Gators Open Outdoor Season at FSU Relays

Friday, March 23

Tallahassee, FL

Florida Gators

FSU Relays

Florida has won each of the last two NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Gators Open Outdoor Season at FSU Relays

Thursday, March 22, 2018 | Track and Field

Florida's men are ranked No. 4, while the women are ranked No. 8 in the USTFCCCA National Preseason Team Rankings

By: Zach Dirlam

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida track and field, which took home a pair of trophies two weeks ago at the NCAA Indoor Championships, opens its 2018 outdoor season at the Florida State University Relays Friday.

The men's team are the two-time defending NCAA Outdoor champions and are coming off their first NCAA Indoor title since 2012.

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On the women's side, the Gators finished fourth at NCAA Indoors, collecting a trophy for the first time since 2015. They missed the podium (reserved for the top four teams) by a single point at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Florida's returning outdoor national champions are senior KeAndre Bates (long jump and triple jump) and sophomore Grant Holloway (110-meter hurdles). Bates scored 11 points at NCAA Indoors this year, finishing second in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump. Holloway, who broke the 60-meter hurdles collegiate record last month, accounted for 19.5 points, as he repeated as the 60 hurdles champion, finished second in the long jump, and split 44.91 seconds for the Gators' third-place 4x400 relay—which ran the third-fastest time in indoor track and field history.

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Bates will open his outdoor season in long jump, as will Holloway, who is also slated to run with Florida's 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

Other returning men's NCAA Outdoor scorers opening their seasons this weekend are redshirt junior Jhonny Victor, who tied for seventh in the high jump last year, and junior Anders Eriksson, who took fifth in the hammer throw as a freshman at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The top women's returners opening their seasons Friday are junior Sharrika Barnett (400 meters), senior Lloydricia Cameron (shot put), and senior Darrielle McQueen (long jump). Barnett took fifth last year, though she will open in the 200 meters and with the 4x400 relay team. Cameron took seventh last year, but is coming off a fourth-place finish at NCAA Indoors. McQueen has scored in the long jump at the last two NCAA Indoor Championships, but is seeking her first outdoor points since 2016, when she finished fifth.

Friday also marks the Florida debut of sixth-year senior javelin thrower Avione Allgood. After four seasons at Oklahoma and medically redshirting while in Gainesville last year, Allgood is the nation's top returner in the event by just under half a meter. The Las Vegas native was the 2014 national runner-up, broke the Big 12 Conference record, and won three Big 12 titles with the Sooners.

Fans can follow the meet via the @GatorsTF Twitter account and live results from Prime Time Timing (link below).

FLORIDA STATE RELAYS INFORMATION (all times Eastern)

Live Results (Prime Time Timing)
Competing Teams: Alabama (No. 6 men; No. 25 women), Auburn, Dartmouth, Florida State (No. 19 women), Georgia Tech, Liberty, Southern Miss
Venue: Mike Long Track (Florida State University)

*Friday, March 23 (all events are finals)*
Time	Gator – Event
9 a.m.	Anders Eriksson; Thomas Mardal; AJ McFarland – Men's Hammer Throw
	Lloydricia Cameron; Amara Wiggan – Women's Hammer Throw (follows men's)
12 p.m.	Connor Bandel; Mardal; McFarland; Christopher Olson – Men's Discus Throw
	Cameron; Jontavia Dykes – Women's Discus Throw (follows men's)
12:30 p.m.	Mike Harris – Men's Pole Vault
	KeAndre Bates; Enzo Hodebar; Grant Holloway – Men's Long Jump
	Amanda Froeynes; Darrielle McQueen; Nikki Stephens – Women's Long Jump
1:30 p.m.	Cory Poole – Men's 110-meter Hurdles
	Brandee' Johnson; Timetria Mitchell – Women's 100-meter Hurdles
	Jhonny Victor – Men's High Jump
2 p.m.	Sam Ahrenholz; Jack Beitter; Austin Decker; Jack Guyton; Trey LaNasa; Jack Rogers; Dominic Williams – Men's 800 meters
	Elisabeth Bergh; Caitlin McQuilkin-Bell; Madison Morse; Lauren Perry – Women's 800 meters
3 p.m.	Michael Timpson Jr.-Chantz Sawyers-Holloway-Ryan Clark – Men's 4x100 Relay
	Bandel – Men's Shot Put
	Cameron – Women's Shot Put
3:15 p.m.	Clark; Dawson Guillory; Jabari Hill; Cole Johnson – Men's 400 meters
	Taylor Sharpe – Women's 400 meters
3:30 p.m.	Clayton Brown – Men's Triple Jump
	Asa Garcia – Women's Triple Jump
4 p.m.	Destiny Ward – Women's 400-meter Hurdles
4:30 p.m.	Damien Daniels – Men's 100 meters
	Bria Mack – Women's 100 meters
4:45 p.m.	Marshall Dillon; Jesse Millson; Bryce Statham – Men's 2,000-meter Steeplechase
	Emily Chapman – Women's 2,000-meter Steeplechase
5:10 p.m.	Nick Deal; Decker; Kyren Hollis; Millson; Justin Pacifico; Zach Purvis; Statham – Men's 1,500 meters
	Sophie Ebihara; Abbie Harrelson; Morgan Hull; Jessica Pascoe; Perry – Women's 1,500 meters
5:30 p.m.	Daniels; Kunle Fasasi; Benjamin Lobo Vedel; Sawyers; Timpson Jr. – Men's 200 meters
	Sharrika Barnett; Froeynes; Lauryn Ghee; Mack; Taylor Manson; Stephens – Women's 200 meters
6 p.m.	Avione Allgood; Froeynes; Megan Reed – Women's Javelin Throw
7:10 p.m.	Fasasi-Holloway-Clark-Hill [A]; Lobo Vedel-Sawyers-Poole-Johnson [B]; Guillory-Hollis-Pacifico-Timpson Jr. [C] – Men's 4x400 Relay
	Stephens-Ghee-Ward-Manson [A]; Sharpe-Johnson-Froeynes-Barnett [B] – Women's 4x400 Relay