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.
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.
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.
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
NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern)
| 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) |
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL:
Twitter |
Facebook |
YouTube |
Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators; #PushTheButton; #TheMissionContinues; #WeBelieve; #LessSaid
