Sophomore Hakim Sani Brown was seemingly passive in his handoff to junior Grant Holloway. He was not aggressive enough in actually getting the baton in Holloway’s hands to continue the race.
But once Holloway got the baton in his hand, he ran the second curve flawlessly. Senior Ryan Clark anticipated Holloway coming at exactly the perfect time, and the next handoff was executed seamlessly. Clark crossed the finish line in first place with nobody close to him.
The Florida men’s 4x100-meter relay team, along with other potential UF national champions, highlighted the Florida Relays over the weekend. In only the second meet of the outdoor season, those athletes showed that there is plenty of work to do before postseason competition.
The 4x100 team's time of 38.69 came in second among all heats. Only Athletics Canada ran faster at 38.34. Even still, the Florida men’s 4x100-meter relay team ran the third-fastest time in the nation.
This relay team, consisting of Sani Brown, Holloway, Clark and junior Raymond Ekevwo, has legitimate potential to win a national championship. It only trails LSU and Houston, who have times of 38.41 and 38.45, respectively.
Since the 4x100-meter is the shortest relay, it is the one where handoffs matter the most. One bad transfer of the baton, like Florida had, costs serious time. A clean run could possibly bridge the time between UF and the other two schools.
“We haven’t run that fast here at Florida Relays before,” coach Mike Holloway said. “But it’s not about what we run here. We’ll see what happens in 10 weeks at the national championships.”
On the women’s side, senior Yanis David is another potential national champion. In her first triple jump performance of the outdoor season, David’s last two jumps were over 14 meters, her best one at 14.05. That gave her a 37-centimeter lead over the next best in the country, sophomore Alex Madlock from Baylor.
“It took me a little while to get there,” David said. “The third one and the last one I figured it out.”
The men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relay teams both sit in the national No. 2 ranking after Saturday. The men’s team runs senior Jabari Hill, sophomore Chantz Sawyers and junior Denzel Villaman before anchoring Holloway. Florida was in fifth place when Holloway grabbed the baton. He passed four runners to finish in second with a time of 3:03.25, only behind Iowa’s 3:03.10, which is now the fastest time in the nation.
Getting Holloway the baton a fraction of a second sooner gives the relay team legitimate championship potential.
The women’s time of 3:27.76 lost to South Carolina by .23 seconds. That team runs sophomore Taylor Manson, sophomore Nikki Stephens, freshman Doneisha Anderson and then highlights senior Sharrika Barnett. Barnett currently has the fastest 400-meter dash time, 50.96, in the nation. Her 49.7-second split was also the fastest time for the relay to almost win it. Barnett knows how to make that faster.
“I need to use my arms more,” Barnett said. “Be relaxed, but not too much.”
Follow Graham Marsh on Twitter @GrahamMarshUF and contact him at gmarsh@alligator.org.
Junior Grant Holloway clocked a time of 13.28 seconds in the men's 110-meter hurdles at the Florida Relays.
