Florida Gators
Drake Relays
Stockbarger Posts PR To Win Discus On Final Day of Drake Relays
Saturday, April 29, 2006 | Men's Track and Field
Sophomore Wes Stockbarger (Port Charlotte, Fla.) notched the eighth-best throw in school history in the discus to lead the No. 9 University of Florida men's track and field team at the Drake Relays.
Stockbarger won the discus with a career best and NCAA regional qualifying throw, while senior All-American Daniel Parker (Orlando, Fla.) also reached the NCAA regional standard in the steeplechase as did UF's 4x400m relay.
“I thought we competed pretty well today,” men's coach Mike Holloway said. “But, overall, we've still got a lot of things to work on before the SEC Championships. We're just not where I think we should be, but we've got two weeks to try and get there.”
Stockbarger claimed the sixth win of his career and his fourth during the outdoor season by posting the eighth-best mark in school history in the discus (56.63m/185-9). He won the event by more than two feet in also notching the second-best throw in the SEC this season and the fifth-best in the NCAA East Region.
The 4x400m relay of sophomore All-American Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville, Fla.), senior All-American Sekou Clarke (Kingston, Jamaica), freshman All-American Willie Perry (Lenoir, N.C.) and freshman All-American Chris Gilchrist (Broken Arrow, Okla.) took second in 3:08.22 – UF's second-fastest time of the year in the event and an improvement of nearly three seconds over the foursome's time from Friday's prelim.
Parker clocked his fastest time of the season in taking fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase. Parker shaved nine hundredths of a second off his previous best in 2006 to cross the finish line in 9:06.08 – the seventh-fastest time in the SEC.
Both teams will take next weekend off before returning to competition for the SEC Outdoor Championships May 11-14 in Fayetteville, Ark.
