Gators Open NCAA Outdoors with Eight Points, Six Qualifiers

Wednesday, June 5

Austin, TX

5 PM

Florida Gators

NCAA Outdoor Championships

Thomas Mardal (left) and AJ McFarland (right) combined for Florida's eight points Wednesday evening.

Gators Open NCAA Outdoors with Eight Points, Six Qualifiers

Wednesday, June 5, 2019 | Track and Field

By: Zach Dirlam

AUSTIN, Texas. – Florida went through highs and lows on the opening night of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, but its men scored eight points in the hammer throw and qualified six entries for Friday finals – which keeps the Gators firmly in the mix for their 10th team national title this decade.

Sophomore Thomas Mardal and redshirt senior AJ McFarland opened the scoring for Florida, and both earned points with the best throws of their respective careers.

Mardal took fourth place with a personal record of 73.10 meters (239 feet, 10 inches), a mark that ranks second in school history. McFarland demolished the personal record he set at last year's NCAA Outdoors, as his top mark of 71.68 meters (235 feet, 2 inches) beat his best 2018 throw by over a foot.

The Gators got off to a quick start on the track as well, with their 4x100 relay team posting the a collegiate-leading time and the sixth-fastest time in meet history (38.35 seconds) to qualify for Friday's final. Florida's team of junior Raymond Ekevwo, sophomore Hakim Sani Brown, junior Grant Holloway, and senior Ryan Clark also tied the No. 2-ranked time in program history.

With a season-best 3️⃣8️⃣.3️⃣5️⃣ the Gators lead the Men's 4x100m relay field into the finals.

Florida 38.35
LSU 38.37
Florida State 38.43
Texas Tech 38.57
Oregon 38.81
Arkansas 38.90
Purdue 38.94
N. Carolina A&T 39.00 pic.twitter.com/nYSmsIenh4
— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 5, 2019

Sani Brown also advanced to the 100 meters and 200 meters finals. The Tokyo, Japan native ran a wind-aided 9.96 seconds, which was the second-fastest overall qualifying time and only four thousandths of a second behind the top qualifier, Divine Oduduru of Texas Tech. Roughly an hour later, Sani Brown nabbed an automatic berth in the 200 with a wind-legal time of 20.44 seconds.

Double qualifier!@Hakimsanib nabs a Q for the #NCAATF 200 final with a wind-legal 20.44.#GoGators 🐊 #LessSaid pic.twitter.com/l8qWMOliKA
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) June 5, 2019

Holloway also doubled back, and he advanced to the 110-meter hurdles final with the second-fastest qualifying time (13.16 seconds). The Chesapeake, Va., native is the event's two-time defending champion, and he is attempting to become the first man in history to sweep the indoor and outdoor high hurdles titles three years in a row.

.@Flaamingoo_ 🎤🆙

Well, we tried... pic.twitter.com/Gt1wgKLP95
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) June 5, 2019

The biggest surprise of the day came from sophomore Chantz Sawyers, who nabbed one of the two time qualifiers for the 400 meters final. Sawyers entered the meet seeded 15th, but his season-best time of 45.54 seconds was the eighth-fastest overall qualifying time.

Florida closed its night by qualifying for the 4x400 relay final, and with redshirt sophomore Connor Bandel posting the No. 4-ranked outdoor shot put mark in school history (19.30 meters / 63 feet, 4 inches) to finish 11th in that event.

Broadcast / Streaming Information

Thursday TV – 8-9 p.m. (ESPNU) / 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
- Women's Long Jump – 10:45 p.m. (ESPN3)
Friday TV – 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- Women's Heptathlon 100-meter Hurdles – 3:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
- Women's Heptathlon High Jump [Flight 1] – 4:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
- Women's Heptathlon Shot Put [Flight 1] – 6:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
- Men's High Jump – 8 p.m. (ESPN3)
- Men's Triple Jump [Flight 1] – 8:40 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday TV – 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
- Women's Heptathlon Long Jump [Flight 1] – 2:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
- Women's Heptathlon Javelin Throw – 3:45 p.m. (ESPN3)
- Women's Triple Jump [Flight 1] – 6:40 p.m. (ESPN3)
- Women's Triple Jump [Flight 2] – 6:40 p.m. (ESPN3)

NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern)

Live Results / Start Lists (Flash Results)
Meet Notes (PDF)
Venue: Mike A. Meyers Stadium (University of Texas)

*Wednesday, June 5 ( - denotes preliminary; all other events are finals)**
Event	Place (Points), Gators – Time / Mark [Wind] \| Notes
100m (M)*	2. Hakim Sani Brown – 9.96 [+2.4] \| All-conditions personal record; advanced to final (automatic)
200m (M)*	12. Sani Brown – 20.44 [+0.6] \| Advanced to final (automatic)
400m (M)*	8. Chantz Sawyers – 45.54 \| Advanced to final (time); season-best time
	22. Benajmin Lobo Vedel – 46.95
110mH (M)*	2. Grant Holloway – 13.16 [+1.8] \| Advanced to final (automatic)
400mH (M)*	17. Cory Poole – 50.83
	19. Denzel Villaman – 51.26
4x100 (M)*	1. Raymond Ekevwo-Sani Brown-Holloway-Ryan Clark – 38.35 \| NCAA-leading time; tied No. 2-ranked time on UF's All-Time Top 10; advanced to final (automatic)
4x400 (M)*	8. Lobo Vedel-Holloway-Villaman-Sawyers – 3:03.98 \| Advanced to final (automatic)
LJ (M)	12. Holloway – 7.72 meters (25 feet, 4 inches)
SP (M)	11. Connor Bandel – 19.30 meters (63 feet, 4 inches) \| Broke tie for No. 4-ranked mark on UF's All-Time Top 10 by seven centimeters (2.75 inches)
HT (M)	4 (5). Thomas Mardal – 73.10 meters (239 feet, 10 inches) \| Topped own No. 2-ranked mark on UF's All-Time Top 10 by 10 centimeters (4 inches)
	6 (3). AJ McFarland – 71.68 meters (235 feet, 2 inches) \| Topped own No. 3-ranked mark on UF's All-Time Top 10 by 39 centimeters (1 foot, 4 inches)
	11. Anders Eriksson – 68.14 meters (223 feet, 7 inches)

*Thursday, June 6 (unless denoted otherwise, events are finals)*
Time	Gators – Event
8:16 p.m.	Imogen Barrett – Women's 1,500 meters (prelim)
9:30 p.m.	Sharrika Barnett; Taylor Manson – Women's 400 meters (prelim)
9:44 p.m.	Gabrielle Wilkinson – Women's 800 meters (prelim)
10:45 p.m.	Yanis David – Women's Long Jump
11:18 p.m.	Women's 4x400 relay (prelim)

*Friday, June 7 (all events are finals, except women's heptathlon)*
Time	Gators – Event
3:30 p.m.	Amanda Froeynes – Women's 100-meter Hurdles [Heptathlon]
4:30 p.m.	Froeynes – Women's High Jump [Heptathlon]
6:30 p.m.	Froeynes – Women's Shot Put [Heptathlon]
8 p.m.	Jhonny Victor – Men's High Jump
8:32 p.m.	Raymond Ekevwo-Hakim Sani Brown-Grant Holloway-Ryan Clark – Men's 4x100 relay
8:40 p.m.	Clayton Brown – Men's Triple Jump
9:12 p.m.	Grant Holloway – Men's 110-meter Hurdles
9:22 p.m.	Hakim Sani Brown – Men's 100 meters
9:32 p.m.	Chantz Sawyers – Men's 400 meters
10:07 p.m.	Sani Brown – Men's 200 meters
10:13 p.m.	Froeynes – Women's 200 meters [Heptathlon]
10:51 p.m.	Benjamin Lobo Vedel-Holloway-Denzel Villaman-Sawyers – Men's 4x400 relay

*Saturday, June 8 (all events are finals)*
Time	Gators – Event
2:30 p.m.	Amanda Froeynes – Women's Long Jump [Heptathlon]
3:45 p.m.	Froeynes – Women's Javelin Throw [Heptathlon]
6:40 p.m.	Yanis David; Kala Penn – Women's Triple Jump
6:41 p.m.	Imogen Barrett – Women's 1,500 meters
7:32 p.m.	Sharrika Barnett; Taylor Manson – Women's 400 meters
7:44 p.m.	Gabrielle Wilkinson – Women's 800 meters
8:13 p.m.	Froeynes – Women's 800 meters [Heptathlon]
8:25 p.m.	Jessica Pascoe – Women's 5,000 meters
8:51 p.m.	Women's 4x400 relay

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