The University of Florida track and field team won three events and sophomore thrower Jeremy Postin (Auburndale, Fla.) broke his own school record in the men’s hammer throw for the second consecutive week as across-the-board success highlighted the opening day of the Pepsi Florida Relays at James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track.
“I thought we had a great day today,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “When you look across the board, whether it was the field events, the middle-distance or the sprints, we got better in everything we did. We talked a lot about effort and getting better, and we saw that today.”
The two-day Pepsi Florida Relays conclude on Saturday with events beginning at 9 a.m. ET. Gates will open at 8 a.m. ET. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children and $1 for UF students with a valid UF student ID per day. Live results for the meet may be found at www.deltatiming.com. Complete coverage of the Pepsi Florida Relays can be found at www.gatorzone.com/trackfield/floridarelays.
“Tomorrow, it’s all about team,” Holloway said. “Relays are the ultimate team competition. We’re going to see a lot of pride and a lot of passion. I’m really excited to see the Gators compete tomorrow.”
Junior sprinter/jumper Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) ran the top collegiate time this season in the men’s 400-meter run, finishing in 45.46, to win the event for the second consecutive year. That time was just shy of his personal-record time of 45.34, run en route to win the Florida Relays 400m last year.
Postin, who last week became the first person in UF school history to throw better than 200 feet in the men’s hammer throw, broke his own school record in the event for the second consecutive week. Postin turned in a personal-best toss of 65.09m/213-6. Postin came close to matching the facility record of 217-2, set by Bradley Cooper of Athletic Attic in 1982.
Junior sprinter Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.), the defending NCAA Outdoor 100-meter Champion, captured the men’s 100-meter dash in his 2011 outdoor debut in a time of 10.07 (+2.2). Senior sprinter Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.) was fourth in the men’s 100m in 10.35 (+2.2).
Freshman distance runner Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.), the 2011 Southeastern Conference Indoor Mile Champion, claimed the women’s 800-meter run in a time of 2:07.45.
Freshman thrower Stipe Zunic (Zadar, Croatia) used the fourth-best men’s javelin throw in program history to place third in Friday’s competition with a toss of 70.74m/232-1. Teammate Zane Breakiron (Uniontown, Pa.) was fifth with a toss just out of Florida’s all-time top-10 at 63.02m/206-9.
Sophomore hurdler Ugonna Ndu (Newark, N.J.) turned in a personal-best time of 13.93 to place 16th overall in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. That time is just outside Florida’s all-time top-10 in program history.
Thrower Keely Medeiros (Luziania, Brazil) placed second in the women’s discus invitational with a personal-best toss of 52.82m/173-3. That goes down as the ninth-best women’s discus throw in program history. Teammate Ashley Miller (Miami Beach, Fla.) was sixth overall with a throw of 50.67m/166-3.
Middle distance runner Sean Obinwa (Tampa, Fla.) placed third overall in the men’s 800-meter run in a time of 1:48.44, while freshman sprinter Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.) was ninth in the women’s 400-meter run in a time of 54.13.
Freshman hurdler Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.), the 2011 SEC Indoor 60-Meter Hurdles Champion, placed 11th overall in the men’s 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.26 (-2.0), while Jarius Cooper (Palm Coast, Fla.) was 16th in a time of 14.31.
Senior sprinter Danielle Williams (Jacksonville, Fla.) placed ninth in the women’s 200-meter invitational in a time of 23.86 (+2.3). That would have been a personal-best time if not for being slightly wind-aided. Davis was 10th in the 200m in 23.87 (+2.3)
Senior pole vaulter Daisy Glasser (Atlantic Beach, Fla.) placed third in the women’s pole vault with a season-best leap of 3.97m/13-0.25, which bested her leap of 3.80m/12-5.50 set at the UCF Invitational last weekend.
Freshman middle-distance runner Matt Mizereck (Tallahassee, Fla.) shaved more than a second off his personal-best time in the men’s 1,500-meter run, clocking a 3:51.17, while junior middle-distance runner Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia) was second in the women’s 1,500-meter run in 4:26.68.
Thrower Kaitlin Davis (Niceville, Fla.) placed third in the women’s discus with a personal-best toss of 46.74m/153-4.
