Florida Gators
Florida State Relays
McKenzie, Utecht Wrap Up Competition For WT&F At Florida State Relays
Saturday, March 31, 2007 | Women's Track and Field
Junior Lorain McKenzie (Clarendon, Jamaica) won the 800m and collected an NCAA regional qualifying mark, while sophomore Jenna Utecht (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) earned a victory in the high jump to wrap up competition for the University of Florida women's track and field team at the Florida State Relays on Saturday at the Mike Long Track Complex.
McKenzie and Utecht's efforts capped an impressive showing for the women's squad as the Gators finished the meet having posted six regional qualifying marks and recorded eight victories. Florida sent 18 athletes to Tallahassee and came away with 15 top-three finishes.
“Lorain led the 800m from the beginning to win the race and regionally qualify,” Florida women's interim head coach Steve Lemke said. “Jenna won the high jump, but she's a little disappointed with the height. We'll get some approach adjustments made and she'll be fine. Both Lorain and Jenna got off to a good start in the outdoor season.
“All of our women competed really well this weekend,” Lemke said. “Each one of them was competing in their first outdoor meet of the season, so they've had some time between the indoor season and this weekend to prepare. It shows they worked really hard over that time. Even though the weekend went well, there is still a lot of improving to do but this is a great starting point. We're looking forward to the rest of the outdoor season and are very excited to host the Pepsi Florida Relays next weekend. That will be the first time in the outdoor season we will have our whole team competing at one time, and we are looking forward to that.”
McKenzie clocked a time of 2:08.47 to win the 800m by more than a second and record the NCAA regional qualifying mark. Competing in her first outdoor meet and for the first time in over a month, McKenzie showed no signs of letting up from a good indoor season in which she improved meet-by-meet in the 800m building up to running a personal-best 2:07.39 at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Utecht won the high jump with a leap of 1.70m/5-7 – just one inch shy of her career best clearance. It marked Utecht's first career outdoor victory and third win this year following a pair of indoor high jump wins.
Also of note, a scoring correction was made in regards to Star Sansone's (Boca Raton, Fla.) javelin throw from Friday evening. She actually threw the javelin a mark of 43.69m/143-4, the sixth-best toss in school history and a regional qualifying mark. Sansone finished in second place.
The women's track and field squad returns home April 6-7 as UF hosts the 63rd annual Pepsi Florida Relays.
