Genevieve LaCaze tore through 3,000 meters of track, hurdles and
water obstacles in the quickest time in UF history Friday.
Usually following her race, the junior distance runner would be
standing on a podium or accepting a medal for her unprecedented
mark of 10:05.92 and top finish in the women’s steeplechase, but at
the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, LaCaze instead simply punched her
ticket, along with nine other Gators, for the NCAA Finals.
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“Overall, I thought we did a great job of qualifying and starting
to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” UF coach Mike
Holloway said.
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“I was pleased with the energy and effort that I saw from our team
today. We just have to continue to be who we are, and do what we
do, and we’ll be fine. Tomorrow, we just have to continue to
execute at a high level, like we have done all weekend.”
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Also joining LaCaze from the No. 19 women’s squad in Des Moines,
Iowa from June 8-10 were Keely Medeiros (shot put) and freshman
Fawn Miller (javelin), both notching top-10 efforts
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For the No. 2 men’s team, sprinters Jeff Demps and Terrell Wilks
both ran qualifying times in the 100-meter dash, while Christan
Taylor and Will Claye completed a 1-2 sweep of the triple jump.
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Sophomore Tony Mcquay sprinted his way to a finals berth in the
400-meter dash, to go along with medium distance runner Sean
Obinwa’s ninth place finish in the 800-meter.
In
the field, Jeremy Postin locked up the second qualifying toss for
the throwers with a sixth-place attempt
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After the second day of action, Florida has advanced athletes in 11
men’s events, while the women’s team has four spots locked up. The
final day of the NCAA Preliminary Rounds begins at 11 a.m.
Saturday.
