top-five finishes and competitive marks throughout the day as the Bulls kicked off the indoor campaign.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Relays:
The men's 4x400-meter relay of Markel Jones, Devontie Archer, Corey Ottey and Shevioe Reid finished second and set a new program record with a time of 3:06.45. A second Bulls men's 4x400-meter relay group of Davien Worrels, Kelsey Singleton, Felix Levasseur and Alexavier Monfries followed with a fifth-place finish.

On the women's side, the 4x400-meter relay of Skyler Watts, Jada Wilson, Sasha Salwonchuk and Malaysia Johnson placed fifth with a time of 3:46.96.

Throws:
Freshman Alexandria Jefferson opened her collegiate career with two solid performances, placing seventh in the women's weight throw with a mark of 18.11 meters before adding a sixth-place finish in the shot put at 13.40 meters. Annalee Harbison followed closely in the weight throw, recording a fourth-place finish with a mark of 19.53 meters.

Jumps:
Freshman Alessandro Williams-Cardoso competed in multiple events and delivered consistent results, placing seventh in the men's long jump with a mark of 6.93 meters and fifth in the triple jump at 14.88 meters. On the women's side, Lilah Verslius finished seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 12.44 meters.

Pole Vault:
The Bulls recorded multiple top-five finishes in the men's pole vault, led by Payton Pitts, who placed second after clearing 5.15 meters. Andreas Kreiss added a fourth-place finish, while Nikodem Pochopien rounded out the group in fifth.

Freshman Reese Wolfe turned in a strong collegiate debut in the women's pole vault, placing fifth with a clearance of 3.70 meters.

Sprints/Hurdles:
Markel Jones advanced through both rounds of the men's 60-meter hurdles, placing fourth in prelims with a time of 7.85 seconds before finishing third in the final at 7.71. In the men's 60-meter dash, Issac Chandra qualified for the final with a fourth-place prelim time of 6.76, a personal best, and placed fifth overall in 6.77 seconds.

RESULTS:
Final results including all events, finishes, and marks, can be found here.

Field Events Results:

Event	Athlete	Place	Mark
Weight Throw (W)	Annalee Harbison	4th	19.53 m
	Alexandria Jefferson	7th	18.11 m
Pole Vault (M)	Payton Pitts	2nd	5.15 m
	Andreas Kreiss	4th	5.00 m
	Nikodem Pochopien	5th	4.85 m
Long Jump (W)	Tristen Evatt	11th	5.71 m
	Kenniyah Guishcard-Yearwood	20th	5.47 m
	Nischa King	24th	5.40 m
	Gabriella Keefer	32nd	5.13 m
Long Jump (M)	Alessandro Williams-Cardoso	7th	6.93 m
Pole Vault (W)	Reese Wolfe	5th	3.70 m
	Sara Frey	8th	3.55 m
	Ella Dolce	9th	3.55 m
	Ella Galloway	11th	3.25 m
Shot Put (W)	Alexandria Jefferson	6th	13.40 m
Triple Jump (M)	Alessandro Williams-Cardoso	5th	14.88 m
Triple Jump (W)	Lilah Verslius	7th	12.44 m
	Nischa King	14th	11.81 m

Track Events Results:

Event	Athlete	Place	Time	Notes
1000m (W)	Sydni Studesville	14th	3:01.11
60m Hurdles (M) – Prelims	Markel Jones	4th	7.85
60m Hurdles (M) – Finals	Markel Jones	3rd	7.71
60m Dash (W) – Prelims	Lynette Scutari	12th	7.61
	Doris Quainoo	18th	7.66
	Gianna Hansen	26th	7.83
	Tristen Evatt	27th	7.84
	Kenniyah Guishcard-Yearwood	33rd	8.06
60m Dash (M) – Prelims	Issac Chandra	4th	6.76
60m Dash (M) – Finals	Issac Chandra	5th	6.77
300m Dash (W)	Skyler Watts	10th	39.27
	Malaysia Johnson	11th	39.94
	Jada Wilson	12th	40.55
300m Dash (M)	Davien Worrels	8th	34.31
	Shomari Pettigrew	14th	35.55
800m (W)	Sasha Salwonchuk	11th	2:23.44
	Natasha Mosley	12th	2:24.09
800m (M)	Felix Levasseur	11th	1:57.51	Non-primary event
	Kelsey Singleton	12th	2:07.68	Non-primary event
200m Dash (W)	Tristen Evatt	17th	25.08
	Gabriella Keefer	25th	25.71
	Kenniyah Guishcard-Yearwood	31st	26.00
3000m (M)	Nicolas Dovalovsky	11th	8:31.88
	Andrew Marello	12th	8:36.24
	Karim Belmahdi	17th	8:46.77
	Stephen Barbera	19th	8:52.67
	Tanner Andrade Brinsko	22nd	8:55.35
	Cole Stevens	25th	9:08.80
4x400m Relay (W)	Skyler Watts, Jada Wilson, Sasha Salwonchuk, Malaysia Johnson	5th	3:46.96
	Sydni Studesville, Doris Quainoo, Lynette Scutari, Jada Wilson	9th	3:56.19
4x400m Relay (M)	Markel Jones, Devontie Archer, Corey Ottey, Shevioe Reid	2nd	3: 06.45	Program Record
	Davien Worrels, Kelsey Singleton, Felix Levasseur, Alexavier Monfries	5th	3:10:60
	Nathan Metelus, Shomari Pettigrew, Nicolas Dovalovsky, Karim Belmahdi	12th	3:21:28
	Issac Chandra, Tanner Andrade Brinsko, Cole Stevens, Stephen Barbera	13th	3:39:93

Up Next:
South Florida returns to action Jan. 30–31 at the Legends of Alachua County Invitational, hosted by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.

ABOUT USF TRACK AND FIELD
The USF men's track and field team captured back-to-back American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships in 2024 and 2025 and also claimed the 2024 AAC Outdoor Championship. This past season, 10 Bulls athletes earned All-America honors, including Shevioe Reid, Shaniya Benjamin, Gabriel Moronta, Nathan Metelus, Terren Peterson, Amenda Saint Louis, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, Goodness Iredia, Zahria Allers-Liburd, and Tre'Sean Bouis. Additionally, Romaine Beckford represented USF by winning the 2023 NCAA indoor and outdoor national titles in the men's high jump.

The Bulls' achievements extended to individual accolades, with Saminu Abdul-Rasheed earning the 2025 Indoor Most Valuable Performer award and Nikodem Pochopien being named Freshman of the Year. The USF coaching staff also received high honors, earning the AAC Indoor Staff of the Year award in both 2024 and 2025. USF boasts a remarkable track record, with 56 All-America selections and at least one All-American honoree in 10 of the past 12 years. In 2021, eight athletes combined for 11 All-America distinctions. Tampa native Shaniya Benjamin set a program milestone by earning three All-America honors during the 2021 outdoor season, while triple jumper Matthew O'Neal, a 2016 graduate, became USF's first six-time NCAA All-American. Since 2013, USF has produced two NCAA runner-up finishes: O'Neal in the triple jump (2016) and Courtney Anderson in the high jump (2013). Head coach Erik Jenkins, who took over in July 2019, has played a key role in the program's success, guiding USF to seven program records and 40 top-10 all-time program marks during the 2021 outdoor season. USF has also hosted major track and field events at its USF Track & Field Stadium, including the 2018 NCAA East Preliminary and the AAC Outdoor Championships in 2021 and 2023.

– #GoBulls –