Live Blog: Tom Jones Memorial Invitational
Saturday, January 24, 2009 | Track and Field
10:54 a.m. - Welcome to the live blog for the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational. Throughout the day, GatorZone.com will keep you updated with all of the latest news, results and commentary regarding the Gators' progress in the event.
10:56 a.m. - We're about ready to get the event underway with the men's and women's weight throws, which begin at 11 a.m. Even though this is an indoor meet, the weight throw events will take place outdoors at James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track. The men's weight throw commences first, followed by the women's event. The Gators don't have any competitors in the men's weight throw, but freshman Fidela James will be competing in the women's portion of the event.
11:11 a.m. - James joined the Gators from Wolfson High School in Jacksonville, Fla. She is originally from Addos Ababa, Ethiopia. She was a three-time state champion at the school, winning titles in both the shot put (twice) and discus. James is an interesting story, having gone through the Second Sudanese Civil War as a young child. Jeff Elliott of the Florida Times Union did a great piece a few years back on James' experience. Click here to read the story.
11:17 a.m. - The Tom Jones Memorial Invitational is named in honor of former longtime Florida head women's track and field coach Tom Jones who passed away after a courageous battle with cancer in March of 2007. Jones oversaw the Florida women's program for nearly half of its existence, serving as head coach for 15 of the program's 35 seasons. Hired prior to the 1992 cross country campaign, Jones guided 71 athletes to 245 All-America honors on the track, while his teams posted a combined 15 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Under Jones, UF turned in its highest NCAA finishes of second in 2003, 2004 and 2005, all at the indoor championships.
11:19 a.m. - Here's what some of the participating coaches in today's meet have to say about Tom Jones.
11:22 a.m. - If you're in the area, stop by the Stephen C. O'Connell Center and check out the meet today. Admission is free and open to the public and the first 1,000 fans will receive 2009 Gator Track and Field posters. Fans also can register to win prizes throughout the meet.
11:25 a.m. - A reminder that live results (as events conclude) of this meet will be available online thanks to Scott Peters and Half-Mile Timing. Click here to access live results.
11:32 a.m. - Some information on the venue. The $14 million Stephen C. O'Connell Center has been the indoor home of the Gators since it first opened in December of 1980. The O'Connell Center track was resurfaced in the summer of 2002, making the track even faster. The 200-meter flat polyurethane facility, best known for its wide, sweeping turns, is ideal for top performances in teh 200 through 500 meters. In fact, the facility was the home of the 1987 200 and 400-meter trials, which determined the U.S. team for the IAAF World Indoor Championships. The O'Connell Center also has played host to seven Southeastern Conference Championships (1989, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2006). In addition, the SEC Indoor Championships are set to return to the O'Dome in February 2010.
11:34 a.m. - Last year was a good year for Florida at the first-ever Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, as the Gators combined to win 11 events and post 10 NCAA provisional-qualifying marks. Six of the wins and five of the NCAA provisional marks came via the No. 13 Gator women, while the fourth-ranked UF men turned in five wins and five NCAA provisional-qualifying marks.
11:41 a.m. - Six events are scheduled to all start at 12 p.m. in the O'Connell Center - the men's and women's sides of the long jump, pole vault and high jump all have 12 p.m. starts. The men begin each event followed by the women.
11:44 a.m. - The Gators will try to earn more NCAA automatic and provisional NCAA qualifying marks at this weekend's meet. So far, junior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili has recorded an automatic-qualifying mark in the women's shot put, while Dennis Martin (60 hurdles), Keely Medieros (shot put), Kemal Mesic (shot put) , Calvin Smith (400m), Christian Taylor (long jump), William Wynne (60 hurdles) and the men's 4x400m relay have all provisionally qualified.
11:51 a.m. - Competitors in the men's pole vault are warming up for the 12 p.m. start of the event. Florida's Eric Foran and Justin Semeyn are scheduled to participate in that event.
11:54 a.m. - Other Gators slated to commence competition at Noon are Gray Horn in the long jump and Eugene Martin in the high jump.
11:57 a.m. - Martin was the SEC Indoor Champion in the high jump a year ago, capturing the event with a leap of 7-0.50/2.15m at the meet contested in Fayetteville, Ark. Horn joins the Gators from Wapakoneta, Ohio, where he has captured a total of 11 medals at USATF Junior Olympic meets. He finished first in the pentathlon at the 2008 Nike Indoor Nationals after finishing second the year before.
12:31 p.m. - The men's weight throw has now concluded over at Percy Beard Track, but there were no Gators competing in the event. Fidela James is now beginning her competition in the women's portion of the event.
12:36 p.m. - Action around the track is really starting to heat up as athletes are beginning to warm up for the running events that are slated to begin at 1 p.m. today.
1:18 p.m. - David Oliver just won his heat in the prelims of the 55-meter hurdles, competing unattached. Oliver was the 2008 US Indoor Champion in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in a time of 7.47, and is currently ranked fourth in the world.
1:29 p.m. - Dennis Martin, Kallinka Pitt and William Wynne have eached advanced to the finals of the men's 55-meter hurdles, which are scheduled to begin at 2:40 p.m.
1:31 p.m. - In case you were wondering, the teams participating in this weekend's meet include: Auburn, Bethune Cookman, Florida A&M, Florida State, Jacksonville (women only), Miami, South Carolina and UCF (women only).
2:04 p.m. - The timing company is having technical issues getting live statistics and results on the Web. We'll do our best to update you here on the progress of the Gators throughout the day.
2:07 p.m. - The men's mile is currently going on down below our position. The Gators are running Sean Blaney, Jeremy Criscione, Anthony Morales and Justin Taylor. Criscione is coming off an outstanding cross country campaign, which saw him finish 20th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the highest finish by a Gator since Dan Middleman was 13th nationally in 1990. He also was the first Gator since 1986 to earn cross country All-America honors and only the seventh overall.
2:13 p.m. - Here are the Gators' results to this time. Again, we are posting them here until the technical issues with the live blog are resolved. Gray Horn finished fifth overall in the long jump with a leap of 22-1/6.73m. Kallinka Pitt (9th-7.31), Dennis Martin (10th-7.32) and William Wynne (15th-7.44) each advanced to the finals of the men's 55-meter hurdles on the men's side, while freshman Madison McNary (12th - 6.98) advanced to the women's 55-meter dash finals.
2:23 p.m. - There was a lot of applause at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center as Florida's Justin Taylor ran away with the men's mile, winning in an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 4:04.74. That's a major personal-best for Taylor.
2:29 p.m. - Apparently live results are now up and working, so feel free to follow along there, as well as with our blog. Click here to access live results.
2:33 p.m. - Some more Gator results for you - Fidela James was second in the women's weight throw with a toss of 59-0.75/18.0m. That shattered her toss from last week of 52-1.75/15.89m.
2:35 p.m. - Coach Mike Holloway just presented track and field officals Dale Thompson and Tommy Turner with plaques for their years of service at Florida home meets. Both are former UF assistant coaches and Turner recently was inducted into the state Track and Field Hall of Fame.
2:41 p.m. - The women's mile just recently concluded and Florida's Kaitlin Shiver and Genevieve LaCaze finished fourth and fifth, respectively, each earning NCAA provisional-qualifying times. Shiver finished in 4:46.29, while LaCaze finished in 4:47.20. It was the first collegiate track race for the freshman LaCaze, a native of Queensland, Australia. LaCaze recorded an impressive cross country season in 2008, as she was named the SEC Female Cross Country Freshman of the Year and was an All-SEC and All-South Region selection. She holds five times on UF's top-10 cross country lists, and she finished first for the Gators three times this past fall.
2:53 p.m. - The Gators have recorded three more NCAA provisional-qualifying marks today to increase their season total to 10. Justin Taylor in the men's mile and Kaitlin Shiver and Genevieve LaCaze in the women's mile have provisionally qualified so far today.
3:03 p.m. - Some good field events are about to begin here at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational. So far in this young season, the shot put has been the forte' of Florida's teams. Junior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili is the nation's top female shot putter, leading the country with an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark of 55-10.50/17.03m. She is the only female shot putter in the nation so far this season to have automatically qualified for NCAAs. Sophomore Keely Medieros ranks ninth in the country with a toss of 21-2.25/15.60m. On the men's side, sophomore Kemal Mesic is second in the nation in the shot put with a toss of 62-0.50/18.91m.
3:17 p.m - Add another NCAA provisional-qualifying mark to the Gators' list for this season. Terrell Wilks finished second in the finals of the men's 55-meter dash with a time of 6.25.
3:34 p.m. - Preston Wilson just wowed the O'Connell Center crowd, pulling away to win his heat of the 400 impressively in a time of 48.31.
4:01 p.m. - The heats of the women's 400-meter dash are currently going on at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center as well as the men's shot put, that includes Beau Burroughs and Kemal Mesic.
4:13 p.m. - Most of the other Southeastern Conference schools are in action today. Arkansas is hosting the Razorback Invitational, which also includes Alabama's men and Mississippi State. Auburn and South Carolina are here at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational. Georgia is participating in the Carle/Health Alliance Classic, while Vanderbilt is at the Indiana Invitational. Tennessee's men are at the Wesley Brown Invitational, while the women's squad is participating in an exciting rare dual meet with Texas A&M to open up the Aggies' new indoor facility, site of next week's SEC/Big 12 Challenge and the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
4:31 p.m. - Running unattached, Gator Josh Izewski won the men's 3,000m run in a time of 8:32.50. The top Florida finisher was sophomore Michael Anderson, who was fourth in a time of 8:38.46.
4:37 p.m. - Next weekend will be a good experience for the Gators, who will travel to College Station, Texas, to participate in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Gilliam Indoor Track and Field Stadium, home of the Texas A&M Track and Field Team, just opened up for the first time with today's dual meet between the women's squads of Texas A&M and Tennessee. It's the talk of the track world as the dual meet format is less common in today's track landscape. It is the first of five home meets that Texas A&M will host this year in the facility's inaugural campaign, including the Big 12 Championships and the NCAA Indoor Championships.
4:41 p.m. - The NCAA Indoor Championships have found their home at the University of Arkansas for the past several years, but move to Texas A&M this season, as Arkansas will be hosting the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Here's what head coach Mike Holloway had to say about the change of locations for the NCAA Indoor Championships. "I think a change of venues is a good thing. I think it gives the student-athletes an opportunity to see different places across the country. I think a change of venues is a good thing,” Holloway said. “I think it gives the student-athletes to see different places across the country. The way I look at the NCAA Championships, they could host them in a parking lot and there would still be very fast times and great competition. Moving the meet to Texas A&M is just going to be different site. We had a lot of great meets up in Indianapolis before the meet moved to Arkansas. I know the people at Texas A&M will do a great job of running the meet. It's just going to be a different spot. There are still going to be fast times."
4:43 p.m. - Carlos Phillips picked up an NCAA provisional qualifying-mark in winning the men's 800-meter dash in a time of 1:49.86. That didn't quite best his personal-record time, which ranks fourth all-time in school history.
5:07 p.m. - The women's pole vault is continuing to be contested into its third hour down on the bottom level of the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
6:03 p.m. - The men's distance medley relay has been cancelled, so fans are awaiting the 6:10 p.m. start of the women's distance medley relay featuring UCF and Jacksonville.
6:27 p.m. - The men's 4x400m-relay is set to commence. Florida will run three teams, including the nation leading relay squad of Carlos Phillips, R.J. Anderson, Lamarr Davis and Calvin Smith. The Gators, as a team, are standing near the track to cheer on their teammates competing in the relays.
