Bates Scores in Long Jump, Gators Qualify Seven Finalists at NCAA Indoor Championships

Friday, March 11

Birmingham, AL

Florida Gators

NCAA Indoor Championships

Najee Glass posted the top 400 meters time among the 16 preliminary racers.

Bates Scores in Long Jump, Gators Qualify Seven Finalists at NCAA Indoor Championships

Friday, March 11, 2016 | Track and Field

Florida will have 11 total scoring opportunities on day two

By: Zach Dirlam

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Florida track and field program qualified seven finalists from its 12 preliminary races on the opening night of the NCAA Indoor Championships, hosted by the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Florida's men put five points on the board, courtesy of KeAndre Bates' fourth-place finish in the long jump, the only event it had the opportunity to score in Friday (March 11).

Senior sprinter Najee Glass turned in the Gators' top qualifying performance of the evening. The Woodbridge, N.J. native clocked a time of 46.31 in the 400 meters, the fastest time among all 16 preliminary racers.

Fellow seniors Arman Hall and Kyra Jefferson both qualified for the 200 and 400 meters finals, setting them up to pull triple duty on day two. In addition to their individual races, the duo is slated to run on the men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams.

The Gators will have two finalists in both 400 meters races, as senior Claudia Francis secured the last spot in the field of eight on the women's side.

Live streaming of Saturday's (March 12) action at the NCAA Indoor Championships will be provided by ESPN3 via Watch ESPN. The broadcast will begin at 4:55 p.m. ET. A highlight-based replay of the meet will be broadcast at 7 p.m. ET Sunday (March 13) on ESPN2.

NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS NOTES & NUMBERS

This is the 12th consecutive year the Gators have at least one men's 400 meters finalists, which is the third-longest active streak in any event for either gender
KeAndre Bates joins Dion Bentley (1991-92) as the only other Gator in program history to record top-four finishes in the long jump in consecutive years
- Bates took fourth place this year and third place in 2015
Shayla Sanders is the first runner in school history to qualify for the 60 meters final three years in a row
Kyra Jefferson is the first runner in program history to qualify for three 200 meters finals, with tonight's qualification being her third in a row
Ryan Clark's time of 6.65 in the 60 meters prelims ties the second-fastest time run by a freshman who did not make the final at the NCAA Indoor Championships since 1999, tying Baylor's Trayvon Bromell (6.65, 2014) and only ranking behind Florida State's Kendal Williams (6.62, 2015)
- Clark was the only freshman to qualify for this year's 60 meters race

NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern and subject to change)

Saturday Live Stream – 4:55 p.m. (ESPN3 via Watch ESPN)
Television Replay – Sunday, March 13, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Live Results (Flash Results)
Meet Notes
Venue: Birmingham CrossPlex (Birmingham, Ala.)

Day One – Friday, March 11th
Event	Place (Score), Athlete – Time/Mark \| Notes
LJ (M)	4 (5). KeAndre Bates – 7.73 meters (25-4.5)
60mH (M)*	14. Yanick Hart – 7.94
60mH (W)*	14. Skylar Ross-Ransom – 8.19 \| 0.01 seconds off of PR
60m (M)*	12. Ryan Clark – 6.65 \| 0.01 seconds off of PR; missed final by 0.03 seconds
60m (W)*	3. Shayla Sanders – 7.17 \| Advanced to final (time)
400m (M)*	1. Najee Glass – 46.31 \| Advanced to final (time)
	7. Arman Hall – 46.59 \| Advanced to final (time)
LJ (W)	13. Darrielle McQueen – 6.11 meters (20-0.5)
400m (W)*	7. Kyra Jefferson – 52.54 \| Advanced to final (time)
	8. Claudia Francis – 53.09 \| Advanced to final (time)
	10. Robin Reynolds – 53.18 \| Missed final by 0.09 seconds
800m (M)*	15. Andres Arroyo – 1:50.66
200m (M)*	4. Arman Hall – 20.85 \| Advanced to final (time)
200m (W)*	4. Kyra Jefferson – 23.14 \| Advanced to final (time)

Day Two – Saturday, March 12th
Time	Athlete -- Event	M/W	Round
5:55 p.m.	Shayla Sanders – 60 Meters	W	Final
6:00 p.m.	Yanis David; Darrielle McQueen – Triple Jump	W	Final
6:10 p.m.	Najee Glass; Arman Hall – 400 Meters	M	Final
6:20 p.m.	Claudia Francis, Kyra Jefferson – 400 Meters	W	Final
6:50 p.m.	Arman Hall – 200 Meters	M	Final
7:00 p.m.	Kyra Jefferson – 200 Meters	W	Final
7:40 p.m.	Eric Futch, Kunle Fasasi, Najee Glass, Arman Hall – 4x400 Relay	M	Final
7:55 p.m.	Robin Reynolds, Kyra Jefferson, Sharrika Barnett, Claudia Francis – 4x400 Relay	W	Final

* - denotes preliminary race

Men's Top Five Teams
Place	Team	Points
1.	No. 1 Oregon	25
2.	No. 10 Washington	18
3.	No. 21 Southeastern Louisiana	15.50
4.	No. 2 Arkansas	14
5.	No. 14 Virginia Tech	13.50
T-18.	No. 3 Florida	5

Women's Top Five Teams
Place	Team	Points
1.	No. 3 Georgia	27
2.	No. 4 Arkansas	19
3.	No. 7 Notre Dame	18
4.	No. 8 Michigan	13
T-5.	No. 18 Kentucky; No. 11 Georgetown; Alabama; UC Riverside	10
	No. 1 Florida	DNS

HEARING OUT (COACH) HOLLOWAY
On his overall assessment of Friday's competition…
"As always, we had some good and some bad. I'm just really disappointed in the way some people handled their business here. We talk a lot about execution. We talk a lot about trusting what we do every day. And, for some reason, people came in here and decided not to trust. They tried to do things their own way, and it didn't work.

"We've got to come out here tomorrow, we have to remember who we are, and we need to quit acting like we had a horrible day. Obviously we would've liked to get Robin (Reynolds) in the 400 meters final, we'd have liked to have Darrielle (McQueen) score in the long jump, but, other than that, everybody who was supposed to make the final made it. I thought Skylar (Ross-Ransom) ran well, equaled second-fastest time of her life. Ryan Clark equaled the second-fastest time of his life (in the 60 meters). He didn't run horrible; he was just in a loaded field and didn't quite make it.

"At the end of the day what we have to do is engage in what's going on and match the intensity of the other teams in the building tomorrow. That's what I didn't see today. I didn't see any intensity out of the Gators. It will be different tomorrow."

On what else the Gators need to do to put themselves in contention tomorrow…
"Today is over with. We qualified who we qualified. What we have to do tomorrow is get our butts up, get rested, and we've got to wake up tomorrow morning and remember who we are. That's the whole deal. If we do that, we'll be fine."

On Arman "Gino" Hall and Kyra Jefferson both qualifying for the 200 and 400 meters finals…
"They did a phenomenal job. Kyra especially; she's got a little bit of a stomach bug and couldn't hold much food down today. For her to do that today was phenomenal. Gino is Gino. When he's healthy and ready to roll, he rolls. And he rolled today. They're our seniors, our leaders, and we expect big things out of them tomorrow."

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