USC Upstate track and field capped a strong showing at the 2026 Big South Outdoor Championship at High Point University with seven podium finishes and three school records broken across the three-day meet held May 11-13 in High Point, North Carolina. Senior Shriyaan Krishnaraj took home gold in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.69 seconds, breaking his own school record in the event for the second consecutive Big South championship.
The Spartans’ men’s team finished third overall with 122.5 points — the second-most points the program has ever scored at a single outdoor championship meet. High Point won the team title with 263.5 points, extending its streak to six consecutive Big South Men’s Outdoor championships. Charleston Southern placed second with 167 points.
Krishnaraj’s 51.69 clocking in the 400 hurdles stood as the day’s winning time. He followed up the individual gold by anchoring the men’s 4×400-meter relay alongside teammates Zacorian Johnson, Jacob Ruff, and Collin Bui-Hayes. That relay team finished third in a time of 3:09.85, also a new school record. Krishnaraj was a two-time Big South individual champion in the event after also winning at the 2025 championship.
Quintavius James added a silver medal in the men’s 100 meters, crossing in 10.46 seconds in the finals. James had set a school record of 10.40 in the 100-meter preliminaries on Day Two of the meet, placing him inside the top tier of nationally competitive mid-major sprinters.
Joshua Sterling earned a silver medal in men’s hammer with a throw of 57.12 meters, ranking fourth all-time in Upstate school history. Sterling also took third in discus at 50.35 meters. The men’s 4×100-meter relay team of Quintavius James, Collin Bui-Hayes, Evan Daniels, and JerVaris Rice claimed second place with a time of 40.57.
On the women’s side, Taylor Thomas broke the program’s javelin record with a throw of 37.27 meters, finishing seventh in the event. Jenelda Aristhil set a new personal record in shot put at 13.64 meters, placing fourth and moving fifth all-time in Upstate school history. Aristhil also finished fifth in hammer at 49.32 meters and eighth in discus. The women’s team finished sixth overall with 31 points.
The 21 new personal records and 43 top-eight finishes across the three days underscore the program’s depth across throwing, jumping, and running events. For Spartanburg, the performance extends USC Upstate’s growing profile as a multi-sport competitive program, building on the softball program’s Big South three-peat and the baseball team’s tournament bid in the same spring season.
Athletes who qualified will next compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, scheduled for May 27-30 in Lexington, Kentucky, hosted by the University of Kentucky. Krishnaraj, who has competed at the national level in the 400 hurdles, is among those expected to advance to the East Prelims based on his 51.69 time.
