Thursday, March 31
Gainesville, FL
Florida Gators
vs
Pepsi Florida Relays
Claudia Francis will run in the collegiate 400-meter hurdles race on Friday as well.
Francis’ NCAA-Leading Time Gets Gators Going at Pepsi Florida Relays
Thursday, March 31, 2016 | Track and Field
In just two collegiate races, Claudia Francis has established herself as one of the top 400-meter hurdlers in school history
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida track and field program opened the 72nd annual Pepsi Florida Relays Thursday (March 31) with an NCAA-leading time in the women's 400-meter hurdles, yet another top-15 time within the East Region, and two UF all-time outdoor top 10 marks.
The top highlight of the day came from Claudia Francis, who, in just the second 400-meter hurdles race of her collegiate career, clocked an NCAA-leading time of 56.43 seconds to win an open race littered with professional runners. Francis' time also moved her up to No. 2 on the program's all-time top 10.
The other UF all-time top 10 mark came from redshirt freshman AJ McFarland in the hammer throw. After setting a new personal record with his second attempt, McFarland's final toss of the day measured 61.59 meters, moving him into the No. 4 spot in program history. Four of the DeLand, Fla. native's six throws were 60-plus meters.
Earlier in the day, freshman sprinter Michael Timpson Jr. logged a wind-aided 200 meters time of 20.97 seconds. His time is tied for 12th overall within the East Region.
SEC Network + will provide live streaming for the next two days competition, starting at 12 p.m. ET on Friday (April 1) and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday (April 2). Spectator information can be found in this release.
PEPSI FLORIDA RELAYS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern and subject to change)
Notes: ^ - denotes open race; individual places not noted in open races due to professional runners competing; all NCAA and East Region rankings are based on results through March 30th and Pepsi Florida Relays results through March 31st
HEARING OUT (COACH) HOLLOWAY
On his overall thoughts of the first day…
"Other than the men's 400-meter hurdles, which I thought we would be better in, we had a great day. AJ (McFarland) with a PR, Michael Timpson Jr. with a PR in the 200 (meters), even Mikayla Barber and Gina Louis had PRs in the 400 hurdles. We had a solid day. Looking forward to bigger and better things as the weekend moves along."
On Claudia Francis' NCAA-leading time in the 400-meter hurdles…
"I was very pleased with that. We expected that. She had some bad hurdles last week, so we felt like if she was able to set up the first three hurdles better this week that she could run 56-low, and that's what she did. We're very pleased with that. I give a lot of credit to Claudia for her work ethic, and Coach (Adrain) Mann for the work he's done with her also."
On AJ McFarland's and Angel Parra's personal records in the hammer throw…
"Coach (Steve) Lemke has been very excited about their training. Really looking forward to see what Anders does tomorrow, but big PR for Angel and AJ had a good series, not just one throw. Very pleased with both of them."
On what he hopes to see from the Gators tomorrow…
"Just execution. We've been talking a lot about execution, focus, and a lot about pride. We need to understand this is a great meet with a lot of great competitors, and we've got to stick our nose in, and, for the most part, that's what people did today. That's why they ran well. We're going to demand they do that tomorrow and Saturday as well."
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #FLRelays16; #GoGators; #PushTheButton; #FinishTheMission
The top highlight of the day came from Claudia Francis, who, in just the second 400-meter hurdles race of her collegiate career, clocked an NCAA-leading time of 56.43 seconds to win an open race littered with professional runners. Francis' time also moved her up to No. 2 on the program's all-time top 10.
The other UF all-time top 10 mark came from redshirt freshman AJ McFarland in the hammer throw. After setting a new personal record with his second attempt, McFarland's final toss of the day measured 61.59 meters, moving him into the No. 4 spot in program history. Four of the DeLand, Fla. native's six throws were 60-plus meters.
Earlier in the day, freshman sprinter Michael Timpson Jr. logged a wind-aided 200 meters time of 20.97 seconds. His time is tied for 12th overall within the East Region.
SEC Network + will provide live streaming for the next two days competition, starting at 12 p.m. ET on Friday (April 1) and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday (April 2). Spectator information can be found in this release.
PEPSI FLORIDA RELAYS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern and subject to change)
- Day Two Live Streaming: Friday, April 1st, 12:00-4:30 p.m. (SEC Network +, via Watch ESPN)
- Day Three Live Streaming: Saturday, April 2nd, 2:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. (SEC Network +, via Watch ESPN)
- Live Results (Delta Timing)
- Friday Heat Sheets
- Saturday Heat Sheets
- Complete Meet Schedule
- Pepsi Florida Relays Central (for High School/College-Open PDF results)
- Nationally-Ranked Competing Teams: Alabama (No. 6 men; No. 23 women), Florida State (No. 14 women), Georgia (No. 11 men; No. 6 women), Kentucky (No. 9 women), Louisville (No. 24 men), Miami (Fla.) (No. 21 women), Michigan State (No. 20 women), Mississippi State (No. 11 women), Penn State (No. 19 men), South Carolina (No. 10 men), Virginia (No. 8 men), Virginia Tech (No. 14 men; No. 18 women)
| Day One – Thursday, March 31st | |
| Event | Place, Athlete – Time/Mark [Wind] | Notes |
| 200m (M) ^ | Michael Timpson Jr. – 20.97 [+2.1] | Tied No. 12 time in East Region; top NCAA finisher |
| Damien Daniels – 21.92 [+1.5] | |
| Shayne Rodney – 22.18 [+2.1] | |
| 400mH (W) ^ | Claudia Francis – 56.43 | NCAA-leading time; top overall finisher in race |
| Mikayla Barber – 1:00.49 | Personal record; third-place finisher among NCAA runners, 11th overall | |
| Gina Louis – 1:02.12 | Fourth-place finisher among NCAA runners, 14th overall; collegiate debut | |
| 400mH (M) ^ | TJ Holmes – 51.71 | Top collegian; third overall finisher |
| Gabriel Aird – 53.64 | Second-place finisher among collegians, 10th overall | |
| HT (M) | 6. AJ McFarland – 61.59 meters (202-1) | No. 4-ranked mark on UF's all-time top 10 |
| 21. Angel Parra – 53.85 meters (176-8) | Topped PR by 3.25 meters | |
| 5,000m (W) | Julie Wollrath – DNF |
| 5,000m (M) | 28. Mac Reynolds – 15:04.30 |
| 35. Elliot Clemente – 15:11.26 | |
| 51. Austin Decker – 16:14.72 | Collegiate debut | |
| Day Two – Friday, April 1st | |
| Time | Athlete -- Event |
| 12:00 p.m. | Jontavia Dykes – Women's Hammer Throw |
| Dykes – Women's Discus | |
| 12:15 p.m. | Tyjah Eady; Ryann McEnany; Skylar Ross-Ransom; Kimani Rushing – Women's 100-Meter Hurdles |
| Ryan Clark; Damien Daniels; Michael Timpson Jr. – Men's 100 Meters | |
| 12:35 p.m. | Marques Burgman; Caleb Chambliss – Men's 110-Meter Hurdles |
| Shayla Sanders – Women's 100 Meters | |
| 1:25 p.m. | Sharrika Barnett; Kyra Jefferson; Robin Reynolds; Taylor Sharpe – Women's 400 Meters |
| 1:55 p.m. | Kunle Fasasi; Nick Uruburu – Men's 400 Meters |
| 2:45 p.m. | Andres Arroyo – Men's 800 Meters |
| 3:00 p.m. | Jayla Bostic – Women's Hammer Throw (Invite) |
| Christopher Olson – Men's Discus Throw | |
| 3:05 p.m. | Mikayla Barber; Claudia Francis; Gina Louis – Women's 400-Meter Hurdles |
| 3:35 p.m. | Gabriel Aird; Maurice Dix; TJ Holmes – Men's 400-Meter Hurdles |
| 4:05 p.m. | Shayla Sanders – Women's 200 Meters (Invite) |
| 4:15 p.m. | Ryan Clark – Men's 200 Meters (Invite) |
| 5:00 p.m. | Rushing – Women's Long Jump |
| 5:30 p.m. | Anders Eriksson – Men's Hammer Throw (Invite) |
| 5:45 p.m. | Najee Glass-Hugh Graham Jr.-Nick Uruburu-Kunle Fasasi – Men's 4x400 Relay (Prelims) |
| 6:00 p.m. | Lloydricia Cameron – Women's Discus Throw (Invite) |
| 7:30 p.m. | Kike Oniwinde; Megan Reed; Marija Vucenovic – Women's Javelin Throw |
| 8:20 p.m. | Elisabeth Bergh; Becky Greene; Macy Huskey; Amber Johnson; Taylor Tubbs – Women's 1,500 Meters |
| 8:50 p.m. | Jack Beitter; Jimmy Clark; Eddie Garcia; Jack Guyton; Trey LaNasa; Carlos Miranda; Magnus Pettersen; Mac Reynolds; Jack Rogers – Men's 1,500 Meters |
| 9:20 p.m. | Devin McDermott – Women's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase |
| 9:55 p.m. | Mark Mutz; Bryce Statham – Men's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase |
| Day Three – Saturday, April 2nd | |
| Time | Athlete -- Event |
| 12:00 p.m. | Skylar Ross-Ransom-Kimani Rushing-Ryann McEnany-Tyjah Eady – Women's Shuttle Hurdle Relay |
| 1:00 p.m. | Jordan Mansour; Jared Watkins – Men's Pole Vault |
| Lloydricia Cameron – Women's Shot Put (Invite) | |
| 1:05 p.m. | Michael Timpson Jr.-Ryan Clark-Kunle Fasasi-Andres Arroyo – Men's Sprint Medley Relay |
| 1:30 p.m. | KeAndre Bates – Men's Triple Jump |
| 2:40 p.m. | Robin Reynolds-Shayla Sanders-Skylar Ross-Ransom-Kyra Jefferson – Women's 4x100 Relay |
| 4:00 p.m. | Yanis David; Darrielle McQueen – Women's Triple Jump |
| 4:05 p.m. | Taylor Tubbs-Becky Greene-Elisabeth Bergh-Macy Huskey (Amber Johnson) – Women's 4x800 Relay |
| 4:20 p.m. | Magnus Pettersen-Jack Beitter-Jack Guyton-Jack Rogers – Men's 4x800 Relay |
| 6:35 p.m. | Nick Uruburu-Clark-TJ Holmes-Fasasi – Men's 4x400 Relay (Final) |
| 7:05 p.m. | Reynolds-Jefferson-Sharrika Barnett-Claudia Francis (Taylor Sharpe) – Women's Tom Jones Invite 4x400 Relay |
| 7:15 p.m. | Hugh Graham Jr.-Arman Hall-Eric Futch-Najee Glass – Men's Jimmy Carnes Invite 4x400 Relay |
HEARING OUT (COACH) HOLLOWAY
On his overall thoughts of the first day…
"Other than the men's 400-meter hurdles, which I thought we would be better in, we had a great day. AJ (McFarland) with a PR, Michael Timpson Jr. with a PR in the 200 (meters), even Mikayla Barber and Gina Louis had PRs in the 400 hurdles. We had a solid day. Looking forward to bigger and better things as the weekend moves along."
On Claudia Francis' NCAA-leading time in the 400-meter hurdles…
"I was very pleased with that. We expected that. She had some bad hurdles last week, so we felt like if she was able to set up the first three hurdles better this week that she could run 56-low, and that's what she did. We're very pleased with that. I give a lot of credit to Claudia for her work ethic, and Coach (Adrain) Mann for the work he's done with her also."
On AJ McFarland's and Angel Parra's personal records in the hammer throw…
"Coach (Steve) Lemke has been very excited about their training. Really looking forward to see what Anders does tomorrow, but big PR for Angel and AJ had a good series, not just one throw. Very pleased with both of them."
On what he hopes to see from the Gators tomorrow…
"Just execution. We've been talking a lot about execution, focus, and a lot about pride. We need to understand this is a great meet with a lot of great competitors, and we've got to stick our nose in, and, for the most part, that's what people did today. That's why they ran well. We're going to demand they do that tomorrow and Saturday as well."
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #FLRelays16; #GoGators; #PushTheButton; #FinishTheMission
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