Florida Gators
Rod McCravy Memorial
Ealey Breaks School 60m Record As T&F Wins Seven Events At McCravy Memorial
Sunday, February 3, 2008 | Track and Field
Sweeps of both the 60m and 200m and a broken school record highlighted a seven-win afternoon for the No. 11/11 University of Florida track & field team on the final day of the Rod McCravy Memorial.
Aside from winning both the 60m and 200m on the men's and women's sides, the Gators captured victories in the men's 400m and shot put and the women's 800m.
“This was a great all-around effort by our team,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “We picked up some momentum with the field events last night, and kept on going today. Some people view us as a sprints program, but we're a track & field program. We got great efforts from our distance runners and field athletes today, as well as our sprinters.”
Sophomore Jeremy Hall (Jacksonville, Fla.) got the ball rolling for the Gators in the men's 60m, stepping to the line first and turning in an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 6.66 to take the win by .03 seconds. Hall's mark of 6.66, which left him three one-hundredths of a second shy of an automatic trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships, equaled the second-best of his career.
Senior Lakecia Ealey (Albany, Ga.) entered the blocks minutes later and proceeded to produce some fireworks of her own. When the watches stopped on the women's 60m, Ealey stood as the winner with a UF-record time of 7.27, which fell .01 short of an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark. The effort broke Niki Benjamin's seven-year old school record of 7.30, and eclipsed the McCravy Memorial of 7.33 that Tennessee's Cleo Tyson set a year ago.
Ealey's time also ranked as the third-best in the NCAA and matches the 13th-best time in the world to this point in the year.
“I'm extremely proud of Lakecia Ealey,” Holloway said. “Breaking a school record at the University of Florida is something that isn't easy to do. It's been one of her goals to break the school record in the 60m this season, and it was great to see her realize that today.”
The first half of the Gators' 200m sweep came courtesy of senior Natalie Knight (Snellville, Ga.), who posted an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 23.73 to take the win. Junior Willie Perry (Lenoir, N.C.) sealed the deal with a winning time of 21.15 in the men's 200m, securing his first NCAA provisional mark of the season. Knight, whose time ranked seventh in the NCAA, and Perry, who took control of third place on the NCAA men's descending order list, were the only two runners to post NCAA qualifying marks in the 200m.
The men's 400m saw junior R.J. Anderson (Big Pine Key, Fla.) pick up the first win over his Florida career, stopping the watches at an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 46.87. The performance ranked as the third-fastest in the NCAA. Sophomore Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.) also posted an NCAA provisional standard in the event with a time of 47.20 that earned him a fifth-place showing.
Junior Beau Burroughs (Tampa, Fla.) didn't wait long to make his mark on the men's shot put competition, registering a career-best toss of 18.35m/60-2.50 on his first attempt en route to a first-place finish among collegians. The heave, which moved him into sole possession of sixth place on Florida's all-time indoor list, ranked as the sixth-best in the NCAA this year. The victory was also Burroughs' third win in as many outings this season.
Senior Lorain McKenzie (Clarendon, Jamaica) also captured a win on Saturday, finishing as the top collegian in the women's 800m with a career-best 2:06.89. The time, which was an NCAA provisional mark, moved her into eighth on the school's all-time indoor chart and represented the nation's second-best time this season.
The women's high jump came down to a jump off between Florida junior Jenna Utecht (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Kristina Bolterstein of Miami (Ohio), who finished the competition tied at the top of the standings with a mark of 1.73m/5-8. Utecht was denied her first win of the season, but her runner-up finish stood as a season-best placing.
Senior Lindsay Sundell (Ft. Salonga, N.Y.) also turned in a second-place showing for the Florida women on Saturday, earning runner-up honors in the 3,000m with a mark of 9:37.93. The Gator men put up a strong showing in the 3,000 as well, with senior Steven Hassen (Ocala, Fla.) and indoor junior Enoch Nadler (Keystone Heights, Fla.) finishing second and third, respectively with times of 8:15.51 and 8:19.45.
Sophomore Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) registered the Gators' first NCAA provisional mark of the day, placing third overall and second among collegians in the women's shot put with a mark of 16.72m/54-10.25. Freshman Keely Medeiros (Blumenau-SC, Brazil) also hit a provisional qualifying mark in the event with a toss of 15.21m/49-11 that was good for sixth place.
The UF men got a third-place finish in the long jump from sophomore Wondy Pierre-Louis (Naples, Fla.) with a mark of 7.28m/23-10.75, while junior Kallinka Pitt (Largo, Fla.) added a fourth-place finish in the men's 60m hurdles, clocking in at 8.01 in his first outing of the season. Senior Jose Garcia (Miami, Fla.) finished fifth in the mile with a career-best time of 4:09.20.
The UF men's 4x400m relay of Anderson, freshman LaMarr Davis (Knightdale, N.C.), senior Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Smith put up an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 3:08.22 en route to a third-place finish. The Gators' time was under the previous meet record of 3:08.99.
Sophomore Steffan Hommel (Albershausen, Germany) added an NCAA provisional mark of his own from the United Heritage Invitational in Boise, Idaho, finishing third in the heptathlon with a total of 5,532. The mark was not only an NCAA provisional standard, but also moved Hommel into second on the all-time UF heptathlon list. Senior Kurt Lee (Spring Hill, Fla.) placed 10th in the event with a score of 4,938.
The Gators will take a weekend off before heading to Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa State Classic from Feb. 15-16.
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