AUBURN, Ala. – Distance runner Genevieve LaCaze of Australia set a new Florida freshman record in the women’s 1,500 meters Friday in the first day of the War Eagle Invitational at Auburn’s Hutsell-Rosen Track.
LaCaze won the event with an NCAA regional-qualifying time of 4:20.90. That bested her previous personal-record time of 4:22.18, set on April 3 in Pepsi Florida Relays.
“I thought Genevieve did a great job today with a two-second PR that puts her into the top-10 in the country in that event,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “That is just an indication of the hard work she is putting in everyday in practice with coach (Todd) Morgan. This gives us some momentum heading into tomorrow and I hope that everyone has that same mindset that we are here to get some work done this weekend.”
Freshman thrower Fidela James of Jacksonville finished fifth in the hammer throw with a toss of 152 feet, 11 inches. In the men’s 1,500 meters, Sean Blaney of Kissimmee was eighth in a time of 3:52.74.
The War Eagle Invitational continues Saturday at 11:30 a.m. EST.