Although Ebony Eutsey and Laine Whitaker are close now, it wasn’t always that way.
“We were high school rivals, but now we’re teammates,” Whittaker said.
Since coming to Florida, the two have traded in their rivalry in order to become a support system for each other. Whenever they practice together, they motivate each other to have their best performance.
And that’s exactly what they did at the Pepsi Florida Relays on Friday.
In the second heat of the women’s 400m dash, Eutsey and Whittaker were side-by-side in lanes six and seven. Their start would mirror their finish of 52.06 for Whittaker and 52.07 for Eutsey.
Whitaker and Eutsey would finish second and third overall out of all nine heats, falling only to professional sprinter Francena McCorory (51.56).
“I’m just happy that I was able to push Laine, and Laine was able to push me with us being teammates,” Eutsey said.
In addition to pushing each other to two top-three finishes, they both had personal record performances Friday. Eutsey tied her personal record from high school, and Whitaker was able to break her previous personal record of 53.89.
“I’m doing better than I did last year because of new training. I was basically doing speed workouts, but I’m more an endurance person versus Ebony, she’s more of a sprinter,” Whitaker said. “She’s faster than me, but I have more endurance than her.”
It’s because of that difference that helps Eutsey and Whittaker perform so well together.
During the first day of the Florida Relays, Florida came away with seven wins: Jeff Demps (100m), Agata Strausa (3000m Steeplechase), Lorraine Graham (long jump), Tony McQuay (400m), Marquis Dendy (long jump), Stipe Zunic (javelin throw) and Josh Izewski (5000m).
Perhaps the most impressive winning performance came from Izewski, a junior, in the last event on Friday. After running 4,600 meters in the race, Izewski really hit his stride. When he came out of the first turn, Izewski took off to the cheers of his teammates and was able jump from fourth to first.
“Josh is a guy that had a lot of success a couple of years ago,” Holloway said. “It was great to watch that tonight, we’re really happy for Josh.”
As the Gators head into the second and final day of the meet Saturday, they will be looking toward the relays for their big performances.
“[Saturday] is what the Florida Relays is all about. For us we want to build on what we did today,” Hollway said. “We need to come out here tomorrow and have that same drive and passion and focus.”
