At the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 27, junior Andres Arroyo shattered the record books in the 800-meter dash, setting a personal record and breaking Mark Everett’s 26-year-old Florida school record.
But according to him, there will be more record-breaking performances to come.
"I expect to come out of there with a great time, and maybe come out of there as a winner," Arroyo said of representing his team in the 800-meter dash in the NCAA Indoor competition this weekend. "I only expect great things coming out of NCAAs."
Arroyo added that he thinks this year’s team is special as a whole.
"(It's) the caliber that we have, so many elite athletes that are ranked around the world, and team chemistry," Arroyo said. "I like how when we come to track meets we come together, as a whole squad."
Arroyo’s teammate, senior Najee Glass, the 2015 USTFCCCA South Region Indoor Athlete of the Year, also has the opportunity to make a splash this weekend.
In addition to competing in the 400-meter dash, Glass is part of Florida’s 4x400 relay team made up of senior Arman Hall, redshirt junior Eric Futch and freshman Kunle Fasasi.
That relay team set the nation-leading time of 3:40.02 at the SEC Indoor Championships and gave Florida its first 4x400 title since 2010.
"This weekend I expect for the team to obviously win the national championship. I plan on doing better than I have been this past indoor season," Glass said. "I mean I had some injuries, but now I’m fine. I’m just ready to get back to Najee’s old ways."
Head coach Mike Holloway said he thinks Glass and his fellow relay team members can do even better than they did at SECs.
"That is a talented group of guys," Holloway said. "I don’t think there is anyone in America, probably anyone in the world, that is surprised that they did that. If you talked to them they thought they should have done that. They hope to run a little faster than the original (at NCAAs)."
With this being the last indoor meet for seniors Kyra Jefferson, Claudia Francis, Shayla Sanders, Arman Hall, Glass and Robin Reynolds, they are going to try and make the most of the opportunity.
"I plan to go out with a good bang, not a bad bang, but a good bang," Glass said. "I plan on doing a lot of good things and having a lot of accolades … I want to win the big titles. SECs, Outdoors, and Indoor Championships."
Contact Lauren Staff at lstaff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @lstaff27.
UF’s Najee Glass races the final leg of the 4x400-meter relay to close out the 2015 Florida Relays on April 4, 2015, at the Percy Beard Track.
