The Florida track and field team wrapped up its indoor regular season this weekend with split-squad action at the Tyson Invitational, hosted by Arkansas, and the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, hosted by Boston University.
While most of the Gators’ action went down in Fayetteville, it was junior Beth Morley who provided the highlight of the weekend 1,500 miles away in Boston.
The Valentine Invitational is an iconic meet for collegiate and professional distance runners who make the trek to BU to be buoyed to fast times by the unique bounce and wide turns of the track inside the Boston University Track and Tennis Center.
Morley, who had already established herself as one of the best milers in the NCAA with a 4:32.88 clocking two weeks ago, was aiming for an NCAA indoor qualifying time. A historic performance would be the cherry on top.
Lined up against a strong field that included five pros and three of the 25 fastest women in NCAA history, Morley held her own throughout the whole race.
At the end of a little more than eight laps around the track, she crossed the line in 4:26.76. This run vaulted Morley to number two on the UF all-time list and number 13 in NCAA history among record-eligible performances.
“Depth” was the word of the day in Boston. Despite becoming the 13th-fastest woman in collegiate history, Morley was only the sixth-fastest collegiate finisher on the day. Oregon junior Şilan Ayyildiz set a collegiate record with her time of 4:23.46.
Heading into the postseason, Morley sits at number nine on the NCAA Division I indoor qualifying list, where the top 16 performers in the nation (factoring in scratches) qualify for the national championships in March.
Moving up in distance, Tia Wilson and Jonathan Leon produced two of the best performances in program history in the 3000m and 5000m. Wilson, a junior from England, finished 19th overall in 9:06.41, making her the fourth-fastest Gator ever. The top four times in UF history were run in the last two seasons. Leon, a freshman from Hagerty High School in Oviedo, claimed the ninth spot on the UF all-time list in his 5000m debut, running 14:07.03.
Freshman Reagan Gilmore closed out the Gators’ trip to Boston with a 16:04.84 clocking in her first career 5000m race. The performance sets Gilmore as the sixth-fastest woman in program history over the distance.
The Tyson Invitational didn’t produce the same sparks as the Gators’ last trip to Fayetteville two weeks ago, but there were still strong showing across the board to build confidence heading into the postseason.
In her first time back on the runway, since a historic performance at the Razorback Invitational, junior Anthaya Charlton had a solid appearance in the women’s long jump. Herfirst two jumps were measured at 6.56 meters, which would be good enough for an indoor qualifier even if Charlton didn’t already own a season’s best of 6.98 meters. She couldn’t manage to improve upon that distance across her final four jumps, but still finished fifth overall and second among collegians.
Asia Phillips had the best day of her young collegiate career in the open section of the women’s triple jump. The freshman from Ontario produced four jumps that were better than any at her first two meets, eventually finishing second with a best mark of 13.32 meters. This performance slots the Canadian junior record holder in at number nine on the UF all-time list.
Junior Regan Lawrence got things started for the Florida hurdlers by winning the open section of the men’s 60m-hurdles, breaking the tape in 8.09. In the invitational section, freshman Vance Nilsson equalled his personal best of 7.87, and junior Demaris Waters finished sixth in the final. Waters was in the thick of the race early before clipping the final hurdle and stumbling across the line to a time of 8.00 seconds. On the women’s side, freshman Skyye Lee set a personal best of 8.30 in the prelims, moving her inside the top 10 in program history, but was ousted in the semifinals.
Wanya McCoy, who entered the meet as the fifth-fastest man in the country over 60m, seemed to be in a good spot heading into the 60m final after two controlled runs in the rounds. However, the Bahamian junior opted to not race in the final, which is a habit sometimes seen by the NCAA’s elite sprinters on days where the meet schedule requires them to run three rounds in one day. Therefore, McCoy’s best time of the meet was a semifinal win in 6.63 seconds.
In a contentious 56-man 200m field, Florida managed to place three athletes inside the top 15 finishers. Sophomore Malique Smith-Band and junior Garrett Fox won their heats in 21.00 and 21.15, respectively, while freshman standout Jaden Wiley ran 21.13 and placed second in his heat.
UF sophomore Imani Washington has been on a tear to open the 2025 season, and she continued her string of personal bests on Friday. Coming into the season with a personal best in the weight throw of 18.43 meters, Washington reset that mark in each of her first three competitions. This time out, she broke the 20-meter barrier for the first time in her career, throwing 20.09 meters and finishing eighth. Senior Jacob Lemmon and redshirt senior John Luke Witte finished sixth and seventh for Florida in the men’s weight throw, producing marks of 21.41 meters and 21.05 meters, respectively.
Sophomore Gracelyn Leiseth stayed consistent for the Gators in the women’s shot put, finishing seventh with a best mark of 16.56 meters.
The distance fun wasn’t limited to just Boston, as there were a handful of noteworthy performances in Arkansas too. Junior Bree Stuart ran an impressive double, setting personal bests in the 3000m (9:42.92) and the mile (4:55.49).
Senior Sam Austin finished fifth overall in the invitational men’s 800m, running a season’s best of 1:47.08. Austin has qualified for indoor nationals each of the last three years, but he’ll be on the outside looking in as the Gators head to the SEC Championships.
In the invitational women’s 800m, sophomore Layla Haynes took a huge step forward with a personal best of 2:05.02. Finishing eighth overall despite running out of heat one (theoretically the slowest heat), Owens stamped her name at number seven on the UF all-time indoor list and number two on the Barbadian indoor list.
The meet ended on an unprecedented note for the Gators, as the men’s 4x400m relay squad was defeated for the first time this season. Without 400m star Jenoah McKiver (who did not contest any events this weekend) on the anchor leg, Arkansas made use of its home-track advantage to secure the win in 3:03.51 to Florida’s 3:04.24.
Next on the schedule for head coach Mike Holloway’s squad is a trip to College Station for SEC Indoor Championships. In 2024, the Gators finished runner-up to Arkansas in both the men’s and women’s team races. The meet will take place from Feb. 27 to Mar. 1.
Contact Paul Hof-Mahoney at phof-mahoney@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @phofmahoney
Paul is a junior sports journalism major who is covering the track and field beat in his first semester with the Alligator. In his free time, he enjoys watching commentary Youtube channels and consuming every medium of track and field content imaginable.
