Gray Horn made UF history yet again Wednesday at the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
The freshman finished the first day of the decathlon in 10th place with a score of 3,973 points, a new day-one decathlon freshman record for the Gators.
Horn's five events on Wednesday included the 100m dash, shot put, long jump, high jump and 400m. Today, Horn will participate in the remaining events beginning at 2:30 p.m.: the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500m.
"This is something I've dreamed about for my entire life," Horn said following his win at the Southeastern Conference Championships in May.
Horn was not the only Gator to find success on the first day of the championships.
Beau Burroughs and Kemal Mesic will participate in the finals of the men's shot put at 7:15 p.m. today. Burroughs finished in 10th place during the preliminary round Wednesday afternoon with a throw of 60-3.25/18.37m and Mesic finished in third place with a toss of 63-1.50/19.24m.
From the No. 14 women's track team, Mariam Kevkhishvili and Keely Medeiros advanced in the women's shot put. Kevkhishvili, ranked No. 1 in the nation for the event, was an automatic qualifier for the final round at 5:45 p.m. today.
Senior Carlos Phillips finished eighth in the men's 800m with a time of 1:49.65 and will compete in the finals for that event on Saturday.
The No. 1 men's 4x100m relay team finished in second during the preliminary round on Wednesday with a time of 38.57 seconds. The team consisting of Dennis Martin, Calvin Smith, Terrell Wilks and Jeremy Hall will run in the finals on Friday.
"We are focused on winning," junior sprinter Calvin Smith said before leaving for Fayetteville. "If we win then we will be No. 1 at the end of the season and that is what matters."
The second day of events begins when Horn competes in the second day of the decathlon. UF's participation in the running events are scheduled to begin at 5:50 p.m. with William Wynne and Kalinka Pitt competing in the men's 100m hurdles. The championships will continue through Saturday.
CBS will air the NCAA Championships' final events on Friday and Saturday. These events are scheduled to air live on CBS College Sports from 7-10 p.m. on Friday and live on CBS Saturday from 1-3 p.m.
NCAA.com is streaming all events live when CBS and CBS College Sports aren't showing coverage.
