The Florida men’s and women’s track and field teams excelled this weekend at the Clemson Invitational with numerous athletes setting school records and recording some of the fastest times in NCAA history.
On the Gators’ first night of action in South Carolina on Friday, sophomore Grant Holloway broke the school record in the 60-meter hurdles previously set by Gator great Eddie Lovett to tie the third-fastest time in collegiate history at 7.49 seconds.
“Going out to the race, I felt good,” Holloway said in a release. “It was kind of expected of me. I just had to execute it.”
Holloway recorded the sixth total sub-7.50-second performance in collegiate history and is only the fourth man to do so.
Sophomore Brandee’ Johnson climbed to No. 4 on Florida’s all-time list in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.26 seconds, which ties her for ninth nationally.
Freshman Amanda Froeynes competed in her first collegiate pentathlon on Friday and posted the second-highest score in the nation. Froeynes also became the No. 2 performer on Florida’s all-time Top 10 list.
Coach Mike Holloway said that he saw something special in Froeynes while recruiting her.
“As she progressed through the fall, we thought she could do some great things,” coach Holloway said in a release. “Today was just scratching the surface of that.”
Senior and reigning indoor long jump national champion KeAndre Bates put up a season-best jump of 7.79 meters (25 feet, 6.75 inches). Bates is now third on the national descending order list.
On Day 2 of the competition on Saturday, Florida track and field posted national leads in both the men’s and women’s 4x400 relays.
The men’s group of Holloway, junior Kunle Fasasi and freshmen Chantz Sawyers and Benjamin Lobo Vedel completed the relay in 3:03.49, which is the eighth-fastest time in collegiate history.
Senior Taylor Sharpe, junior Sharrika Barnett and freshmen Taylor Manson and Lauryn Ghee finished in 3:31.17 for the women, the fifth-fastest time in UF history. The time is also good for the national lead. Barnett’s anchor split of 50.56 seconds is one of the best by a collegian this season.
In the weight throw, redshirt junior AJ McFarland climbed to fifth on the national indoor descending list after breaking his own school record by seven centimeters (21.74 meters).
“Proud overall with the team this weekend,” coach Holloway said. “We challenged them to come in here and work hard, get better. I feel like everybody did that.”
The Gators had at least five performances surpass the program’s all-time Indoor Top 10 in addition to several performances in the national top 10.
A story from floridagators.com contributed to this report.
Follow Alanis Thames on Twitter @alanisthames.
Sophomore Grant Holloway set a new Gators record in the 60-meter hurdles Friday night with a time of 7.49 seconds, besting former Florida hurdler Eddie Lovett's mark by .01 seconds.
