Expectations are normally difficult to live up to in sports.
This is especially true when a team carries the weight of Florida’s name, representing one of the more prominent athletic programs in the country.
Coming into the season, UF’s No. 1 men’s and No. 4 women’s track and field teams had championship expectations. And today, representatives from both teams travel to Blacksburg, Virginia, to take on 12 of the nation’s best at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet.
Two meets into the season, both teams have shown they are talented, but they have also shown that there is room for improvement.
According to coach Mike Holloway, this could be due to how well the teams performed last year.
"The biggest thing is that we’ve got to get refocused," Holloway said in a release after the Razorback Invitational on Sunday. "I just think some people are kind of living in the past. They want to ride the success from last year or even before that. We can’t do that. We’ve got to remember who we are and how we do things."
Over the next two days at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet, the teams will have the opportunity to prove to its coach and competition that they are living in the present.
The men will face four teams ranked within the top 25 in No. 4 Virginia Tech, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 10 Georgia and No. 25 North Carolina State. The women will also be facing tough Southeastern Conference competition, taking on No. 2 Georgia, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 14 Tennessee. They will also face Virginia.
This weekend, two women will represent the Gators in throwing: Sophomore Lloydricia Cameron and redshirt freshman Jontavia Dykes will both be competing in the weight event. In addition, Cameron will also be competing in the shot put.
On the men’s side, redshirt freshman AJ McFarland will be competing in the weight event.
The Gators may only have three representatives this weekend, but that doesn’t mean the expectations will be any lower, especially not if coach Holloway is the judge.
"We’ve got some senior leadership problems, more so on the men’s side than the women’s," Holloway said. "We’ve got to get that figured out. We’ve got to do better. But, again, it’s early. We’ve got time."
Contact Lauren Staff lstaff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @lstaff27.
UF coach Mike Holloway smiles during the 2015 Florida Relays at James G. Pressly Stadium.
