Florida Gators
NCAA Championships
UF Women's Track & Field Sixth; Men Ninth Heading Into Final Day At NCAA Outdoor Championships
Saturday, June 14, 2008 | Track and Field
The University of Florida men's and women's track and field teams turned it up a notch on day three of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, combining to score in six events, earning 12 All-America honors in the process before a crowd of 11,228 at Drake Stadium.
The women's team is in sixth place with through 11 events with 16 points, while the men sit in ninth place through 13 events with 15 points.
The NCAA Outdoor Championships conclude on Saturday with Florida holding six scoring opportunities – three on each side. CBS will broadcast final day action live from 4-6 p.m. ET.
“Just another phenomenal day for both teams,” said University of Florida head coach Mike Holloway. “We talked as a team about putting our best foot forward and competing and we did that. My hat's off to our athletes, coaches and trainers.”
As action got underway on the track, the women's 4x100-meter relay came up with its best finish since 2002, placing fourth with a season-best time of 43.61 seconds. Texas A&M shattered its own stadium record in edging LSU, while the Florida quartet of Abigail David, Lakecia Ealey, Dominique McLeggan and Natalie Knight were edged by Baylor for third.
Baylor and UF posted identical times of 43.61, but Baylor was awarded third place when broken down to the thousandth of a second.
Ealey returned to the track 90 minutes later and finished third in the 100-meter dash final, matching the best finish ever by a UF women's athlete in the event. Ealey crossed the line in 11.35, matching Kisha Jett (1996) and Michelle Freeman (1992) who both finished third in the 100 final. Ealey also became the first Florida woman to earn All-America honors in the event since Jett in 1998.
“It's a fitting way for Lakecia to end her career,” added Holloway. “She's been such a hard-worker, has been a great leader and this is the crown jewel of her career, she should be really proud.”
The men's 4x100-meter relay finished third and ran the fourth fastest time in school history, as the foursome of Chris Rainey, Terrell Wilks, Jeremy Hall and Calvin Smith clocked a blazing time of 38.84. The time was the fastest by a UF short relay since 2005 and was just the fifth sub-39-second time in school history.
With winner LSU and runner-up Texas A&M in control of the race, Smith grabbed the stick in a crowded pack in the race for third and exploded down the straightaway, holding off Florida State and Tennessee to solidify UF's best finish since 2005.
Hall came back to the track and finished sixth in the 100-meter final in a time of 10.36. Hall became the Gators' first All-American in the event since 2005 and his finish was the highest by a Gator since Bernard Williams won the event in 2000.
Smith returned to the track and advanced to Saturday's 400-meter dash final, finishing third in his heat in a time of 45.64 and grabbing the third and final automatic qualifying position from his section. Similar to his anchor leg in the short relay, Smith was in a crowded pack for third with 100 meters to go and separated himself from the pack to secure a spot in the final.
Rebecca Lowe closed out Florida's night on the track by becoming its first All-American in the 5,000-meter run since 1990, finishing fifth, lowering her personal best time by nearly 24 seconds. Lowe posted the second-fastest time in school history, running a time of 15:50.73.
“Rebecca had an phenomenal effort,” said Holloway. “To come in and compete at that level as a freshman is remarkable. My hat is off to her and to Coach (Jeff) Pigg for a fantastic job preparing her.”
Adam Montague became UF's first All-American in the javelin since Derek Trafas in 1995, coming up with a throw of 244 feet 10 inches on his fourth attempt, nearly 10 feet further than his NCAA runner-up throw a year ago while a sophomore competing for the University of North Carolina.
Returning to the site where he set his personal record in the event in April, Montague's throw on Friday was the third best of his career.
Wes Stockbarger finished 12th in the discus, posting a throw of 174-11 on his first attempt, but fouling on his next two efforts, failing to advance to the final round. The senior finished third in the event a year ago, but still has the shot put final on Saturday.
Shara Proctor just missed advancing to the final of the women's triple jump, finishing 13th, missing the finals by one position. Proctor came up with a jump of 42-9 ?, just an inch and a half short of advancing to the final.
In other action on the track, Kallinka Pitt finished eighth in his heat of the 110-meter hurdles semifinals and did not advance to Saturday's final, running a time of 14.04.
Florida will have a combined six opportunities to add to its point total on Saturday's final day of action. Stockbarger and NCAA Indoor champion Mariam Kevkhisvili will be in action in the men's and women's shot put, while Evelien Dekkers will compete in the javelin. On the track Natalie Knight competes in the women's 200-meter final, Smith in the men's 400-meter final and the men's 4x400-meter relay.
NCAA Outdoor Championship Day Three Highlights
UF All-Americans (12)
Lakecia Ealey, 100m – 3rd
Jeremy Hall, 100m – 6th
Rebecca Lowe, 5,000m – 5th
4x100m relay (w), David, Ealey, McLeggan, Knight – 4th
4x100m relay (m), Rainey, Wilks, Hall, Smith – 3rd
Adam Montague, javelin – 3rd
UF Qualifiers (1)
Calvin Smith, 400m
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