Florida Gators
Penn Relays Carnival
Craddock Wins Penn Relays Triple Jump for Second Straight Year
Saturday, April 30, 2011 | Track and Field
Sophomore Florida jumper Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas) claimed the Penn Relays men's triple jump championship Saturday for the second consecutive year and sophomore thrower Jeremy Postin (Auburndale, Fla.) broke his own UF school record in the men's hammer throw to put the finishing touches on a successful weekend by the Gators at a pair of prestigious meets – the 117th Penn Relays Carnival in Philadelphia and the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
Craddock used a personal-best mark of16.46m/54-0 on his third attempt to capture the event for the second year in a row. He becomes the first back-to-back winner in the men's triple jump at Penn Relays since Walter Davis of LSU accomplished the feat in 2001 and 2002, and becomes just the 13th different athlete in Penn Relays history to win multiple men's triple jump championships. His mark goes down as the third-best men's triple jump mark in program history.
Postin broke his own Florida school record in the men's hammer throw event, placing fifth at the Drake Relays with a personal-best toss of 66.12m/216-11. He topped his previous personal-best mark of 65.09m/213-6, set at the Pepsi Florida Relays on April 1. Postin has broken his own school record on three occasions this year.
“I thought we had another solid day today,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “I am very proud of Omar Craddock for winning his second Penn Relays triple jump title and I am also proud of Jeremy Postin for setting the school record at Drake Relays. I am proud of the work he and Coach [Steve] Lemke have done together in order to improve and get better. There were some things in terms of the relays that we could have and should have done better, but I have to do a better job of coaching those guys and getting them ready.
“This weekend, I thought, across the board, we got better,” Holloway continued. “That's always our goal going into any competition and I thought we did that this weekend. We also have some things that we have to get back to Gainesville and work on, because in two weeks, we're going to be in the midst of a battle for the conference title. The big thing for us is to get back, rest up and get to work on Monday to prepare for the conference meet.”
The men's 4x100-meter relay team placed second overall in the Championship of America final in a time of 40.00. The Gator quartet consisted of Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.), Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.) and Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.).
The men's 4x200-meter relay team finished third overall in its Championship of America final, clocking a time of 1:22.00. The relay consisted of Will Claye (Phoenix, Ariz.), Taylor, Leonardo Seymore (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Wilks.
Lovett, a freshman hurdler who set a personal-best time of 13.79 in Friday's preliminaries, finished fifth in the championship finals of the 110-meter hurdles on Saturday afternoon in a time of 13.97 (+1.9).
Jumper Frankie Hammond (Hollywood, Fla.) was ninth in the championship section of the men's high jump with a leap of 2.08m/6-9.75.
Florida returns to action on Friday when it travels to Tallahassee, Fla., to compete in the two-day Seminole Twilight Invitational.
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.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Men's 4x100m Relay (final) – 1:25 p.m. ET
2. Florida – 40.00 (E. Lovett, C. Taylor, T. Wilks, J. Demps)
Men's High Jump Championship – 1:30 p.m. ET
9. Frankie Hammond – 2.08m/6-9.75
Men's Triple Jump Championship – 2 p.m. ET
1. Omar Craddock – 16.46m/54-0
Men's 4x200m Relay (final) – 2:40 p.m. ET
3. Florida – 1:22.00 (W. Claye, C. Taylor, L. Seymore, T. Wilks)
Men's 110m Hurdles (final) – 3:30 p.m. ET
5. Eddie Lovett – 13.97 (+1.9)
DRAKE RELAYS – FRIDAY-SATURDAY, APRIL 29-30, 2011 :: DES MOINES, IOWA
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Men's Hammer Throw – 1:30 p.m. ET
5. Jeremy Postin – 66.12m/216-11
