Gators' 4x400 relay teams make loud statements as indoor season heats up
Monday, January 26, 2015 | Football, Track and Field, Scott Carter
Florida track coach Mike Holloway builds his teams around strong relay squads. (Photo: Tim Casey)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships are not until March 13-14 at the University of Arkansas.
A lot can happen between now and then. Still, as early favorites go in the 4x400 relays, the Gators men's and women's teams made loud statements over the weekend at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky.
First, the UF women's 4x400 relay team of Robin Reynolds, Destinee Gause, Kyra Jefferson and Claudia Francis set a new school record with a time of 3:29.58, which is the best time in the NCAA and world so far in 2015. The mark was the 12th-fastest all-conditions indoor time and just the 14th sub-3:30 mark in collegiate history in the process.
“I thought we could run fast, but I didn't necessarily think we would run that fast,'' Florida head coach Mike Holloway said Monday. “They're four very talented young ladies. They've been there before.”
The Florida men's 4x400 team of Najee Glass, Hugh Graham, Jr., Nick Uruburu and Gino Hall made history too, setting a new Nutter Fieldhouse record with a NCAA- and world-leading 3:04.22.
The McCravy Memorial is an early season meet that featured 15 teams, including 12 ranked in the Top 25.
Holloway got a better gauge of where the Gators stand heading into the heart of the indoor season. The impressive relay performances were an added bonus.
“We are never surprised when we run fast relays,'' he said. “I tell people this all the time I don't think there is anybody that looks at what we do and goes, 'wow, I can't believe Florida did that.' We have a very talented group of people here. The relays are a staple of what we. We build our team from the relays out.”
That could mean trouble for the rest of the field in March. The Gators are ranked No. 1 in both the men's and women's poll. If the Gators go on to bigger and better things the rest of the season, they will look back at the McCravy as a sign of what was to come.
“There was kind of a championship feel to the meet,” Holloway said. “I think that's why you saw our athletes step up the way they did. They knew coming in that it was going to be a great meet.”
