The Pepsi Florida Relays was Cameron Mahorn’s first home meet.
The freshman from Wellington, Florida, came off the blocks in the 200-meter dash at James G. Pressly Stadium as the only Gator in the event. He finished in 21.76 seconds, his season-best, which was only good enough to place No. 66 among all of the heats.
Mahorn struggled, and his age could be a reason why. Six of the seven other UF athletes that competed in the Pepsi Florida Relays on Thursday were underclassmen. Most of the big names on the track and field team are juniors and seniors, and all of them except one, redshirt junior Autumn Bartlett, will wait until Friday or Saturday to compete in the three-day meet.
Thursday was a rare day in track and field for the Gators. A team that just won the NCAA Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships and placed sixth in the women’s championship only had one athlete finish in the top 10 of an event on Thursday.
That is likely to change when the bigger names, like junior Grant Holloway and seniors AJ McFarland and Yanis David, compete. For now, UF hasn’t impressed at its only home meet of the season.
Sophomore Dawson Guillory represented the Gators in the 400-meter dash. He finished his lap in 48.87 seconds and placed 38th.
Three UF women ran in the 5,000-meter race: redshirt sophomore Sophie Ebihara, freshman Sophia Piniella and Bartlett. The freshman outdid her older teammates, as Piniella placed No. 30 with a time of 17:41.30. Ebihara finished just two spots behind her with a time of 17:43.38. Bartlett, at 19:05.73, came in at No. 42.
Freshman Cavan Wilson ran the 5,000-meter race on the men’s side. He was No. 39 on the board with a time of 15:15.54.
Redshirt sophomore Jacob Stanko had the best performance of the day for the Gators. He placed sixth in the javelin throw, reaching 62.25 meters, his best throw ever. He has set a personal record two weeks in a row, as he threw the javelin 60.37 meters at the FSU Relays on March 22.
Holloway will participate in his best event on Friday in the 110-meter hurdles. He will also run the 200-meter dash with teammates Ryan Clark, Hakim Sani Brown and Chantz Sawyers. On Saturday, the gun will go off at approximately 3:10 p.m. for the men’s 4x100 relay. The team of Holloway, Sani Brown, Clark and junior transfer Raymond Ekevwo is currently ranked No. 1 in the country.
David will also compete in her final meet in Gainesville on Saturday when she competes in the event she won the NCAA Indoor Championship in: the triple jump. The jumper from Lamentin, Guadeloupe, will celebrate her senior day along with twelve other athletes.
Follow Graham Marsh on Twitter @GrahamMarshUF and contact him at gmarsh@alligator.org.
The Gators men's and women's track and field teams had just one athlete finish in the top 10 of an event on Day 1 of the Pepsi Florida Relays.
