After a successful 2012 season, the Florida Gators track and field team started where it left off with a strong performance in the season opening Crimson Tide Indoor Opener in Birmingham, Ala.
The Gators finished the event with 17 top-three finishes and six event victories.
“I think that anybody who knows us and knows our program expects us to perform at a high level and when we’re recruiting athletes, we don’t recruit them to be successful when they’re juniors and seniors. We expect them to come in and contribute right away and that’s what you saw with our freshman class today,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said in a school release.
Hurdler Eddie Lovett won both his preliminary and final heats as he finished the hurdles event with his fourth-fastest career time of 7.76 seconds.
Another hurdler, freshman Moriel Pitt came away with a win in the men’s 60-meter hurdles by finishing in 7.98 seconds. This was the first meet of Pitt’s career on the Gators’ track and field team.
The men’s 4×400 relay also turned in a strong performance. The team finished with a time of 3:07.59, which is the second-fastest time for the event in the NCAA in 2013.
“Across the board, I was just very pleased with the effort and the focus of our athletes today,” Holloway added in the release.
The Gators will be in action again on Jan. 17 as they host the Gator Invitational.