Florida Gators
Texas A&M Challenge
Impressive Performances Cap off Texas A&M Challenge
Sunday, January 31, 2010 | Track and Field
Charlotte Browning (Pullborough, England), Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Shara Proctor (The Valley, Anguilla) all captured event victories Saturday with Kevkhishvili and Proctor earning NCAA automatic-qualifying marks to showcase a successful weekend by the Florida track and field team at the Texas A&M Challenge at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
In total, the Gators accumulated three event wins, two NCAA automatic-qualifying marks/times and eight NCAA provisional-qualifying marks/times over the course of the weekend, to complement numerous personal bests and standout performances.
“I thought we had a very good weekend,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “We had some solid performances and, overall, I was very pleased with our team. The goal of this team is not to be ready now, it's to be ready in four weeks for the conference meet and in six weeks for the NCAA meet. Judging by what I saw today, we are going to be in great shape.”
Proctor turned in a collegiate-leading mark of 6.60m/21-8 to capture the women's long jump event and break her own Florida school record of 6.50m/21-4. It topped UTEP's Blessing Okagbare's mark of 6.59m/21-7.5 for the national lead and Proctor's effort is only the second NCAA automatic-qualifying mark in the nation so far this season in the women's long jump.
“Coach [Brian] O'Neal has done a wonderful job working with Shara,” Holloway said. “We expected this from her and I'm really pleased that she was able to open up her first meet of the year with such a great performance.”
Proctor's mark on Saturday ties for the eighth-best indoor women's long jump mark in the world so far this season. Anastasiya Taranova-Potapova, of Russia, leads the nation with a mark of 6.65m. With the leap, Proctor became the second Gator individual (not including relays) to punch her ticket to the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships, to be held March 12-13 at Fayetteville, Ark.
“I think today's performance is a by-product of the preparation Shara put into this meet,” said assistant coach Brian O'Neal. “She worked hard all fall and we expect big things from her. But, most importantly, Shara expects big things from herself.”
Kevkhishvili, who is on the preseason watch list for The Bowerman – track and field's highest honor, won her ninth consecutive indoor shot put competition dating back to the 2008 season, by posting an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark of 18.19m/59-8.25 in the women's shot put. That broke her own Gilliam Indoor Stadium facility record. Kevkhishvili, who had already previously qualified for the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships has thrown better than 18 meters in each of her two meets so far this season.
Browning charted a stellar performance in the women's 800-meter run, recording a personal-best time of 2:05.50 to claim the event. That NCAA provisional-qualifying time was just 50 seconds off the NCAA automatic-qualifying standard and goes down as the sixth-best indoor 800-meter time in school history.
Browning, competing in her first indoor competition of the 2010 season, bettered her previous indoor personal-best 800m time of 2:12.30. She now ranks in the top-six on two of Florida's all-time indoor lists, as she also is second all-time in the indoor mile.
“Charlotte had a great run today,” said assistant coach Todd Morgan, who oversees Florida's distance and middle-distance runners. “To have a PR in the first race of the season is a terrific start. She is so far ahead of where she was this time last year in terms of training. We are excited about her getting back to practice and running the mile in two weeks.”
Redshirt freshman thrower Jeremy Postin (Andover, Kan.) turned in a huge personal-record throw to finish third in the men's weight throw with a toss of 18.15m/59-6.75. That was the fifth-best men's weight throw in school history and he became just the sixth athlete in school history to eclipse the 18-meter mark.
Sophomore multi-event athlete Gray Horn (Waynesfield, Ohio) finished second in the heptathlon with an NCAA provisional-qualifying score of 5,538. That marks the second-best heptathlon performance of his career, second only to the score of 5,586 that he recorded at the 2009 SEC Indoor Championships. Horn had a heptathlon PR of 8.28 in the 60-meter hurdles to open the day, followed that up with a fifth-place finish in the pole vault and capped off the day by clocking a personal-record time of 2:44.66 in the 1,000-meter run.
Senior sprinter Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.) earned an NCAA provisional-qualifying time in his first 400-meter race of the season, finishing second in 46.48. It was the best 400-meter opener of his collegiate career, bettering his previous-record opening time of 47.04 from the 2009 Kentucky Invitational.
Smith was a member of the Florida 4x400-meter relay team that finished in third in an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 3:06.72. The quartet consisted of Tony McQuay (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Smith, Jovon Toppin (Port of Spain, Trinidad) and Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.).
The women's 4x400-meter relay team came just shy of notching its second consecutive NCAA provisional-qualifying time. The foursome of Alishea Usery (St. Louis, Mo.), Danielle Williams (Jacksonville, Fla.), Ugonna Ndu (Newark, N.J.) and Lanie Whittaker (Miami, Fla.) clocked a time of 3:40.10.
Sophomore distance runner Rebecca Lowe (Vancluse, Australia) recorded a personal-best time of 9:30.69 to finish fourth in the women's 3,000-meter run. That marked an NCAA provisional-qualifying time and was just shy of placing in Florida's all-time indoor top-10.
Junior thrower Keely Medeiros (Luziana, Brazil) was third in the women's shot put with an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of 15.52m/50-11.
Freshman jumper Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas), who just joined the team at the start of the spring semester, made a triumphant return to the Lone Star State, recording an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of 15.46m/50-8.75 in the men's triple jump. That goes down as the ninth-best leap in school history.
Sprinters Jeremy Hall (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Chris Rainey (Lakeland, Fla.) each advanced to the finals of the men's 60-meter dash with Hall placing third in 6.78 and Rainey placing fifth in 6.83. Rainey had an indoor collegiate best in the prelims with a time of 6.78.
“I thought we had a solid meet,” Holloway said. “We made some mistakes here and there that we are going to have to correct if we want to be the best in the nation. The big thing is to get a little work done this week and get a little work done at the meet next weekend.”
Florida returns to action next weekend when it travels to Blacksburg, Va., to compete in the two-day Virginia Tech Elite Meet.
For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/trackfield or follow the team's Twitter page @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField.
Texas A&M Challenge (College Station, Texas – January 30, 2010)
Men's Heptathlon - 12 p.m. ET (AUTO: 5,675; PROV: 5,325)
2. Gray Horn – 5,538 P
Men's Heptathlon 60m Hurdles (AUTO: 7.70; PROV: 7.91)
2. Gray Horn – 8.28 (913 points)
Men's Heptathlon Pole Vault (AUTO: 5.50m; 5.20m)
5. Gray Horn – 4.36m/14-3.50 (719 points)
Men's Heptathlon 1,000m Run (Not an NCAA Event)
5. Gray Horn – 2:44.66 (822 points)
Women's 60m Hurdles Prelims - 1:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 8.14; PROV: 8.43)
13. Paige Morton – 8.87
14. Amani Bryant – 8.88
15. Ugonna Ndu – 8.91
Women's 60m Dash Prelims - 1:55 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7.26; PROV: 7.44)
7. Alishea Usery – 7.54 q
15. Madison McNary – 7.67
23. Michelle Stegall – 7.90
Men's 60m Dash Prelims - 1:55 p.m. ET (AUTO: 6.60; PROV: 6.71)
3. Chris Rainey – 6.78 [6.778] q
4. Jeremy Hall – 6.78 [6.780] q
10. Jeremy Rankin – 6.94
Men's Weight Throw - 3 p.m. ET (AUTO: 21.50m; PROV: 19.50m)
3. Jeremy Postin – 18.15m/59-6.75
Women's Shot Put - 3 p.m. ET (AUTO: 16.90m; PROV: 15.20m)
1. Mariam Kevkhishvili – 18.19m/59-8.25 A
3. Keely Medeiros – 15.52m/50-11 P
Men's Pole Vault - 3 p.m. ET (AUTO: 5.50m; PROV: 5.20m)
T6. Eric Foran – 4.88m/16-0
Women's 3,000m Run - 3 p.m. ET (AUTO: 9:13.00; PROV: 9:32.00)
4. Rebecca Lowe – 9:30.69 P
8. Stacey Johnson – 9:37.51
11. Genevieve LaCaze – 9:44.47
14. Laura Garrow – 9:49.42
Men's 3,000m Run - 3 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7:54.50; PROV: 8:05.00)
12. Justin Taylor – 8:13.76
18. Josh Izewski – 8:26.60
19. Michael Anderson – 8:40.76
Women' 600-yard Run – 3:40 p.m. ET (Not an NCAA Event)
10. Ashley Usery – 1:26.16
Men's 600-yard Run - 3:40 p.m. ET (Not an NCAA event)
7. Lamarr Davis – 1:11.24
10. Ethan Philpot – 1:11.67
Women's High Jump - 4 p.m. ET (AUTO: 1.85m; PROV: 1.78m)
7. Alexis Muniz – 1.64m/5-4.50
Men's High Jump - 4 p.m. ET (AUTO: 2.24m; PROV: 2.14m)
4. Frankie Hammond – 2.11m/6-11
6. Bryan Turner – 2.01m/6-7
Women's 400m Run - 4:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 52.40; PROV: 54.40)
4. Lanie Whittaker – 54.60
15. Ije Iheoma – 56.44
Men's 400m Run - 4:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 46.15; PROV: 47.25)
2. Calvin Smith – 46.48 P
Women's Weight Throw - 4:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 21.00m; PROV: 18.75m)
3. Keely Medeiros – 17.21m/56-5.75
Women's Long Jump - 4:45 p.m. ET (AUTO: 6.38m; PROV: 6.13m)
1. Shara Proctor – 6.60m/21-8 A
Men's Triple Jump - 4:45 p.m. ET (AUTO: 16.15m; PROV: 15.45m)
4. Omar Craddock – 15.46m/50-8.75 P
Women's 60m Dash Finals - 4:45 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7.26; PROV: 7.44)
6. Alishea Usery – 7.48
Men's 60m Dash Finals - 4:45 p.m. ET (AUTO: 6.60; PROV: 6.71)
3. Jeremy Hall – 6.78
5. Chris Rainey – 6.83
Women's 800m Run - 4:55 p.m. ET (AUTO: 2:05.00; PROV: 2:09.00)
1. Charlotte Browning – 2:05.50 P
Men's 800m Run - 4:55 p.m. ET (AUTO: 1:48.00; PROV: 1:50.50)
16. John Mitchell – 1:54.83
Women's 200m Dash - 5:20 p.m. ET (AUTO: 23.20; PROV: 23.90)
5. Alishea Usery – 24.00
17. Madison McNary – 25.29
18. Michelle Stegall – 25.30
Men's 200m Dash - 5:20 p.m. ET (AUTO: 20.83; PROV: 21.23)
7. Jovon Toppin – 21.76
13. Jeremy Rankin – 22.08
Women's Mile Run - 6 p.m. ET (AUTO: 4:37.00; PROV: 4:46.70)
7. Kaitlin Shiver – 4:53.78
Men's Mile Run - 6 p.m. ET (AUTO: 3:59.00; PROV: 4:03.50)
13. Anthony Morales – 4:18.81
Women's 4x400m Relay - 6:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 3:33.30; PROV: 3:40.00)
4. Florida “A” – 3:40.10
(Al. Usery, D. Williams, U. Ndu, L. Whittaker)
Men's 4x400m Relay - 6:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 3:06.50; PROV: 3:10.40)
3. Florida “A” – 3:06.72 P
(T. McQuay, C. Smith, J. Toppin, C. Taylor)
FLORIDA EVENT VICTORIES (ENTIRE WEEKEND)
? Charlotte Browning – Women's 800m – 2:05.50 P
? Mariam Kevkhishvili – Women's Shot Put – 18.19m/59-8.25 A
? Shara Proctor – Women's Long Jump – 6.60m/21-8 A
NCAA AUTOMATIC QUALIFYING MARKS (ENTIRE WEEKEND)
? Mariam Kevkhishvili – Women's Shot Put – 18.19m/59-8.25 A
? Shara Proctor – Women's Long Jump – 6.60m/21-8 A
NCAA PROVISIONAL-QUALIFYING MARKS (ENTIRE WEEKEND)
? Charlotte Browning – Women's 800m – 2:05.50 P
? Omar Craddock – Men's Triple Jump – 15.46m/50-8.75 P
? Gray Horn – Men's Heptathlon – 5,538 P
? Rebecca Lowe – Women's 3,000m Run – 9:30.69 P
? Keely Medeiros – Women's Shot Put – 15.52m/50-11 P
? Calvin Smith – Men's 400-Meter Run – 46.48 P
? Florida – Men's 4x400-Meter Relay – 3:06.72 P
? Florida – Women's Distance Medley Relay – 11:19.67 P
MEN'S HEPTATHLON
1. Ashton Eaton , Oregon (6,256)
2. Gray Horn, Florida (5,538)
3. Kenny Greaves, Texas (5,302)
4. Isaac Murphy , Texas (5,127)
5. Scott Pierce , South Carolina (5,044)
6. Marshall Ackley, Oregon (5,021)
END OF REPORT
