Florida Gators
NCAA Outdoor Championships
T & F Athletes Advance On First Day Of NCAA Championships
Thursday, June 9, 2005 | Men's Track and Field
The No. 3 University of Florida men's 4x100m relay clocked the sixth-best time in the nation in advancing to finals on the first day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday before a crowd of 4,017 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.
With periodic rains falling throughout the early evening, senior Kyle Farmer (Columbia, Md.) advanced in the 100m, senior Josh Walker (Stone Mountain, Ga.) moved on in the 110m hurdles, sophomore Mike Morrison (Willingboro, N.J.) moved on in the long jump and the 4x100m relay of freshman Richard Adu-Bobie (Orleans, Canada), Morrison, Farmer and sophomore Kerron Clement (La Porte, Texas) advanced to finals for the men.
In addition, junior Sekou Clarke (Kingston, Jamaica) and sophomore Reggie Witherspoon (Marietta, Ga.) advanced to the 400m semis. Florida advanced three athletes and one relay to finals and two athletes to semifinals after the first day.
“I'm extremely pleased with our performance across the board today,” men's coach Mike Holloway said. “All we talked about was qualifying for the next round and we did that. We created a lot of momentum going into tomorrow and the rest of the meet and it's up to us to keep it going.”
The Gator 4x100m relay posted the best time of the day by more than a tenth of a second and the sixth-best mark in the nation this season in winning their heat in a season-best time of 38.91. The mark was the third-fastest in school history and automatically advanced the Gators to Friday's final at 6:30 p.m. where they will look to defend their NCAA title from 2004.
Walker clocked the second-best time in the semifinals to move on to Friday's 7:55 p.m. final in the 110m hurdles as he will look to defend his 2004 NCAA title after winning his semifinal in 13.66. He won his heat and posted the third-best time in the prelims with a mark of 13.75.
“Josh Walker is Josh Walker and he did exactly what he needed to do to make the final - which is always what we get from Josh,” Holloway said.
Farmer clocked 10.44 in the semifinals of the 100m to advance to Friday's final at 8:20 p.m. His time tied for the fifth best in the semis after he ran 10.30 in the prelims in winning the first heat and recording the best time in the opening round.
“I was really proud of Kyle Farmer today for making the finals in his senior year in an event that isn't his specialty,” Holloway said.
Morrison will compete in the finals of the long jump on Thursday at 7 p.m. after posting the top mark in his flight and the second-best mark of the day with a leap of 7.68m/25-2.50 on his first attempt. He finished sixth in the event at the 2004 meet.
Witherspoon won his heat of the 400m in 46.35 with the eighth-best time of the day to advance to Friday's semifinal at 7:35 p.m. Clarke was fifth in his heat with a time of 46.54 to also moved on to the semis with the 16th and final spot.
Senior Dwight Ruff (Sicklerville, N.J.) ran the 10th-fastest time in school history in the 110m hurdles in the prelims after crossing the line third in his heat in 13.93. He then finished 13th in the event after running 14.03 in the semifinals and did not advance.
Junior Alex Harris (Tampa, Fla.) competed in the long jump and finished 24th with a leap of 7.11m/23-4.00 on his second attempt, while freshman Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville, Fla.) was 22nd in the 400m with a time of 47.16 and senior Steve Zieminski (Sarasota, Fla.) was 23rd in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 8:54.71.
“The guys that didn't advance to finals - Alex, Bernard, Steve and Dwight - they all competed extremely hard and that's a good sign for us going into the final three days,” Holloway said.
The NCAA Outdoor Championships continue through Saturday. Live results can be found at www.ncaasports.com.
Advancing to Finals
100m - Kyle Farmer
110m hurdles - Josh Walker
Long jump - Mike Morrison
4x100m relay - Richard Adu-Bobie, Mike Morrison, Kyle Farmer, Kerron Clement
Advancing to Semifinals
400m - Sekou Clarke, Reggie Witherspoon
