Florida Gators
Penn Relays
Quartet Of Hurdlers Propel Florida To Success On Second Day Of Penn Relays
Saturday, April 26, 2008 | Track and Field
Highlighted by a victory in the men's shuttle hurdle relay Championship of America, the No. 4 (men)/7 (women) University of Florida track & field team turned in another successful day at the Penn Relays, adding three more NCAA regional-qualifying marks to its stockpile.
“We came out and had another solid day of racing today,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “We have a lot of first-timers at the Penn Relays, and the carnival atmosphere can be distracting, but we handled ourselves well and got the job done.”
Junior Dennis Martin (Anderson, S.C.), junior Kallinka Pitt (Largo, Fla.), senior Joe Taylor (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and freshman Jarius Cooper (Palm Coast, Fla.) cruised to a late-afternoon victory in the men's shuttle hurdle relay Championship of America, winning the event by nearly a full second with a time of 56.24. The win was the second for the Gators in as many days, as senior Lindsay Sundell (Ft. Salonga, N.Y.) crossed the line first in the women's steeplechase on Thursday night.
The quartet of sophomore Jeremy Hall (Jacksonville, Fla.), freshman Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.), junior Willie Perry (Lenoir, N.C.) and sophomore Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.) opened the day by running the sixth-fastest time in heats of the men's 4x100m, posting a 39.94 to qualify for Saturday's final. The mark was below the NCAA regional-qualifying standard, but was nearly three tenths of a second shy of the time of 39.66 that the lineup posted at the Pepsi Florida Relays, which currently ranks eighth in the nation.
Hall, Wilks and Perry later teamed up with senior anchor Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville, Fla.) to qualify second for Saturday's 4x200m final with a time of 1:22.80, winning their heat by nearly four seconds. The performance moved the unit into eighth on the all-time UF chart.
Shortly after helping the shuttle hurdle relay team to victory, Martin and Pitt returned to the track, where the former won his heat of the 110m hurdles with a career-best and NCAA regional-qualifying time of 13.95, despite a -0.4 headwind. His mark was good for the fifth-fastest in heats of the event, and was just four one-hundredths of a second away from landing him on Florida's all-time top 10 chart. Pitt qualified one spot behind his classmate after clocking in at 14.03, finishing third in the quick second heat. Both will look to improve on their marks in tomorrow's final, scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
“Dennis did a great job of leading off the shuttle hurdle relay and then coming back after a short rest to run a great race in the 110m hurdles,” Holloway said. “We're both excited right now because some of the great things we've been seeing in practice translated to the meet today, but we also both know that he can go faster.”
The UF men wrapped up the day with a flair in the 4x400m relay, as the foursome of Middleton, Smith, freshman LaMarr Davis (Knightdale, N.C.) and senior Eric Alberter (Belleville, Ill.) ran the fifth-fastest time in the NCAA this season, stopping watches at a season-best 3:04.95, to qualify for Saturday's final in the second position. Running in the second position, Smith posted a blazing split of 45.4, while Alberter brought the anchor leg home with a split of 46.0.
“We think this 4x400m unit is our best right now, and this is the first time they've gotten to run together this year,” Holloway said. “Even though this was just the preliminary round, they came out and competed hard in a tight race. I'm happy with the way things turned out for them today, and they're set on continuing to improve.”
Florida's women kicked off the day early in the afternoon with the running of the 4x1,500m relay, which saw freshman Rebecca Lowe (Vancluse, Australia), Sundell, senior Lorain McKenzie (Clarendon, Jamaica) and freshman Kaitlin Shiver (Satellite Beach, Fla.) take sixth in a time of 18:23.90. Senior Lakecia Ealey (Albany, Ga.) was the only UF woman to compete in an individual event on Friday, placing 12th in the 100m with a time of 11.79.
The senior quartet of Abigail David (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), Ealey, Dominique McLeggan (Weston, Fla.) and McKenzie put the finishing touches on the day with a fourth-place finish in the sprint medley relay Championship of America, turning in a time of 3:54.94.
Montague Makes Move Up UF Javelin Charts As Gators Open Up Drake Relays
DES MOINES, Iowa – Snow flurries and wind chills in the low 30s didn't stop University of Florida junior Adam Montague (Townsville, Australia) from finishing second and making a dent on the school record books in the men's javelin on Friday, as the Gators kicked off action at the Drake Relays with competitors in a trio of events.
“It was nasty out there today, but we competed hard and did our best to battle through it,” Florida throws coach Steve Lemke said. “Everyone at the meet has to face the same conditions, so the best thing to do is stay organized and focused on what you have to do. Our athletes certainly did a good job of that today.”
Montague ripped off the second-best javelin toss in school history to open the morning, finishing second with a career-best mark of 80.20m/263-1. The effort currently ranks third in the nation and ninth in the world this season, and moves Montague in second place on UF's all-time chart, ahead of 2000 Olympian Derek Trafas and behind only two-time Olympic Games participant Tom Pukstys, who also holds the American collegiate record (83.30m/273-3). Freshman Doug Nelson (Tampa, Fla.) finished 14th with a toss of 59.47m/195-1.
“Adam had been really consistent in each of his previous meets, but we both knew there was something better waiting under the surface,” Lemke said. “It was great to see it come out today, and the fact that he did it in such adverse weather conditions make it even more impressive. He was someone that I really wanted to see have a good weekend, and her definitely answered that call.”
The UF women were up next on the javelin runway, and a pair of Gator sophomores posted top-10 finishes in the event on Friday. Evelien Dekkers (Etten-Leur, The Netherlands) led the way with an eighth-place toss of 47.40m/155-6, while Star Sansone (Boca Raton, Fla.) checked in at 45.24m/148-5 to place 10th.
Junior Beau Burroughs (Tampa, Fla.) was Florida's final competitor on the afternoon, finishing ninth in the men's shot put with a heave of 16.62m/54-6.50.
The Gators will wrap up competition at both the Penn and Drake Relays on Saturday. Live results for both events will be available via www.GatorZone.com.
- UF -
