The Gators home crowd erupted in cheers as 2019 Bowerman winner Grant Holloway was welcomed back to the Percy Beard Track. Representing Gainesville Elite, former Gators Grant Holloway, PJ Austin, Joseph Fahnbulleh and Erriyon Knighton won the Olympic Division men’s 4x100 relay with a time of 37.67 seconds. Their time marks a new Percy Beard Track record, Pepsi Florida Relays meet record and a world lead.
NCAA records were being shattered throughout both days at James G. Pressly Stadium. The Gators claimed three No. 1 times/distances, 11 top 10 NCAA placements and 18 top 20 NCAA placements throughout the two day event.
Standout senior hurdler Grace Stark added to her list of achievements. Stark set a new fastest time across the NCAA in 2024 in the preliminary round of the women’s 100 meter hurdles with her time of 12.78 seconds. After winning Heat 1 of the preliminaries, Stark went on to win the finals with a time of 12.70 seconds and qualify for the Olympics with that mark. Stark is also the first woman in the world to finish the 100 meter hurdles in under 12.80 seconds.
Senior Joseph Stravato qualified for finals in the men’s 110 hurdles, then set a personal record of 14.20 seconds in the event.
In the women’s 100 dash, Anthaya Charlton earned fifth place for the Gators and tallied a top 20 NCAA placement with the 12th fastest time in the country. Junior Ryan McCloskey set a personal record in the men’s 100 dash with a time of 10.58.
Senior JeVaughn Powell narrowly beat USC’s Johnnie Blockburger in the men’s 200 to secure fourth place. Powell ran a 20.445 and Blockburger ran a 20.447. Their times mark the seventh and eighth fastest times in the NCAA for 2024,respectively. Sophomore Kayla Davis notched a top 20 finish in the women’s 200 with a time of 23.59.
Florida topped the men’s 400 meter to earn another honorable mark in the NCAA. Junior Jenoah McKiver’s time of 45.33 seconds placed him first at the meet and No. 2 overall..
Twelve Gators competed in the men’s 800, and 10 set new personal records. Freshman Parvej Khan continued his fantastic performances from the indoor season. Finishing first among collegians, Khan set a new personal record of 1:46.12 and now holds the third fastest 800 time in the NCAA.
Heat 3 of the men’s 800 was dominated entirely by Gators. Junior Ryan Maseman placed 1st in his heat and 7th overall with his new personal best time of 1:48.024 seconds. Freshman Miguel Pantojas showed a lot of promise, as he finished just behind Maseman for 2nd in heat 3 and 8th overall with his new personal record of 1:48.077.
Senior Flomena Askol set a personal record in the women’s 800 meter with a time of 2:02.83, earning her the 5th fastest mark in the 2024 NCAA.
Three Gator sophomores set personal records in the men’s 1500 meter, earning them 3 top 10 finishes. Eoin McNally ran a 3:48.53 to place 4th. Michael Fiore ran a 3:48.92 and placed 6th. Jonathan Pitchford ran a 3:49.51 to place 8th. Junior Allison Wilson tallied another PR of 4:27.84 in the women’s 1500 meter.
In the women’s 3000 meter steeplechase, redshirt junior Rylee Pustilnik placed 3rd with a time of 10:58.87 in her first collegiate 3000 meter steeplechase.
Senior Ethan Giger won the men’s 5000 meter and set a new PR along the way. Giger’s mark of 14:11.32 earned him the 3rd fastest time in the NCAA. Junior Liinda Winborn set a new PR in the women’s 5000 meter and placed 2nd with her time of 16:44.83.
On Friday, the Gators competed in the women's 4x100 relay preliminaries and qualified for finals on Saturday with their time of 43.80 seconds as well as setting a new 6th fastest time in the NCAA for 2024.
The relay team consisted of sophomore Kayla Davis, senior Grace Stark, junior Jayla Hollis and sophomore Anthaya Charlton, who went on to place 2nd just behind South Carolina in the 4x100 finals with a time of 43.89 seconds.
The Florida A relay team won the final event of the meet; the Jimmy Carnes 4x400 relay with a time of 3:01.51.
Florida field athletes continued to be a bright spot for the Gators. On top of winning the women’s discus throw, sophomore Alida Van Daalen set a new meet record, broke her own school record and claimed the No. 1 spot in the NCAA in 2024 with her throw of 61.84 meters.
In his outdoor Gator debut, senior Kai Chang landed at No. 2 on the UF All-Time Top 10 List in the discus throw. The transfer from the University of the West Indies threw for 60.83 meters. Chang also placed 2nd in the men’s discus throw with a mark of 60.83 meters.
The 2nd and 3rd places in the women’s discus throw were secured by PRs by Sophomores Akari Isaac (52.85 meters) and Gracelyn Leiseth (52.28 meters).
Senior Will Gross IV placed 3rd in the men’s hammer throw with a mark of 64.94 meters. Florida earned 2 top 10 marks in the men’s javelin throw. Seniors Abraham Sargent and Zach GodBold placed 2nd and 7th with throws of 72.20 and 65.54 meters respectively.
Fellow senior Calvin Bostic put up a season best distance of 16.20 meters in the men’s shot put. Gracelyn Leiseth set a new personal record in the women’s shot put with a distance of 16.52 meters. Leiseth now holds the 13th farthest throw in the NCAA for 2024.
The Gators earned 1st and 2nd place in the men’s long jump thanks to 2024 NCAA record holding jumps by junior Malcolm Clemons and senior Caleb Foster. Clemons’ mark of 8 meters flat is ranked No.1 in the NCAA and Foster’s mark of 7.84 meters is the 4th farthest long jump in the 2024 NCAA.
Freshman Kendall Brown set a new PR and earned 3rd place in the women’s long jump with her distance of 6.18 meters.
Former Gator Donald Scott (competing for Adidas) set a meet and world record in the men’s triple jump with his 5th attempt, jumping 17 meters flat. Senior Sean Dixon-Bodie’s 2nd jump went for 16.84 meters, which is the new No. 1 mark in the NCAA. Freshman India Alix also put up a top 20 mark in the women’s triple jump with a season best jump of 12.03 meters.
Next the Gators travel to San Diego for the UCSD Invitational, April 4-6.
Contact Emma DiNicola at edinicola@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @emdinicolaUF
