Grant Holloway usually has a good start. Friday in Austin, Texas, was no different.
The junior heard the gun go off and immediately got out in front of everyone, including Kentucky’s Daniel Roberts, who came into the event with the fastest prelim time in the 110 hurdles. In the final, however, Holloway held on to his initial lead with a strong finish and became a six-time hurdle champion.
Holloway’s success highlighted a strong weekend for Florida at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The men’s side concluded the season as national runner-up to Texas Tech, 10 points behind the Red Raiders with 50 points. The women’s side finished one spot outside the top five with 32 points.
Holloway needed to break a 40-year-old record, set by Renaldo Nehemiah of Maryland, to defeat Roberts. His time of 12.98 is the best collegiate time ever. Roberts was barely behind him at 13.00, tying Nehemiah’s record.
Holloway had more to celebrate on Friday as well. His 4x100-meter relay team also broke an NCAA record by a considerable margin. Florida’s quartet of sophomore Hakim Sani Brown, junior Raymond Ekevwo, senior Ryan Clark and Holloway became the first to finish the race in less than 38 seconds. UF’s time of 37.97 topped the previous best, set by Houston last year, by 20 milliseconds.
Sani Brown later became the fastest Japanese man to ever run the 100-meter dash. His 9.98 time was fast enough to earn bronze. The Tokyo native also captured bronze in the 200-meter dash.
Senior Yanis David took gold in the women’s long jump on Thursday with the No. 10 all-time jump in NCAA history. She also took triple jump silver on Saturday with a jump of 13.93 meters. David entered 2019 with no national titles to her name. She will leave UF with two after this weekend's title and a win in the triple jump in the indoor championships earlier this season.
Senior Sharrika Barnett took bronze in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51 seconds. This is her first medal in the event, as she placed fourth in 2018 and fifth and 2017.
Follow Graham Marsh on Twitter @GrahamMarshUF and contact him at gmarsh@alligator.org.
Grant Holloway, a former UF track star, was expected to compete in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
