Following a slow start in the first day of the Rod McCravy Invitational, the Gators’ men’s and women’s track and field relay teams broke records during the second day of the meet.
The No. 6 ranked women’s 4x400 relay, made up of seniors Robin Reynolds, Kyra Jefferson, Claudia Francis and sophomore Taylor Sharpe, ran the top spot in the NCAA this year with a time of 3:30.51, beating out second place Miami by more than seven seconds. UF’s relay was also good enough for No. 3 best time in UF history.
For the No. 1 ranked men’s 4x400 relay, seniors Najee Glass and Arman Hall, along with freshmen Ryan Clark and Kunle Fasasi, came in first place with a time of 3:05.57, narrowly missing the record set by the Gators last year of 3.04.22, a McCravy Meet Record.
The time is also the No. 1 4x400 meter relay time among Division 1 schools this year.
“This was our opening meet, so the whole thing this weekend was about was just seeing where we were, and seeing what we need to work on,” coach Mike Holloway said in a release.
Mid-distance runner Andres Arroyo won his section of the 800-meters, with a time of 1:47:43. The Orlando native’s time is the No. 2-ranked 800-meter time this season.
Sophomore Lloydricia Cameron finished fourth in the Shot Put, posting a top-25 Division I in the first event of the day, while freshman Ebony Luster finished ninth in the triple jump with a distance of 11.99m.
Now, the Gators will turn their attention to the Razorback Invitational, where they will face the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Jan. 29-30.
While the Gators were to come out much better in the second day of the event, Holloway wasn’t impressed with the way they performed during the meet as a whole. He hopes it serves as a wake up call.
“I saw a lot of good things. We had a lot of great marks from a lot of good people. But I also saw some things I didn't like,” Holloway said. “We've got some people that kind of need to wake up and realize where they are.
“We are at the University of Florida. We are in the Southeastern Conference. This isn't high school anymore.”
Contact Lauren Staff at lstaff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @Lstaff27.
UF track and field coach Mike Holloway talks with mid-distance runner Andres Arroyo on the final day of the 2015 Florida Relays on Saturday at the Percy Beard Track.
