UF ended the Florida Relays in a deserving fashion — with a standing ovation from a near-capacity crowd.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams combined to win 10 events and set two school records at the two-day meet, capped off by the men’s 4x400-meter relay that brought the 4,000-plus at Pressly Stadium to its feet.
In that event, the quartet of R.J. Anderson, Tony McQuay, Christian Taylor and Calvin Smith took the race with a school-record 3:00:31, setting the best time in the world so far in 2010.
“It felt like winning a national championship,” said Taylor, a two-time triple jump national champion and member of UF’s recent indoor national title team.
After Taylor cemented the lead Anderson and McQuay built over professional track club GW Express, Smith ran a blazing final lap to finish first by more than a second and beat third-place Delaware State by more than six.
The event garnered the loudest cheers of the weekend, but don’t count UF head coach Mike Holloway among the dazzled.
“We’re going to put three-flat in the media guide and move on,” Holloway said. “I’ll guarantee you we’re not throwing a party next week.”
“Overall, from top to bottom, I’m extremely pleased,” he added. “Our team came out with a lot of pride and passion, and that’s what UF is all about.”
In a showcase meet for one of the nation’s premier track programs, the men’s sprinters routinely put up eye-popping numbers. They swept the 4x400, 4x200 and 4x100 relays, wining all in dominant fashion.
Smith anchored the 4x200 behind McQuay, Jeremy Hall and Terrell Wilks. They finished in 1:20:38, setting the meet, track and school record and the best time in the world of the 2010 season.
The defending NCAA-champion 4x100 team won in 38:93. Jeff Demps anchored the race begun by Jeremy Rankin, Hall and Wilks with a clear path toward the world’s second-best time in 2010.
Demps also received some of the loudest cheers for an individual during the meet. His 10.11-second win in the 100-meter dash awed the crowd and gave him a comfortable win over Hall, who finished fourth in 10.30.
Demps’ time was also the world’s fastest this year, though it fell short of his personal record of 10.01 in high school.
In what was arguably the best demonstration of talent, Taylor won the 400-meter dash and three other Gators finished in the top six. Taylor finished in a time of 45.55, while Smith was second in 45.62 seconds.
“I have the best training group in the world, and that puts me at an advantage,” Taylor said.
The women’s team put up several impressive performances of its own. Julie Northrup won the steeplechase in 10:29:22, breaking the meet record set by teammate Genevieve LaCaze at last year’s Florida Relays.
Mariam Kevkhishvili, a four-time NCAA champion, and Keely Medeiros finished first and second for the Gators in shot put. Evelien Dekkers won the javelin for the fourth-straight year, finishing with a throw of 49.97 meters.
Middle-distance runner Charlotte Browning continued her great 2010 by winning the 800-meter run. The NCAA indoor champion in the mile ran neck-and-neck with Western Kentucky’s Vasity Chemweno for most of the race before pulling away in the final 200 meters to finish with a time of 2:06:42.
Shara Proctor won the long jump in 6.63 meters.
