Florida Gators
NCAA East Regional
Three Gators Punch NCAA Tickets on Day One of East Regional
Saturday, May 30, 2009 | Track and Field
Senior Florida pole vaulter Natalie Moser (Tampa, Fla.) on Friday captured the first-ever NCAA East Regional women's pole vault title in school history as one of three Gators to automatically qualify for the upcoming NCAA Championships. Those performances highlighted a successful opening day for the UF Track and Field teams at the NCAA East Regional hosted by North Carolina A&T University at its Irwin Belk Track.
The Florida women's team currently is in second place overall in the team standings with 19 total points through five events scored. Virginia Tech leads the women's side with 26 points, while William & Mary is third with 14. The Gator men currently are tied for seventh place overall with nine points through five events scored, but Florida has a number of point-scoring opportunities in Saturday's finals. Georgia Tech and Georgia are tied for the lead on the men's side with 20 total team points.
Moser captured the pole vault with a leap of 13-1.75/4.01m to punch her ticket to the upcoming NCAA Championships. Sophomore thrower Kemal Mesic (Sarajevo, Bosnia) finished third and automatically qualified in the men's shot put, while junior jumper Shara Proctor (The Valley, Anguilla) was the runner-up in the women's long jump to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships.
On the men's side, the Gators earned 10 spots in Saturday's finals, giving Florida a number of ample scoring opportunities in several events.
“I thought we had a good day overall,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “We had a couple of disappointments, but I think overall, we had strong performances from Shara in the long jump, Natalie in the pole vault and Kemal in the shot put, as well as great qualifying on the men's side. It was a very good day and it's a good start to get us ready for tomorrow's finals and for the national meet.”
Proctor set a new season-best in posting her runner-up finish in the women's long jump. She recorded a mark of 21-8.25/6.61m (+1.8) that broke the Irwin Belk Track facility record and was just shy of her personal-best mark of 21-10.75/6.67m that was recorded during the 2008 season.
Mesic used a toss of 62-4/19.00m to place third in the men's shot put and automatically qualify him for the NCAA Championships. Senior Beau Burroughs (Tampa, Fla.) was sixth in the men's shot put with a season-best toss of 60-6/18.44m. Burroughs will now wait and see if he qualifies for the upcoming NCAA Championships.
Sophomore Daisy Glasser (Atlantic Beach, Fla.) finished eight with a mark of 12-10/3.91m. That, coupled with Moser's victory in the event, gave the Gators 11 points from the women's pole vault.
The Florida men's 4x100-meter relay team won its heat and finished second overall in a time of 39.32. The relay quartet of Dennis Martin (Anderson, S.C.), Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.), Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.) and Jeremy Hall (Jacksonville, Fla.) advances to Saturday's event final, scheduled for 5:10 p.m. EST.
Hall and Wilks each qualified for the finals in both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. Wilks was the runner-up in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes, while Hall was third in the 100-meter dash and fifth in the 200-meter dash.
Smith was fourth in the men's 400-meter dash, winning his heat and finish in a time of 46.03.
Three of Florida's 110-meter hurdlers advanced to the finals of the event, including Martin (13.94), Kallinka Pitt (Largo, Fla.) (13.74) and William Wynne (Marietta, Ga.) (14.03).
Middle distance runner Carlos Phillips (Winter Park, Fla.) won his heat and finished third in the preliminaries of the 800-meter run in a time of 1:49.36.
The two-day event concludes on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. EST at Irwin Belk Track. For up-to-the-minute updates, please log on to www.twitter.com/GZTrackField.
Complete results and a recap of Florida's participation in the NCAA East Regional will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
NCAA EAST REGIONAL – MAY 29-30, 2009 (GREENSBORO, N.C.)
FRIDAY, MAY 29
Men's Javelin – 11 a.m. EST
12. Doug Nelson – 200-1/60.98m
Women's Long Jump – 1 p.m. EST
2. Shara Proctor – 21-8.25/6.61m (+1.8) F
Men's Shot Put – 3 p.m. EST
3. Kemal Mesic – 62-4/19.00m
6. Beau Burroughs – 60-6/18.44m
Women's Pole Vault – 3 p.m. EST
1. Natalie Moser – 13-1.75/4.01m
8. Daisy Glasser – 12-10/3.91m
T19. Alex Black – 12-0/3.66m
T19. Lauren Menke – 12-0/3.66m
Women's 4x100m Relay Prelims – 4 p.m. EST
14. Florida – 45.82
-Madison McNary, Alishea Usery, Danielle Williams, Ije Iheoma
Men's 4x100m Relay Prelims – 4:15 p.m. EST
2. Florida – 39.32 Q
-Dennis Martin, Calvin Smith, Terrell Wilks, Jeremy Hall
Women's 1,500m Prelims – 4:30 p.m. EST
17. Kaitlin Shiver – 4:27.78
Men's 1,500m Prelims – 4:55 p.m. EST
36. Justin Taylor – 3:58.83
Women's Discus – 5 p.m. EST
19. Keely Medeiros – 144-7/44.06m
Men's Long Jump – 5 p.m. EST
14. Christian Taylor – 23-5.50/7.15m (+0.3)
Men's 110m Hurdles Prelims – 5:40 p.m. EST
2. Kallinka Pitt – 13.74 (-0.5) Q
5. Dennis Martin – 13.94 (-0.7) Q
7. William Wynne – 14.03 (-0.7) q
Women's 100m Prelims – 6 p.m. EST
26. Madison McNary – 11.90 (-0.9)
Men's 100m Prelims – 6:20 p.m. EST
2. Terrell Wilks – 10.26 (-0.4) Q
3. Jeremy Hall – 10.29 (+0.8) Q
Women's 400m Prelims – 6:40 p.m. EST
11. Alishea Usery – 54.39
Men's 400m Prelims – 7 p.m. EST
4. Calvin Smith – 46.03 Q
16. R.J. Anderson – 47.14
Men's 800m Prelims – 7:40 p.m. EST
3. Carlos Philliips – 1:49.36 Q
Men's 400m Hurdles Prelims – 8:20 p.m. EST
17. William Wynne – 53.04
Women's 200m Prelims – 8:40 p.m. EST
21. Madison McNary – 24.44 (+1.3)
Men's 200m Prelims – 9 p.m. EST
2. Terrell Wilks – 20.77 (+1.2) Q
5. Jeremy Hall – 20.87 (+1.1) Q
Women's 5,000m – 9:20 p.m. EST
14. Genevieve LaCaze – 16:37.94
24. Sara Petrick – 17:02.36
25. Laura Garrow – 17:03.84
NCAA AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS
· Kemal Mesic – Men's Shot Put – 62-4/19.00m
· Natalie Moser – Women's Pole Vault – 13-1.75/4.01m
· Shara Proctor – Women's Long Jump – 21-8.25/6.61m (+1.8)
QUALIFIERS FOR SATURDAY'S FINALS
- Jeremy Hall – Men's 100-meter dash – 10.29 (+0.8) Q
- Jeremy Hall – Men's 200-meter dash – 20.87 (+1.1) Q
- Dennis Martin – Men's 110-meter hurdles – 13.94 (-0.7) Q
- Carlos Phillips – Men's 800m run – 1:49.36 Q
- Kallinka Pitt – Men's 110-meter hurdles - 13.74 (-0.5) Q
- Calvin Smith – Men's 400-meter dash – 46.03 Q
- Terrell Wilks – Men's 100-meter dash – 10.26 (-0.4) Q
- Terrell Wilks – Men's 200-meter dash – 20.77 (+1.2) Q
- William Wynne – Men's 110-meter hurdles – 14.03 (-0.7) q
- Men's 4x100-meter relay – 39.32 Q
END OF REPORT
