Florida Gators
Tom Jones Memorial Invitational
No. 2 Gators Wrap Up 2015 Home Competition with Successful Tom Jones Memorial Invitational
Saturday, April 25, 2015 | Track and Field
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The No. 2 Florida track and field teams put a punctuation mark on its final home-meet of the season Friday with the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational at Percy Beard Track in Gainesville, as the Orange and Blue enjoyed a home crowd for the second straight competition. Today's meet honored former longtime University of Florida women's track and field coach, Tom Jones, who passed away on March 21, 2007, after a courageous battle with cancer.
UF captured eight Tom Jones event wins, including three field events highlighted by senior Taylor Burke's PR in the high jump (1.85m/6-0.75), a new school record as Burke now owns both the indoor and outdoor high jump records. Florida additionally had several key marks and performances, including the top-mark in the NCAA and world thus far, and the third-fastest mark in UF history, from the women's 4x400 relay team (pictured below) of junior Robin Reynolds, sophomore Kyra Jefferson, freshman Destiny Washington and junior Claudia Francis (3:28.08).
Junior Najee Glass went 44.79 to win the men's 400m with the second-fastest time in the country and junior Eric Futch broke 50 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles with a 49.45, also the second-fastest in the NCAA so far this year, pending weekend results.
While Florida had success in Gainesville Saturday, a trio of Gators additionally headed north to Philadelphia this weekend to compete at the Penn Relays. A Pennsylvania native, senior Fawn Miller won the javelin with a season-best toss of 52.71 meters/172-11, while classmate Ciarra Brewer took the Penn Relays triple jump crown with a leap of 13.21m/44-0.
Overall, UF had 22 personal-best marks at James G. Pressly Stadium, including seven between the men's and women's 1500m races, to help set up the upcoming the championship season. Senior jumper Marquis Dendy will wrap up competition for the Orange and Blue at the Penn Relays Saturday and will be looking to match Brewer and Miller with a win in the triple jump tomorrow morning.
HEARING OUT HOLLOWAY | WATCH: Coach Holloway on the Gators' Performances at the Tom Jones Memorial
“Tom Jones was a special guy. He worked here for 15 years and did a lot of great things here at the University of Florida. It meant a lot to not just the women's program, but as a young coach, he gave me a lot of great tips that helped me become a better coach and I was always appreciative of that. Tom and Coach Lemke were best friends, so it's very important for Coach Lemke as well. We like to honor Tom by putting on a great meet. It's about coming and running and having the opportunity to get better, and that's what we saw here today. We had people from all over the world here today representing their countries. It was a great, great meet and a great way to honor Tom. We look forward to doing it again next year.”
TOM JONES MEMORIAL RESULTS
Field Events
| M Hammer | 1. Kyle Strawn, 65.40/214-7 |
| W Long Jump | 3. Darrielle McQueen, 6.05m/19-10.25 (-0.1w) |
| W Discus | 3. Lloydricia Cameron, 50.01m/164-01 |
| M High Jump | 2. Jhonny Victor, 2.07m/6-9.50 | PR |
| W Hammer | 6. Jayla Bostic, 56.67m/185-11 8. Lloydricia Cameron 52.50m/172-3 |
| W Triple Jump | 3. Gissell Warner, 12.80m/42-0 | personal-best mark and ties her for eighth in UF history 5. Darrielle McQueen, 12.22m/40-1.25 |
| W High Jump | 1. Taylor Burke, 1.85m/6-0.75 | PR and new school record |
| W Shot Put | 3. Lloydricia Cameron, 14.23m/46-8.25 |
| W Javelin | 4. Kike Oniwinde, 45.56m/149-6 |
| M Pole Vault | 5. Jared Watkins, 4.92m/16-1.75 T6. Anthony Amodio, 4.77m/15-7.75 T6. Harry Glasser, 4.77m/15-7.75 |
| Shot Put | 1. Stipe Zunic, 20.38m/66-10.5 | season best |
| 4:30p M Triple Jump | 3. KeAndre Bates, 15.52m/50-11 | PR |
Running Events
| W 4x1 | 1. Reynolds, Sanders, Gause, Jefferson, 43.14 | season best and second-fastest in UF history and in the NCAA this year |
| M 4x1 | 2. Wright, Hall, Futch, Dukes, 39.44 | season best
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| W 100 Hurdles | 2. Bridgette Owens, 12.87 (0.9w) 23. Ryann McEnany, 13.98 (-0.1w) 31. Tyjah Eady, 14.26 (-0.1w) 32. Ashley Favors, 14.29 (-0.1w) |
| M 110 Hurdles | 13. Yanick Hart, 14.12 (-1.1w) | season best 19. Caleb Chambliss, 14.59 (0.0w) | PR |
| W 100 | 22. Zakiya Tyson, 12.13 (-0.2w) |
| M 100 | 14. Antwan Wright, 10.44 (1.0w) 41. Damien Daniels, 10.87 (1.0w) |
| W 400 | 2. Destinee Gause, 52.01 | PR and eighth all-time in UF history 3. Robin Reynolds, 52.26 6. Claudia Francis, 52.82 | PR 25. Julie Nunn, 57.24 |
| M 400 | 1. Najee Glass, 44.79 | PR, second-fastest time in the NCAA and is third in UF history 6. Dedric Dukes, 45.83 | season best 16. Nick Uruburu, 46.66 | season best |
| W 800 | 5. Taylor Tubbs, 2:08.88 | PR |
| M 400 Hurdles | 2. Eric Futch, 49.45 | PR, second-fastest time in the NCAA and is fifth in UF history 11. Gabriel Aird, 52.63
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| W 200 | 19. Destiny Washington, 24.14 (-1.6w) | PR 32. Zakiya Tyson, 25.04 (-1.6w) | PR |
| M 200 | 33. Damien Daniels. 22.07 (1.4w) | PR |
| W 1500 | 2. Lauren Perry, 4:24.85 | PR 4. Macy Huskey, 4:30.45 | PR 5. Shelby Hayes, 4:36.42 | season best 7. Devin McDermott, 4:39.30 | PR
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| M 1500 | 1. Andres Arroyo, 3:44.54 | PR and ranks ninth all-time in UF history 2. Jimmy Clark, 3:46.00 | PR 3. Mark Parrish, 3:46.50 | PR 6. Eddie Garcia, 3:49.58 | PR 13. Charles Chambers, 3:52.61 | PR 22. Mac Reynolds, 4:02.24 24. Eddie Romero, 4:02.76 25. Mark Mutz, 4:04.00 |
| W 4x4 | 1. Reynolds, Jefferson, Washington, Francis, 3:28.08 | season-best mark, top-mark in the NCAA and the world right now, and ranks third all-time in UF history |
| M 4x4 | 1. Uruburu, Hall, Futch, Glass, 3:02.43 |
ABOUT TOM JONES
The Tom Jones Memorial honors former longtime University of Florida women's track and field coach Tom Jones, who passed away on March 21, 2007, at the age of 62 after a courageous battle with cancer and 15 years as a Gator. One of the most successful teachers of his generation, Jones followed his passion for track for more than 35 years with head coaching stops at Florida (1992-07), Arizona State (1988-92), Texas-El Paso (1984-88) and North Carolina State (1978-84). In his head coaching career, Jones tutored his athletes to the tune of 335 All-America honors and led his teams to 12 conference titles and two national championships, while Jones was honored as the NCAA Coach of the Year three times and was a conference coach of the year on nine occasions, including seven times in the SEC.
UP NEXT
The Gators hit the road for Baton Rouge and the LSU Invitational at Bernie Moore Stadium for a one-day meet Saturday, May 2. Florida has just three weeks remaining before the 2015 SEC Outdoor Championships in Starkville May 14-16.
FLORIDA IN THE POLLS
Men: No. 2
Women: No. 2
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