Sanders’ School Record Leads No. 1/6 Gators on Final Day of Razorback Invitational

Saturday, January 30

Fayetteville, AR

Florida Gators

Razorback Invitational

Shayla Sanders broke her own school record in a thrilling 60 meters race.

Sanders’ School Record Leads No. 1/6 Gators on Final Day of Razorback Invitational

Saturday, January 30, 2016 | Track and Field

Florida had several strong performances, but there's plenty of room for improvement

By: Zach Dirlam

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Florida track and field program closed out the Razorback Invitational on a relatively high note Saturday (Jan. 30) afternoon, as six Gators recorded times or marks that ranked inside the top 16 of the NCAA Indoor Descending Order List, including a collegiate-leading time by Shayla Sanders in the 60 meters.

Five marks and times were topped by athletes previously on Florida's all-time indoor top 10 as well.

The strongest performance of the early events came from senior Claudia Francis, who broke her indoor personal record by nearly three seconds to garner runner-up honors in the 400 meters. Francis crossed the finish line in 52.88 seconds, a top-five Division I and world time.

Darrielle McQueen had a similar performance. The sophomore jumper shattered her indoor personal best in the triple jump by nearly two feet, posting a mark of 13.36 meters (43-10) to leap all the way to No. 4 on Florida's indoor all-time top 10. It was also the second-best jump in Division I this year.

In the men's 400 meters, freshman Kunle Fasasi built on the success he enjoyed in his first collegiate meet last weekend. The Nigerian ran a season-best time of 46.68, matching the No. 7 time in Division I and No. 8 time in the world for 2016.

Later on, Sanders' time of 7.17 seconds in the 60 meters didn't just elevate her to No. 2 in the world rankings, it broke the school record of 7.18 seconds she set as a sophomore in 2014.

The Pompano Beach, Fla. native is one of only three collegians to break the 7.20-second barrier in the women's 60 meters this year.

RAZORBACK INVITATIONAL MEET RESULTS

Results (PDF)
Results (Flash Results)
Day One Recap
Venue – Randal Tyson Track Center (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Participating Teams: Arkansas (No. 1 women; No. 11 men), Florida State, Georgia (No. 2 women; No. 7 men), Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, LSU (No. 6 men; No. 18 women), Oklahoma, Oklahoma State (No. 16 men), Oregon (No. 5 men; No. 5 women), Purdue, Texas (No. 2 men; No. 3 women), Texas A&M (No. 3 men; No. 20 women), UCLA

Day One – Friday, January 29th (rankings based on results through Jan. 28)
Event	Place, Athlete -- Result
LJ (M)	2. KeAndre Bates – 7.93 meters (26-0.25) \| No. 3 in Division I; No. 8 in world
LJ (W)	4. Yanis David – 6.39 meters (20-11.75) \| No. 7 in Division I; No. No. 18 in world
	11. Darrielle McQueen – 6.06 meters (19-10.75) \| Season best
PV (M)	4. Aaron Owens – 5.21 meters (17-1) \| T-No. 8 on UF all-time indoor top 10; T-No. 23 in Division I; No. 6 in SEC
	7. Harry Glasser – 4.91 meters (16-1.75)
	9. Jared Watkins – 4.91 meters (16-1.75)
200m (W)	1. Kyra Jefferson – 22.72 \| World-leading time; 0.09 seconds off of indoor PR
	4. Robin Reynolds – 23.38 \| No. 7 in Division I; No. 8 in world
	6. Shayla Sanders – 23.49 \| No. 12 in Division I; No. 13 in world
200m (M)	24. Arman Hall – 22.01
	Damien Daniels – DQ
	Ryan Clark – DQ
	Shayne Rodney – DQ
	Michael Timpson Jr. -- DQ
	Antwan Wright -- DNF

Day Two – Saturday, January 30th
Event	Athlete -- Event
3,000m (M)	6. Magnus Pettersen – 8:30.92 \| First collegiate race
	7. Jack Beitter – 8:31.16 \| First 3,000 meters race of collegiate career
	8. Carlos Miranda – 8:31.21 \| First 3,000 meters race of collegiate career
	9. Charles Chambers – 8:31.85 \| Indoor personal record
	14. Nick Diaz – 8:55.82 \| First collegiate race
400m (W)	6. Shamaria Lovett – 55.57 \| Season-best time
400m (M)	4. Eric Futch – 47.53 \| No. 31 in Division I
	5. TJ Holmes – 47.77 \| No. 45 in Division I; First indoor 400m race at Florida
	6. Nick Uruburu – 48.24
	16. Jabari Hill – 49.51
	19. Gabriel Aird – 49.80 \| Season-best time
400m ^ (W)	2. Claudia Francis – 52.88 \| Indoor PR by 2.79 seconds; No. 3 in Division I; No. 4 in world
400m ^ (M)	3. Kunle Fasasi – 46.68 \| T-No. 7 in Division I; T-No. 8 in world
	Najee Glass – DQ
60mH * (W)	5. Skylar Ross-Ransom – 8.31 \| Advanced to final (time)
	8. Ryann McEnany – 8.50 \| PR – No. 8 on UF all-time top 10; Advanced to final (time)
60mH * (M)	4. Yanick Hart – 7.95 \| Advanced to final (time)
	7. Caleb Chambliss – 8.15 \| Advanced to final (time)
	8. Marques Burgman – 8.22 \| Advanced to final (time)
	9. Moriel Pitt – 8.25 \| Missed final by 0.03 seconds
60m * (W)	1. Shayla Sanders – 7.22 \| Advanced to final (automatic)
	3. Kyra Jefferson – 7.34 \| Tied PR; Advanced to final (time)
	7. Robin Reynolds – 7.42 \| Advanced to final (time)
60m * (M)	2. Ryan Clark – 6.73 \| Advanced to final (automatic)
	16. Michael Timpson Jr. – 6.92
	21. Shayne Rodney – 7.01
	23. Damien Daniels – 7.05
TJ (W)	1. Darrielle McQueen – 13.36 meters (43-10); No. 2 in Division I; No. 4 on UF all-time indoor top 10
	9. Ebony Luster – 11.82 meters (38-9.5)
TJ (M)	7. KeAndre Bates – 15.69 meters (51-5.75) \| T-No. 24 in Division I
Mile (W)	14. Macy Huskey – 5:06.00
	16. Amber Johnson – 5:18.91
60mH (W)	4. Ross-Ransom – 8.21
	McEnanny – DNF
60mH (M)	4. Hart – 7.87 \| T-No. 18 in Division I
	7. Chambliss – 8.14 \| PR
	8. Marques Burgman – 8.20 \| PR
60m (W)	1. Sanders – 7.17 \| School record; NCAA-leading time; No. 2 in world
	5. Jefferson – 7.33 \| T-No. 13 in Division I; No. 5 on UF all-time top 10
	6. Reynolds – 7.38 \| T-No. 24 in Division I; No. 9 on UF all-time top 10
60m (M)	4. Clark – 6.70 \| T-No. 17 in Division I
3,000m ^ (M)	5. Jimmy Clark – 8:12.59 \| No. 39 in Division I; No. 8 in SEC
	8. Eddie Garcia – 8:16.15 \| Set new PR by 2.99 seconds
Mile ^ (W)	5. Taylor Tubbs – 4:44.26 \| 0.39 seconds off of PR
	6. Elisabeth Bergh – 4:44.97 \| First collegiate race
	8. Becky Greene – 4:48.32
Mile ^ (M)	11. Andres Arroyo – 4:15.67
4x400 (M)	Fasasi, Futch, Holmes, Uruburu – 3:08.86 \| No. 9 in Division I; No. 2 Florida time of 2016

NOTES: Unless noted otherwise, all collegiate/world rankings are for the 2016 indoor season and based on results through Jan. 28 and Razorback Invitational results through Jan. 29; ^ - denotes invitational race; * - denotes preliminary

HEARING OUT (COACH) HOLLOWAY
On his overall takeaway from the meet…
"Very pleased with some areas, very, very disappointed in others. We've got some senior leadership problems, more so on the men's side than the women's. We've got to get that figured out. We've got to do better. But, again, it's early. We've got time. We've got to come back here in a month (for SEC Indoor Championships) and be competitive. We've got to get better. Overall, we had a lot of good things happen today.

"Darrielle McQueen (with) almost a two-foot PR in the triple jump; Shayla Sanders, big, big run—new school record in the 60 (meters). I was proud of Skylar Ross-Ransom, coming off a new personal best last week and ran the second-fastest time of her life. I thought we were competitive in the men's 400 (meters), thought the men's hurdlers got a little bit better. Pleased with the women's mile and men's 3,000 meters. Ryan Clark … he got better.

"The key, for me, is that we just keep getting better. I just have to see some leadership qualities come out of people. We have to get back (to Gainesville), keep training, get focused, and start understanding we can't give away opportunities like this. We had a lot of guys that just weren't focused today. We've got to do better."

On how often he's seen a school record broken this early in the season…
"I couldn't really answer that. (Shayla's) been training really well, and we knew she was ready to run fast. The big thing with Shayla right now is that she's starting to trust and believe in herself. She's a young lady who ran really fast in high school. Sometimes that's a kiss of death. She's really been patient, battled through some injuries, and we've figured each other out.

"She's in a really good place right now. With what she did in the 200 (meters) last night, and what she did today shows me she's on her way to a great year. Just have to stay focused and healthy."

On how the race strategy led to slower times in the men's 3,000 meters…
"It turned into more of a championship race than a qualifying race. When it's a championship-type race, they sit and kick. Eddie (Garcia) was able to run a PR. Jimmy (Clark) was very competitive. It's just track and field. They competed, and I was pleased with that."

On what the team needs to do over the next couple of weeks…
"We've got to get healthy; we've got some people a little dinged up. The biggest thing is that we've got to get refocused. I just think some people are kind of living in the past. They want to ride the success from last year, or even before that. We can't do that. We've got to remember who we are and how we do things.

"I'm not concerned at all. We're going to be fine. I trust Andy (Klock) and his (athletic training) staff to keep them healthy. I trust Matt (DeLancey) and his (strength and conditioning) staff to keep them strong. I trust the rest of us to make them fast, throw far, and do all of the other stuff we've got to do."

SANDERS SPEAKS
Shayla Sanders on breaking her own school record in the 60 meters…
"It's a very good feeling. I broke the school record in 2014. So coming into this year, 2016, I had to have a whole new perspective, a whole new focus. They (told me) 7.17, and I was like, 'Wow! I just broke the school record again.' "

"That's a really good feeling. All the hard days I worked in practice, doing block work, running 300s, it's all paying off."

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