The University of Florida track and field team posted six event victories on Saturday and finished the 65th-Annual Pepsi Florida Relays with nearly 40 NCAA regional-qualifying marks over the two-day period at James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track.
The Gators turned in 19 NCAA regional-qualifying marks on Saturday to give them a total of 39 for the weekend. Florida recorded numerous personal-best marks and times in nearly every event during the meet.
The Florida men’s 4×400-meter relay team of R.J. Anderson, Calvin Smith, Carlos Phillips and Christian Taylor capped off the evening with the sixth-fastest time in school history of 3:02.84, an NCAA regional-qualifying time.
The men’s 4×100-meter relay team of Jeremy Hall, Smith, Terrell Wilks and Jeff Demps finished first in a regional-qualifying time of 39.22 in its first outing of the 2009 campaign.
Each of Florida’s three competitors in the men’s javelin recorded NCAA regional-qualifying marks, led by freshman Ben Davies, who shattered the Gators’ freshman record in that event with a throw of 226-4/68.98.
Mario Ariet turned in a personal-best and regional-qualifying throw of 223-5/68.11m in the men’s javelin, while Doug Nelson also had a personal-best and regional-qualifying toss of 217-3/66.22m.
Sophomore thrower Kemal Mesic registered the second-best men’s shot put throw in school history with a regional-qualifying mark of 63-9/19.43m en route to winning the event. Fellow thrower Beau Burroughs finished sixth in the event, also with an NCAA regional-qualifying mark of 157-8/48.05.
Junior Evelien Dekkers captured the women’s javelin at the Pepsi Florida Relays for the second consecutive year. Dekkers recorded a regional-qualifying mark of 157-8/48.05.
Smith captured the men’s 200-meter dash in a time of 20.68 (+1.2), followed by Wilks, who was second in the event in a provisional-qualifying time of 20.72 (+1.2). Smith was the recipient of the William W. “Billy” Richardson Memorial Track Scholarship, given to the most outstanding junior track and field member as determined by the head coach.
Junior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili recorded a personal-best throw of 59-2.25/18.04m to finish as the top collegian in the women’s shot put. It marked the first time in her career that she has thrown better than 18 meters. Each of the three Gators that participated in the event recorded personal bests and NCAA regional-qualifying marks, as Keely Medeiros was fifth with a throw of 52-3.75/15.94m, while freshman Fidela James was sixth with a toss of 49-6.25/15.09m.
Junior jumper Shara Proctor, who posted an NCAA provisional-qualifying time in the women’s long jump on Friday, also qualified regionally in the triple jump with a leap of 42-1.25/12.83m, to finish second in the event.
Freshmen sprinters Madison McNary and Alishea Usery each notched NCAA regional-qualifying times in the women’s 200m. McNary finished in 23.88, while Usery was 10th in 23.96.
McNary and Usery joined Danielle Williams and Ije Iheoma for the women’s 4x100m relay, which was sixth overall in a time of 45.30.
On Friday, Freshman distance runner Genevieve LaCaze set two NCAA regional-qualifying marks to highlight her first collegiate outdoor meet. LaCaze set a new Florida freshman record en route to winning the women’s 3,000m steeplechase in a time of 10:30.79.
LaCaze’s time in the steeplechase stands as the second-best mark in school history in that event, making her just the second person in program annals to post a time better than 10:40.00 in the steeplechase.
She began the day by notching a regional-qualifying time of 4:22.18 in the women’s 1,500-meter run. LaCaze was third in the event, as three Gators finished in the top five of the 1,500m. Junior Charlotte Browning was second, running the fastest time of any first-year Gator (freshman or transfer) in program history, clocking in at an NCAA regional-qualifying clip of 4:20.22. That beat the previous record by more than 10 seconds and was the fourth-fastest time overall in school history. LaCaze’s time was the 10th-fastest all-time at UF. Sophomore Kaitlin Shiver also had a regional-qualifying time of 4:26.56, finishing fifth in the 1,500m.
Freshman hurdler William Wynne won his first collegiate race, placing first in the men’s 400-meter hurdles in an NCAA regional-qualifying time of 49.67. He clocked the fourth-fastest men’s 400m-hurdle time in school history and was just shy of the school’s freshman record-holder Rickey Harris, who ran a time of 49.65 his rookie campaign, a year in which he won the NCAA Indoor 400m title.
Wynne also notched an NCAA regional-qualifying time of 13.92 (-0.2) in the men’s 110m hurdles. Senior Dennis Martin finished second in the 110m-hurdle event in a personal-record time of 13.91 (-0.2).
Junior sprinter Calvin Smith placed second and was the top collegian in the men’s 400-meter run, finishing in a time of 45.32. Freshman sprinter/jumper Christian Taylor was third in the 400m, clocking an NCAA regional-qualifying time of 45.34.
The Florida men’s 4×200-meter relay team captured its event, finishing first with the fourth-fastest time in program history at 1:21.68. The squad consisted of Taylor, Terrell Wilks, Jeremy Hall and Smith. It was UF’s fastest time in the event since the school-record setting time of 1:20.94 was achieved on April 30, 2005.
Hall and Wilks each registered regional-qualifying times in the men’s 100-meter dash. Hall was fifth overall in 10.45 (-0.3), while Wilks was 10th in 10.49 (-0.3).
Freshman thrower Fidela James, who has shown continued improvement in each of her three competitions this season, broke the Florida freshman school record in the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 156-9/47.78m. That throw shattered her previous personal-best of 150-3/45.81m, achieved last week at the FSU Relays, and broke Katie Townsend’s freshman-record mark of 151-10, set in 1998.
Junior All-America jumper Shara Proctor finished second in the women’s long jump with an NCAA regional-qualifying leap of 20-7.25/6.28m (+0.9m), while pole vaulters Natalie Moser and Daisy Glasser each notched regional-qualifying marks with heights of 13-5.25/4.10m and 12-7.50/3.85m, respectively.
Junior distance runner Sean Blaney was second in the men’s steeplechase in a regional-qualifying time of 9:04.32, which eclipsed his previous personal-best in the event of 9:33.27, accomplished in the 2007 FSU Relays. Fellow distance runner Justin Taylor recorded a personal-best in the 1,500m with a regional-qualifying time of 3:45.31 to finish second on Friday. That bested his time of 3:56.58, achieved at the 2007 Pepsi Florida Relays.
Thrower Beau Burroughs was fifth in the men’s discus with a regional-qualifying throw of 170-7/51.99m. The competition was won by former Gator Wes Stockbarger, who was competing unattached, with a heave of 191-5/58.34m.
Junior mid-distance runner Carlos Phillips turned in an NCAA regional-qualifying time of 1:46.86 in the men’s 800m.
Florida returns to action on April 18, when it travels to Auburn, Ala., to participate in the one-day Auburn Invitational.
Photo Gallery: Pepsi Florida Relays Day 1 & 2, 4/3/09 & 4/4/09
DIRECTORY OF GATOR COUNTRY PHOTO GALLERIES