Florida Gators
NCAA East Regional
UF Men's Track In Second, Women In Third After Day One Of NCAA East Regional
Saturday, May 31, 2008 | Track and Field
The University of Florida track and field teams opened the NCAA East Regional in fine form, posting four runner-up finishes, while advancing well on the track at Mike Long Track and Field Complex in Tallahassee.
The men's team enters the second day of competition in second place with 16 points, while the women's team is in third with 22 points. Georgia leads the men's competition with 18 points, while Penn State and Virginia Tech share the lead after a day in the women's competition with 28 points each.
“We had a pretty solid day overall,” said University of Florida head coach Mike Holloway. “Four second-place finishes is a really strong showing. We advanced pretty much everyone we thought we would for tomorrow. Overall, we did a good job of qualifying people for nationals (the NCAA Outdoor Championships, June 11-14).”
Senior Wes Stockbarger got the Gators on the board with a runner-up finish in the men's shot put. Stockbarger posted the top through of the preliminary rounds, coming up with a throw of 61 feet 3 ? inches on his third attempt, a mark that stood as the leader until Justin Clickett of Virginia Tech uncorked a throw of 62-0 ? on his fifth attempt.
Junior Adam Montague gave the Gator throwers another runner-up finish, placing second in the javelin with a throw of 226-5, achieved on his opening and only throw.
Sophomore Evelien Dekkers came up with a second place finish in the women's javelin, coming up with a throw of 168-1 on her final attempt to move up from third to second.
SEC Freshman of the Year Rebecca Lowe capped the evening for the women with a runner-up finish in the 5,000-meter run, sticking with the lead pack from the gun to the finish. Lowe finished just off her personal record with a time of 16 minutes 14.47 seconds.
The women's squad also got points in the field on day one from Daisy Glasser in the pole vault and Shara Proctor in the long jump. Glasser finished sixth with a personal record mark of 12-11 3/4 – tied for fifth best in school history, while Proctor came up with a jump of 19-10 ? to finish sixth as well. Proctor had the second best jump among seeded athletes in the East Region, and should still qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Once the events moved to the track, Florida athletes were in top form, advancing well in nearly all critical events.
The women's 4x100-meter relay quartet of Abigail David, Lakecia Ealey, Dominique McLeggan and Natalie Knight coasted to an easy win in their heat, posting a time of 44.12, just .01 off of the top time of the day, a 44.11 recorded by South Carolina.
The men's short relay finished second in its section and grabbed the eighth and final qualifying spot in Saturday's final, as the squad of Jeremy Hall, Terrell Wilks, Calvin Smith and Bernard Middleton clocked a time of 40.39.
Junior Kallinka Pitt blazed to a personal-record time of 13.66 in the 110-meter hurdles to win his preliminary heat. The time was the third fastest of the day, and was the fifth-fastest time in Florida history. Jarius Cooper finished third in the same heat with a time of 14.06, but did not advance to the finals.
A little under two after competing in the short relay, Ealey and Knight returned to the track, each winning their respective heats of the 100-meter dash prelims. Ealey clocked the top overall time with a blazing 11.28, a new personal record and the fourth-fastest time in school history. Knight won her heat in a time of 11.49.
Knight later capped a busy, but productive day by racing to a time of 23.29 in the 200-meter prelims, winning her heat and posting the top time overall.
Both men in the 100-meter field advanced to Saturday's final with the fifth and seventh fastest times of the day. The first half of UF's short relay returned to the track with Hall running a time of 10.23, winning his heat, while Wilks finished fourth in his heat, but ran a time of 10.36 to advance.
Dominique McLeggan grabbed the final qualifying spot in the final of the women's 400-meter dash, finishing second in her heat with a time of 53.83.
Sophomore Carlos Phillips continued to lower his personal best in the 800-meter winning his section of the half-mile in a time of 1:48.23, the second-fastest qualifying time of the day. Phillips ran just his sub-1:49.00 time of his career, besting his top time by .17, run in the SEC 800-meter final two weekends ago.
Florida Qualifiers – Day One
Men
100m – Jeremy Hall, Terrell Wilks
800m – Carlos Phillips
110h – Kallinka Pitt
4x100m – Jeremy Hall, Terrell Wilks, Calvin Smith, Bernard Middleton
Women
100m - Lekecia Ealey, Natalie Knight
200m – Natalie Knight
400m- Dominique McLeggan
4x100m - Abigail David, Lakecia Ealey, Dominique McLeggan, Natalie Knight
Day One Scoring
Men (Top 10)
1, Georgia, 18; 2, Florida, 16; 3, Villanova 15; 4, Norfolk State, 12; 5, Florida State, 11; Georgia Tech, 11; North Carolina State, 11; 8, Virginia Tech, 10; Princeton 10; 10, LaSalle, 8.
Women (Top 10)
1, Penn State, 28; Virginia Tech, 28; 3, Florida 22; 4, Jacksonville, 18; 5, Cornell, 12; 6, South Florida, 11; 7, Virginia, 10; 8, North Carolina, 8; 9, Buffalo-SUNY, 6.5; 10, Providence, 6; Villanova 6.
