Murphy’s Law rang true for Florida track and field this weekend, as the 11th-place women and the 15th-place men both suffered their worst finishes in program history at the SEC Indoor Championships.
In the first championship held at Texas A&M’s new Fasken Indoor Track and Field Facility, the Gators were met with injuries and uncharacteristic performances across the three days of competition. The women totaled 34 points in six events, and the men scored 15 in five.
Tia Wilson claimed the lone gold medal of the weekend for the Gators in the women’s mile. The junior transfer from Loughborough University in England comfortably won her preliminary heat but was far from the favorite entering the final. On paper, her personal best was 10 seconds slower than LSU’s Lorena Rangel Batres.
From the gun, it was clear what Wilson’s plan was. Rangel Batres went to the front of the pack and Wilson glued herself to the leader’s shoulder. Despite her best efforts, the Tiger couldn’t shake the Gator through the first 1500 meters. As the two came around the final turn, Wilson pulled even with Rangel Batres before overtaking her as they came to the line.
Wilson ended up winning with a time of 4:30.10, shaving six seconds off her personal best and becoming the third-fastest performer in program history. Her win is the ninth women’s mile conference title by a Gator and the second-straight after Flomena Asekol won last year’s race.
The women’s distance group proved to be the most valuable part of the team this weekend by a significant margin, scoring 24 of the Gators’ cumulative 49 points.
Junior Hilda Olemomoi, who finished third at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November, took home a runner-up finish in the 3000-meters, crossing the line in 8:57.50. Olemomoi came up short of securing a qualifying time to the national championships in the 3K, but her 14:52.84 clocking in the 5000-meters from December means she’ll still be heading to Virginia Beach.
Wilson and Olemomoi ran on the distance medley relay on Thursday night, where the Gators finished third. They were joined by junior Gabby Matthews, who ran the 400-meter leg, and redshirt junior Jess Edwards, who ran the 800-meter leg. The quartet secured six points for Florida with their time of 10:55.92.
Freshman Asia Phillips had a big day in the women’s triple jump final, as she soared to a mark of 13.38 meters, her best as a Gator. She finished sixth, securing three points, and punched her ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships.
On the men’s team, junior Demaris Waters and senior Sam Austin were responsible for the lion’s share of the points with fifth-place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles and 800-meters, respectively.
Waters set a personal best of 7.67 seconds in the final after making it through the prelims as the last-time qualifier. Austin was the fastest qualifier in the 800-meter prelims but faded late in the final, crossing the line in 1:49.42. Because he wasn’t able to improve upon his season’s best of 1:47.08, Austin will miss out on a trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships for the first time in his career.
UF John Luke Witte added to the score with amark of 21.37 meters, that was good enough for an eighth-place finish and one point in the weight throw, and the distance medley relay team. The quartet of freshman Nicholas Spikes, sophomores Gavin Nelson and Ed Kepran, and redshirt junior Joe Wester secured a point with their eighth-place finish in 9:42.05.
Long jump, which is historically one of Florida’s strongest events, proved disappointing this weekend for the Gators.
In the women’s competition, junior Anthaya Charlton only a fourth-place finish. The collegiate leader and Bahamian record holder flirted with disaster early after fouling each of her first two jumps. Eventually she was able to get back on track, but her best mark of 6.47 meters is a half-meter under her season’s best.
Charlton came back on Saturday and finished seventh in the 60-meter final, having run a personal best of 7.24 seconds in Friday’s prelims to claim her spot in the race.
Freshman Alyssa Banales, who entered the weekend ranked 17th in the nation and one spot outside of qualifying for nationals, failed to clear the six-meter barrier for the first time in her career as a Gator, finishing a frustrating 18th at 5.89 meters.
Redshirt senior Malcolm Clemons didn’t fare much better in the men’s competition. The 2024 U.S. Olympian and SEC Indoor runner-up from last February managed a best mark of 7.42 meters, which was only good enough for 10th place. In addition to not securing any points for the Gators in the team race, Clemons missed his chance to move into a qualifying position for the national championships.
The most concerning moment of the meet for Florida came in the men’s 200-meter final. Junior Wanya McCoy got the meet off to a hot start for the Gators, running a personal best of 20.25 seconds in the prelims on Thursday. It was a different story in Saturday’s final, as McCoy pulled up about 50 meters into the race before falling off the track. He looked to be in immense pain on the ground and was holding his leg.
There’s no word from the team yet on the nature of his injury or a potential timetable, but it brings into question his status for the NCAA Indoor Championships in two weeks. McCoy, a member of The Bowerman Watchlist, is qualified and ranked inside the top 10 nationally in the 60-meter and the 200-meter, and is an integral part of the Gators’ 4x400m-relay.
The Gators started the weekend off behind the eight ball to some extent. Redshirt senior Jenoah McKiver, the fastest man in the conference this season over 400-meters entering the meet, has been dealing with a lower back issue in recent weeks. With an eye towards the NCAA Indoor Championships in two weeks, McKiver and his coaches opted not to race this weekend to optimize his fitness for nationals. With McKiver absent, Florida not only lost a near-guarantee at a top-three finish in the 400-meters, but also missed out on their strongest leg of the 4x400-meter relay.
Without McCoy or McKiver, the relay consisted of freshman Vance Nilsson, sophomores Malique Smith-Band and Rios Prude Jr., and senior Ashton Schwartzman. In the toughest conference in the nation, they held their own and finished fourth.
As the meet went on, several other unexpected scratches impacted Florida’s title chances. Junior Beth Morley, who entered the women’s mile and expected to run the 1200-meter leg of the distance medley relay, did not compete. Morley has a qualifying time for nationals in the mile after running 4:26.76 two weeks ago. After picking up a minor, unspecified injury, she fell into the same boat as McKiver and decided to pass on the SEC meet to focus on NCAAs. McKiver and Morley are expected to be healthy for their trip to Virginia in two weeks.
Other scratches who had scoring potential for the Gators included sophomore Layla Haynes in the women’s 800-meters, Gabby Matthews in the women’s 60-meters, as well as freshman Reagan Gilmore and redshirt senior Allison Wilson in the women’s 5000-meters.
Next on the schedule for the Gators is a trip to Virginia Beach for the NCAA Indoor Championships, held on Mar. 15 and 16. The Gators that qualified (barring scratches) are:
- Wanya McCoy - Men’s 60-meters, men’s 200-meters
- Jenoah McKiver - Men’s 400-meters
- Men’s 4x400-meter relay
- Beth Morley - Women’s mile
- Hilda Olemomoi - Women’s 5000-meters
- Anthaya Charlton - Women’s long jump
- Asia Phillips - Women’s triple jump
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.
