All seven former and current Gator track
& field athletes advanced on the second day of the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Friday was the first day of the 2012 trials held at historic Hayward Field.
Freshman Marquis Dendy (Middletown,
Del.), NCAA All-American and 2012 SEC Indoor Champion in the men’s long jump,
advanced to the finals of the men’s long jump on Friday. The Gator freshman finished
seventh overall with his leap of 7.73m/25-4.50. Former Gator greats Will
Claye and Christian Taylor competed on the runway next to Dendy,
advancing to Sunday’s finals with their jumps of 7.98m/26-2.25 and
7.89m/25-10.75, respectively.
Junior and three-time NCAA Champion Tony
McQuay (Riviera Beach, Fla.) cruised to a spot in the semifinals of the men’s
400 meters, racing to a 45.41 finish in his heat on Friday afternoon. In the
next heat, former Gator All-American Calvin Smith became the
second-fastest non-automatic qualifier to advance to Saturday’s semifinals in
45.94. McQuay and Smith will compete at 8 p.m. ET tomorrow to kick off NBC
Sports’ live primetime coverage on Saturday.
Sophomore sprinter Ebony Eutsey (Miami,
Fla.) advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 400 meters, finishing in 53.20.
Eutsey nabbed the 16th and final qualifying spot on the afternoon and will
compete at 8:15 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Friday’s competition began with the men’s
decathlon, where NCAA All-American and five-time SEC Champion Gray Horn
currently sits in fourth after the first five events. Horn finished with 4,084
points on the day, just shy of his first day personal best of 4,123 points (set
at the 2011 NCAA Championships). He will continue competition in the men’s
decathlon tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET with the men’s 110-meter hurdles.
Joining Eutsey, Horn, McQuay and Smith in
tomorrow’s competition are current Gator All-Americans Dwight Barbiasz (Milford,
N.H.), the 2012 SEC Champion in the men’s high jump, and Jeff Demps (Winter
Garden, Fla.), a five-time NCAA Champion. Demps will race in the qualifying
round of the men’s 100 meters on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. Barbiasz will compete
in the qualifying round of the men’s high jump at 7:20 p.m. ET.
The NBC Sports Group presents unprecedented
coverage of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials as American athletes compete for
a chance to take part in the London Games.
A total of 12 hours of live track and field
coverage will be a part of a record 67.5 hours of total Olympic Team Trials
coverage by NBC in 2012. Covered in prime time between NBC and the NBC Sports
Network, the 12 hours of live coverage will span the course of eight days.
