Led by Mark Mutz and Amber Johnson, the Gators capped off Saturday’s competition at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championship on a positive note.
In the 3000-meter steeplechase, Multz shattered his own personal record with a time of 8:54.88 and earned his team two points in the process
“I can’t say enough about Mark Mutz in the steeplechase tonight—17-second personal best and just outside of our all-time top 10,” coach Mike Holloway said in a release. “Phenomenal job by him and Coach (Paul) Spangler. Just extremely proud of him.”
On the women’s side, Johnson ran a 4:21.77 in the 1,500 meter prelims, qualifying for today’s finals and setting another personal record.
The Gators’ throwers also came out strong with a good showing from Marija Vucenovic and Lloydricia Cameron.
Vucenovic had a best mark of 57.81 meters in the javelin, giving her the third-best mark on UF’s all-time outdoor top ten and earning eight points.
And Cameron, who competed in the shot put, took fifth with a best mark of 16.49 meters.
As for the track events, Kyra Jefferson and Ryan Clark both qualified for the 100-meter dash finals, while both Arman Hall and Najee Glass qualified for the 400-meter dash finals.
In the 400 meter dash, Robin Reynolds was the only woman to qualify for the final.
“I challenged the whole team tonight to come out here and do better tomorrow. Everybody on the team, when we put the uniform on, we need to come out and have some pride,” Holloway said. “Certain areas tonight, we didn’t do that, and that’s just not acceptable.”
Florida ended Saturday tied for seventh place on the men’s side and in eighth place on the women’s.
Competition resumes today with Lloydricia Cameron and Jontavia Dykes in the discus throw.
Contact Lauren Staff at lstaff@alligator.org or follow her on Twitter @lstaff27
UF coach Mike Holloway smiles as he talks with his team during the 2016 Florida Relays at the Percy Beard Track.
