The Florida track and field team advanced to two Championship of America finals at the 117th Penn Relays Carnival and thrower Keely Medeiros (Blumenau-SC, Brazil) set a pair of personal bests at the Drake Relays to highlight the Gators' participation in two prestigious meets on Friday.
PENN RELAYS
The Florida track and field team posted three runner-up finishes in Championship of America events on Friday afternoon to cap off a remarkable afternoon by the Gators at historic Franklin Field on the second day of the three-day meet.
The men's sprint medley relay team, looking for its first Championship of America title since 2001, clocked a time of 3:17.30 to place second overall. The Gators were just edged by Penn State, which captured the title in a time of 3:17.10, to pull out the two-tenths-of-a-second victory. Florida's quartet consisted of Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.), Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.), Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) and Sean Obinwa (Tampa, Fla.). Obinwa ran a 1:48.90 split over the final 800 meters to anchor the relay.
The women's sprint medley relay team placed second overall in a time of 3:50.50. The Gator quartet consisted of Ugonna Ndu (Newark, N.J.), Darshay Davis (Miami, Fla.), Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.) and Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.). McGee ran a 2:07.53 split over the final 800 meters to anchor the relay.
The Florida men's shuttle hurdle relay, looking for its third title in the last four years, placed second overall in a time of 56.07. The new-look relay consisted of Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Gray Horn (Waynesfield, Ohio), William Wynne (Fayetteville, Ga.) and Jarius Cooper (Palm Coast, Fla.).
“I am again very pleased with our effort today,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “It's starting to be that time of year where we're putting the pieces of the puzzle together and I've really liked what I've seen. We qualified well in the short relays and both our sprint medley relays were second, with great efforts by Cory [McGee] and Sean [Obinwa] on the anchor legs. Eddie Lovett had a big PB in the hurdles and Will Claye had a great jump in the long jump. It was good to see William Wynne get a couple more races under his belt as he works to progress back to the champion that we know he is. I'm really, really pleased with the direction we are headed with this team.”
The Gators also advanced to a pair of Championship of America finals for Saturday, using strong performances in Friday's preliminaries.
Florida placed second overall in the preliminaries of the men's 4x100-meter relay, using a time of 39.79. The quartet consisted of Lovett, Taylor, Wilks and Demps. Saturday's 4x100m Championship of America final is slated for 1:25 p.m. ET.
The Gators recorded the third-best qualifying time in the preliminaries of the men's 4x200m, clocking a 1:22.50. The group of Blake Heriot (Gahanna, Ohio), Leonardo Seymore (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Wilks and Taylor will compete in Saturday's Championship of America final that begins at 2:45 p.m. ET.
“Any time you come to Penn Relays, the whole goal is to be in the Championship of Americas,” Holloway said. “For us to be in both the men's 4x1 and the men's 4x2, and have good shots at being successful in both of those, it is important. I'm also excited to see Omar Craddock triple jump for the first time outdoors this year and watch Eddie Lovett in the finals of the hurdles.”
Lovett turned in a big personal-best time to place second overall in the preliminaries of the men's 110-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 13.79 (+0.7). Lovett's time went down as the ninth-best in UF school history and advances him to the championship final, slated for a 3:30 p.m. ET start on Saturday.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team finished sixth overall in the college section final in a time of 45.57. The Gators ran the foursome of Michelle Stegall (Fayetteville, Ga.), Davis, Ndu and Eutsey.
Junior jumper Will Claye (Phoenix, Ariz.), the NCAA indoor runner-up in the long jump, placed third overall in the men's long jump championship with a leap of 7.91m/25-11.50 (+6.2), while Horn was second in the college section of the men's long jump with a mark of 7.49m/24-7 (+4.4).
DRAKE RELAYS
Medeiros led the way for the Gators by winning the women's discus and placing second in the shot put Friday at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, site of the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Her output highlighted a series of strong performances by the Florida throwers at that event.
“Everyone competed well here today,” said associate head coach Steve Lemke. “It was very windy and it made for some challenging conditions, especially in the javelin. I thought our javelin throwers competed hard and the results weren't necessarily indicative of how they threw. Overall, I thought it was a good day and everyone was solid. We're looking forward to tomorrow.”
Medeiros, who switched to the glide technique from the rotational technique just prior to the start of the 2011 outdoor season, turned in a personal-best toss of 17.26m/56-7.50, which goes down as the No. 5 throw in program history. It bettered Medeiros' previous personal-best toss of 16.64m/54-7.25, charted at the 2010 Pepsi Florida Relays. Her throw Friday goes down as the sixth-best in the country so far this season.
She then followed that up with the fourth-best toss in school history in the women's discus at 54.91m/180-2 to win a highly competitive discus event at the Drake Relays. That bettered Mederios' previous personal-best toss of 54.22m/177-11, charted at the 2011 Tom Jones Memorial Classic, to give her personal-best discus marks in two consecutive meets.
“Keely has been working really hard in practice,” Lemke said. “She switched to the glide before the outdoor season and it becomes almost like a new event for her. We've been seeing some really good results in training and we knew it would just be a few weeks before we saw her reproduce those results in a meet. I'm really happy for her and what she's been able to accomplish. She had a phenomenal day today.”
Teammate Ashley Miller (Miami Beach, Fla.) placed 13th in the discus with a toss of 48.49m/159-1, while Kaitlin Davis (Niceville, Fla.) was 18th with a throw of 46.78m/153-6.
Freshman thrower Fawn Miller (Stoneboro, Pa.) was ninth in the women's javelin with a toss of 43.63m/143-2, while freshman Stipe Zunic (Zadar, Croatia) was UF's top finisher in the men's javelin, placing 10th with a throw of 61.65m/202-3.
Senior pole vaulter Eric Foran (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) tied for 11th in the men's pole vault with a leap of 5.00m/16-4.75.
For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, 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.
117TH PENN RELAYS CARNIVAL – THURSDAY-SATURDAY, APRIL 28-30, 2011 :: PHILADELPHIA , PA.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Men's 400m Hurdles – 9 a.m. ET
52. William Wynne – 55.68
Men's High Jump College – 10 a.m. ET
11. Bryan Turner – 2.04m/6-8.25
Men's 4x100m Relay (prelim) – 12:35 p.m. ET
2. Florida – 39.79 (E. Lovett, C. Taylor, T. Wilks, J. Demps)
Women's 4x100m College – 1:05 p.m. ET
6. Florida – 45.57 (M. Stegall, D. Davis, U. Ndu, E. Eutsey)
Men's 4x200m Relay (prelim) – 1:50 p.m. ET
3. Florida – 1:22.50 (B. Heriot, L. Seymore, T. Wilks, C. Taylor)
Men's Long Jump Championship – 2 p.m. ET
3. Will Claye – 7.91m/25-11.50 (+6.2)
Men's Shuttle Hurdle Relay – 2:55 p.m. ET
2. Florida – 56.07 (E. Lovett, G. Horn, W. Wynne, J. Cooper)
Men's 100m (prelim) – 3:20 p.m. ET
15. Chris Rainey – 11.08
Men's Long Jump College – 3:30 p.m. ET
2. Gray Horn – 7.49m/24-7 (+4.4)
Men's 110m Hurdles (prelim) – 3:40 p.m. ET
2. Eddie Lovett – 13.79 (+0.7)
18. William Wynne – 14.49 (+0.0)
23. Jarius Cooper – 14.73 (+0.7)
Women's Sprint Medley Relay – 6:30 p.m. ET
2. Florida – 3:50.50 (U. Ndu, D. Davis, E. Eutsey, C. McGee)
Men's Sprint Medley Relay – 6:55 p.m. ET
2. Florida - 3:17.30 (J. Demps, T. Wilks, C. Taylor, S. Obinwa)
DRAKE RELAYS – FRIDAY-SATURDAY, APRIL 29-30, 2011 :: DES MOINES, IOWA
Friday, April 29, 2011
Men's Javelin – 11:45 a.m. ET
10. Stipe Zunic – 61.65m/202-3
19. Doug Nelson – 57.01m/187-0
24. Zane Breakiron – 50.73m/166-5
Women's Shot Put – 12:30 p.m. ET
2. Keely Medeiros – 17.26m/56-7.50
14. Fidela James – 14.39m/47-2.50
Men's Pole Vault – 2:15 p.m. ET
T11. Eric Foran – 5.00m/16-4.75
Women's Javelin – 3 p.m. ET
9. Fawn Miller – 43.63m/143-2
Women's Discus – 3 p.m. ET
1. Keely Medeiros – 54.91m/180-2
13. Ashley Miller – 48.49m/159-1
18. Kaitlin Davis – 46.78m/153-6
