Gators finish strong at Florida Relays

By Chris Raleigh, video by Samantha Montero

The Florida Gators quietly went about their work on Saturday, but made some pretty loud moves on the track and field.  Gators accumulated four top-three finishes including one top finish on the last day of the Pepsi Florida Relays at Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium.

The University of Florida’s event win came from the women’s 1600m sprint medley team made up of Darshay Davis, Danielle Williams, Lanie Whittaker and Cory McGee with a time of 3:45.46.

The USTFCCCA ranked #1 men team’s 4x100m team made up of Eddie Lovett, Leonardo Seymore, Terrell Wilkes and Jeff Demps finished third place in their race and third overall.  Their time of 38.91 was the third-fastest collegiate time this season.

Demps and company were visibly upset after finishing third.  “If I only had 10 more meters,” said Demps, the team’s anchor leg runner. 

One of the more impressive races for the Univ. of Fla. today was the Men’s 4x800m race run by middle distance runners Sean Obinwa, Matt Mizereck, Luc Lawrence and John Mitchell.  Obinwa and Mizereck jumped out to a huge lead over the first two laps, but just fell short to G.W. Express/Nike, a professional running team.

The women’s 4x800m relay also scored third place with a time of 9:05.15.  That team was made up of Genevieve LaCaze, Shelby Hayes, Sarah Davis and Mandy Perkins. 

UF sprinter Tony McQuay, who hurt himself at the NCAA Indoor Championships, pulled up lame in the 4x200m and the relay team did not finish.  With McQuay out, the Florida 4x400m team scratched.

The Gators will be back in action at home on Saturday, April 16 when they play home to the Tom Jones Memorial Classic.