Notebook: Jan. 31, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011 | Track and Field
Junior Florida jumper Will Claye (Phoenix, Ariz.) ranks No. 1 in the NCAA this season in the men's triple jump after his impressive leap at the Texas A&M Challenge presented by Mondo America this past weekend.
Claye turned in the No. 1 mark in the NCAA this season this past weekend with an NCAA automatic-qualifying leap of 16.86m/55-3.25. He is the only athlete in the country this season to have eclipsed the 55-foot plateau in the men's triple jump.
Jumping for the first time in a Gator uniform after transferring from Oklahoma, Claye recorded the second-best men's triple jump mark in school history and shattered the previous Texas A&M Challenge meet record of 16.45m/53-11.75.
Claye and teammate Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas) each have qualified automatically for the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships in the men's triple jump. They both rank among the top-five in the nation in that event this season.
2011 NCAA LEADERS – MEN'S TRIPLE JUMP
| Rank | Name | School | Mark |
| 1 | Will Claye | Florida | 16.86m/55-3.75 |
| 2 | Tarik Batchelor | Arkansas | 16.52m/54-2.25 |
| 3 | Troy Doris | Iowa | 16.46m/54-0 |
| 4 | Kyron Blaise | LSU | 16.27m/53-4.50 |
| 5 | Omar Craddock | Florida | 16.19m/53-1.50 |
HORN SECOND IN THE NATION IN THE MEN'S HEPTATHLON
Junior multi-event athlete Gray Horn (Waynesfield, Ohio) currently ranks second in the nation in the men's heptathlon after his first competition this past weekend. Horn set a personal-best score of 5,747 en route to the victory and an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark.
Horn is one of only five athletes to have punched the NCAA automatic mark in the heptathlon and one of only three to eclipse 5,700 points this season. He won four of the seven events in which he competed this past weekend and his score is the second-best in school history.
HARRELL IS NATION'S LEADING FRESHMAN IN THE PENTATHLON
Freshman multi-event athlete Brittany Harrell (McComb, Miss.), who competed in her first collegiate pentathlon this past weekend at the Texas A&M Challenge presented by Mondo America, currently ranks 18th in the nation and holds the top mark by a freshman in the NCAA this season.
Harrell recorded a score of 3,731, which goes down as one of the top-five pentathlon scores in school history. She faired admirably against stiff competition this past weekend, as each of the three competitors who finished above her in this weekend's pentathlon competition all rank among the top-15 in the nation.
Harrell was less than 300 points off of Florida's school record of 3,999, set by Dorchelle Webster in 1990.
WOMEN'S DMR HEADS TO NEW BALANCE COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL
While the majority of the University of Florida track and field team will be competing at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet in Blacksburg, Va., this weekend a quartet of Gator women will travel to New York, N.Y., on Friday to participate in the women's distance medley relay at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.
The Gators will travel the foursome of Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia), Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.), Shelby Hayes (Winter Park, Fla.) and Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.) to compete against a number of the best women's DMR teams in the country, including the No. 2-ranked quartet from BYU, the 2010 defending NCAA Champion Tennessee team and top-15 ranked DMRs from Texas A&M (No. 14) and Texas Tech (No. 5).
The race is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET Friday from The Armory Track and Field Center in New York.
UPDATING THE RECORD BOOK
There are a couple of updates to the all-time Florida track and field record book this weekend, as Claye moved into second place on the school's all-time men's triple jump list, Horn improved his second-place all-time standing in the men's heptathlon list and freshman Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.) moved on to the all-time top-10 list in the men's 60-meter hurdles.
FLORIDA MEN'S INDOOR TRIPLE JUMP ALL-TIME TOP FIVE
| Rank | Name | Mark | Date |
| 1 | Christian Taylor | 17.18m/56-4.50 | 3-13-10 |
| 2 | Will Claye | 16.88m/55-3.75 | 1-29-11 |
| 3 | Shawn Akridge | 16.26m/53-4 | 1987 |
| 4 | Omar Craddock | 16.19m/53-1.50 | 1-15-11 |
| 5 | Lester Scruggs | 16.13m/52-11.25 | 2-9-85 |
FLORIDA MEN'S INDOOR HEPTATHLON ALL-TIME TOP-FIVE
| Rank | Name | Score | Date |
| 1 | Mike Morrison | 5,792 | 3-15-08 |
| 2 | Gray Horn | 5,747 | 1-29-11 |
| 3 | Stefan Hommel | 5,507 | 2-2-08 |
| 4 | Kayne Dakoski | 5,273 | 2-25-06 |
| 5 | Kurt Lee | 5,123 | 3-1-08 |
FLORIDA MEN'S INDOOR 60-METER HURDLES ALL-TIME TOP-10
| Rank | Name | Time | Date |
| 1 | Josh Walker | 7.66 | 3-11-05 |
| 2 | Dennis Martin | 7.76 | 3-7-09 |
| Stephen Jones | 7.76 | 3-10-00 | |
| 4 | T.J. Nelson | 7.79 | 2-6-99 |
| 5 | Kerron Clement | 7.80 | 2-28-04 |
| 6 | Kallinka Pitt | 7.81 | 2-28-09 |
| 7 | William Wynne | 7.82 | 3-7-09 |
| 8 | Paul Brown | 7.83 | 1-24-03 |
| 9 | Rickey Harris | 7.85 | 2-13-04 |
| 10 | Eddie Lovett | 7.88 | 1-29-11 |
| Chris Carswell | 7.88 | 2-14-03 |
THE GATORS IN ACTION THIS WEEKEND
Friday, February 4, 2011
Florida at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet (Blacksburg, Va.)
Florida women's DMR at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational (New York, N.Y.)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Florida at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet (Blacksburg, Va.)
FOLLOWING THE GATORS
For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/trackfield or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField.
