Florida Gators
Pepsi Florida Relays
No. 2 Gators Celebrate Seniors, Enjoy Final Day of 2015 Pepsi Florida Relays
Sunday, April 5, 2015 | Track and Field
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Nearly 6,000 track and field faithful filed in to Percy Beard Track April 2-4 for the 2015 Pepsi Florida Relays, with Saturday's relay carnival the culmination of the weekend's events in Gainesville. A few afternoon rain showers didn't halt the always-popular 4x4 relays, while the Gators also capped off the three-day event with six field events Saturday.
For the No. 2 Gator track and field family, Florida Relays served as a homecoming for the program's alumni, as it does every year, provided an opportunity for the Gators to perform in front of a home crowd and gave the Orange and Blue the opportunity to celebrate the program's 21 seniors and 2015 Men's SEC Indoor Track and Field Champions.
Add a number of stellar performances, both on the track and in the field, several fun relays and the Gators head towards nearly a three-week training block with momentum from an exciting weekend.
UF put up almost 10 season-best marks Saturday, including both 4x4 relays, which captured the Tom Jones and Jimmy Carnes women's and men's invitational 4x400-meter relays, respectively. Destinee Gause, Kyra Jefferson, Destiny Washington, and Claudia Francis cruised to a season-best 3:31.00, while the men's quartet of Nick Uruburu, Dedric Dukes, Eric Futch and Najee Glass worked a season-best 3:01.78 in the relays finale.
Senior Ciarra Brewer leaped to a season-best 13.49m/44-3.25 to claim the women's triple jump title, while freshman jumper Darrielle McQueen worked her way into the Gators' record book with a 12.70m/41-8 PR in the triple jump. Jayla Bostic held things down for the throwers and opened the final day of competition with a season-best 57.27m/187-11 toss in the hammer throw to set the tone.
UF's men's sprint medley relay had a little fun with a new meet record (3:13.96) from Antwan Wright, Dukes, Glass and Andres Arroyo, while the men additionally secured a runner-up finish in the DMR (9:47.69) behind Arroyo, Gabriel Aird, Ryan Schnulle and senior Mark Parrish.
HEARING OUT HOLLOWAY
On the Pepsi Florida Relays as a whole:
“It was a great weekend. As I said to the team – it's been a rough week for me, I lost my dad a week ago – and it was weighing on my heart and mind all week long. They are phenomenal. I have so much love for them as people, not just as athletes. It's just incredible -- the performances we saw this weekend, that's just a testament to who they are. I get a lot of the credit because I'm the head coach, but I have a great staff. That's why you see the wonderful things that you see. Our athletes really trust and believe in it… we are a family, I preach that to them all the time. You saw the performances. They are very well trained and they are very talented athletes. It makes my job a lot easier.”
FLORIDA RELAYS GATORS SATURDAY RESULTS
| Field Events | ||
| 10:00am | W Hammer Invite | 9. Jayla Bostic, 57.27m/187-11 | season best |
|
| ||
| 1:00pm | M Pole Vault | T4. Harry Glasser, 4.95m/16-2.75 | Gator debut |
| T4. Jared Watkins, 4.95m/16-2.75 | season best | ||
| T11. Anthony Amodio, 4.80m/15-9 | ties season best | ||
|
| ||
| 1:30pm | W Shot Put Invite | 11. Lloydricia Cameron, 14.38m/47-2.25 |
|
| ||
| M Shot Put Invite | 5. Stipe Zunic, 19.27m/63-2.75 | outdoor opener | |
|
| ||
| 4:00pm | W Triple Jump | 1. Ciarra Brewer, 13.49m/44-3.25 | season-best |
| 7. Darrielle McQueen, 12.70m/41-8 | PR, No. 10 all-time UF | ||
| 12. Gissell Warner, 12.27m/40-3.25 | outdoor opener | ||
|
| ||
| 4:30pm | M High Jump | 9. Jhonny Victor, 2.01m/6-7 | ties season-best |
| Running Events | ||
| 12:45pm | M SMR | 1. Wright-Dukes-Glass-Arroyo, 3:13.96 | meet record |
| 3:20pm | W 4x800 | 7. Hayes-Huskey-Perry-Tubbs, 9:00.09 |
| 4:50pm | M DMR | 2. Arroyo-Aird-Schnulle-Parrish, 9:47.69 |
| 5:55pm | W Tom Jones 4x400 Invite | 1. Gause-Jefferson-Washington-Francis, 3:31.00 | season-best |
| 6:00pm | M 4x400 (F) | 35. Dix-Wright-Hart-Pitt, 3:18.23 |
| 6:10pm | M Jimmy Carnes 4x400 Invite | 1. Uruburu-Dukes-Futch-Glass, 3:01.78 | season-best |
FLORIDA IN THE POLLS
Men: No. 2
Women: No. 2
UP NEXT
The Orange and Blue will host to the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational April 24 for UF's final home competition of the 2015 outdoor season. Florida will enjoy the next three weeks of training before the Friday event at the end of the month.
