T&F To Open Outdoor Season In Sunshine State
Thursday, March 20, 2008 | Track and Field
Just a week after posting a pair of top-10 showings at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the University of Florida track & field team will get its 2008 outdoor campaign underway this weekend when a contingent of nearly 40 Gators makes the trip to Tallahassee for the Snowbird Invitational.
Headlining the UF crew will be All-Americans Shawneise Williams (Archer, Fla.) and Beau Burroughs (Tampa, Fla.), each of whom earned their first All-America accolades in the weight throw and shot put, respectively, at last weekend's NCAA meet. Junior Adam Montague (Townsville, Australia) – the nation's top returning javelin thrower – will also be making his Florida debut at the Snowbird, having transferred from North Carolina prior to the 2007-08 school year, while women's distance runners Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) and Rebecca Lowe (Vancluse, Australia), who combined to score nine points for the Orange and Blue in the 5,000m at the SEC Championships, will also be lifting the lid on the outdoor season this weekend.
At last week's NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, the UF men finished eighth and the Gator women tied for the same position, both with 19 points, to record the program's first top-10 showings on either side since 2005. Florida athletes combined to earn 15 All-America honors, as 10 men collected 11 accolades and a quarter of women garnered one each. The combined total and both individual totals were also the team's most since the 2005 edition of the meet. Sophomore Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) made UF history with the Gators' first NCAA shot put title on either side, while classmate Mike Morrison (Chesapeake, Va.) took third in the heptathlon to pick up Florida's first multi-event All-America honor on either side.
The action will commence at 10 a.m. ET on Friday with a selection of running and field events, and will pick back up at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday morning. Results from the Mike Long Track & Field Complex will be available via www.GatorZone.com.
Snowbird Invitational Schedule of Events
Friday, March 21:
10 a.m. Weight Throw (W @ Alumni Village)
1 p.m. Javelin (W)
3 p.m. Long Jump (W)
Long Jump (M)
4 p.m. Discus (W)
Discus (M - following women)
5 p.m. 400m Hurdles (W)
400m Hurdles (M)
5:40 p.m. DMR (W)
DMR (M)
6:10 p.m. SMR (W)
SMR (M)
6:40 p.m. 3,000m (W)
7 p.m. 5,000m (W)
7:30 p.m. 5,000m (M)
Saturday, March 22:
10:30 a.m. Weight Throw (M @ Alumni Village)
11 a.m. Pole Vault (W)
Pole Vault (M - following women)
High Jump (W)
High Jump (M - following women)
4x100m Relay (W)
4x100m Relay (M)
11:30 a.m. 1,500m (W)
1,500m (M)
12:20 p.m. 100m Hurdles (W)
110m Hurdles (M)
12:30 p.m. Triple Jump (W)
Triple Jump (M)
1 p.m. Shot Put (W)
Shot Put (M - following women)
100m (W)
100m (M)
1:40 p.m. 400m (W)
400m (M)
2:20 p.m. 800m (W)
800m (M)
2:30 p.m. Javelin (M)
3:10 p.m. 200m (W)
200m (M)
3:50 p.m. 3,000m Steeplechase (W)
3,000m Steeplechase (M)
4:20 p.m. 4x400m Relay (W)
4x400m Relay (M)
- UF -
