The Gators track and field teams traveled back to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the Tyson Invitational, their fourth and final regular season meet of the indoor season. Part of the team headed north for the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University.
Senior William Gross IV recorded his personal best, 20.17 meters, in the men’s weight throw to land him in seventh place in his Gator debut. Senior Kai Chang set another personal best in the men’s shot put with a throw of 18.32 meters.
Sophomore Alida van Daalen claimed first place in the women’s shot put with a season-best throw of 18.11 meters. Daalen currently holds the third best distance in the nation.
Senior Claire Bryant has been a standout field athlete all season. She landed second place in the women’s long jump with a distance of 6.50 meters. Senior Malcolm Clemons dominated the men’s long jump with his personal best distance of 8.17 meters.
The Gators secured second place in the women’s 60-meter final with a strong performance by senior Grace Stark 7.27. Stark continued her strong performance in the women’s 60-meter hurdles as she put up a season-best time of 7.95 to secure first place.
The men’s 60-meter final was a strong event for UF. Sophomore Wanya McCoy ran a 6.643 personal best to secure second place.
Junior Jayla Hollis put up a season-best 23.37 in the women’s 200 to earn seventh place.
Junior Laila Owens 53.46 and sophomore Ramiah Elliott 53.84 locked up 10th and 12th place in the women’s 400. The Gators came away from the men’s 400 with a pair of personal bests from juniors Reheem Hayles 46.41 and Ashton Schwartzman 46.50.
The Gators dominated the men’s 800 run. Freshman Miguel Pantojas ran a personal best time of 1:48.08 to secure first place. With a season-best time of 1:49.55, junior Ryan Maseman landed in fifth place. Yet another personal best was earned by sophomore Jessica Edwards 2:06.85 in the women’s 800, landing her in 11th place.
Ten Gators earned personal bests in the 1-mile run. Freshman Lucinda Rourke 4:44.51 earned fifth place with her personal record. Sophomore Caroline Bauer 5:01.74, sophomore Breanna Stuart 5:03.12, redshirt junior Rylee Pustinik 5:06.69, and junior Liina Winborn 5:06.97 also notched personal records in the event.
Three juniors, Michael Fiore 4:10.51, Ethan Geiger 4:10.63 and Sam Austin 4:14.69 landed in the top 25 of the men’s 1-mile with their personal records. Sophomore Jonathan Pitchford 4:11.76 joined his teammates with a personal record, as well.
Freshman Lucinda Rourke placed second in the women’s 3,000-meter after running a 9:28.10. Junior Ethan Geiger put up a personal best time of 8:12.43 to earn eighth place in the men’s 3,000.
Anchored by senior Jevaughn Powell, the men’s 4x400 relay earned second place with a season-best time of 3:02.73. This marks the fifth-fastest 4x400 relay in school history.
Up in Boston, five athletes represented UF at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Senior Flomena Asekol took third place in the women’s 1-mile run with a personal best time of 4:26.27. Asekol now sits at the top of Florida’s All-Time Top-10 list in the women’s 1-mile. Senior Elise Thorner joined Asekol on the list with a personal best time of 4:35.72.
Senior Amelia Mazza-Downie 16:01.71 ran the sixth-fastest time in UF history in the women’s 5,000. In the women’s 3,000, junior Allison Wilson ran a 9:20.88.
The only Gator representing the men’s team in Boston was freshman Parvej Khan in the men’s 1-mile. Khan shattered the school record with his time of 3:56.64 in his fourth meet for UF.
Next, the Gators will compete in the SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. From Feb. 23-24. The meet will be streamed on SEC Network.
Contact Emma DiNicola at edinicola@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @emdinicolaUF.
