On the final day of the Pepsi Florida Relays, Florida’s relay teams highlighted a slew of top-five finishes for coach Mike Holloway’s men’s and women’s track and field teams.
The men’s sprint medley relay made history with both a track a meet record in the event. The contingent of Antwan Wright, Dedric Dukes, Najee Glass and anchor Andres Arroyo put on a 3:13.96 performance to set a new Percy Beard Track and Florida Relays record, surpassing the previous time established by the 1992 Florida SMR.
In the Women’s Tom Jones 4x400 Invite, the quartet of Destinee Gause, Kyra Jefferson, Destiny Washington and Claudia Francis placed first with a 3:31.00 mark.
In the Florida Relays event-finale, the Gators won the Jimmy Carnes 4x400 invite, with the contingent of Nick Uruburu, Dedric Dukes, Eric Futch and Najee Glass carrying Florida to a 3:01.74-minute finish, ending Florida’s weekend on a good note.
The men won the 4x4 invite despite the absence of Arman Hall and Hugh Graham Jr., both of whom usually run with Uruburu and Glass in the event.
Coach Mike Holloway said that the replacements knew what they had to do to defend their turf this weekend, stepping up for the Gators in a big way at a big event.
The men’s distance medley relay — ran by Andres Arroyo, Gabriel Aird, Ryan Schnulle and Mark Parrish — marked a second-place finish in the event, with a 9:47.89 time.
Ciarra Brewer continued her dominance in the triple jump with her third straight event win, dating back to the NCAA Indoor Championships. She won the event with a 13.49-meter leap. Teammates Darrielle McQueen and Gissell Warner finished the event in seventh and 12th, respectively.
The men’s pole vault featured two top-five finishes for the Gators. Junior Jared Watkins and freshman Harry Glasser tied for fourth place as they each topped out at 4.95 meters. Senior pole-vaulter Anthony Amodio finished in 11th place at 4.80 meters.
Senior thrower Stipe Zunic hurled a 19.27-meter throw in the men’s shot put invite to secure a fifth-place finish.
Follow Kyle Brutman on Twitter @KBrut13
Najee Glass races in the 4x400-meter dash to close out the 2015 Florida Relays on April 4 at the Percy Beard Track.
