Another meet, another record-setting performance for a UF track and field athlete.
Senior Shara Proctor finished first in the long jump at this weekend’s Texas A&M Challenge — one of three Gators to win an event.
Proctor landed a 6.60m/21-8, breaking her own UF record for the event and finishing with the best distance of any athlete in the NCAA so far this season.
“We expected that from her,” UF coach Mike Holloway said. “(Jumps) Coach Brian O’Neal has done a great job preparing her and everything she has done in practice has shown she could do this.”
Six other UF athletes qualified individually at the provisional level for the NCAA Indoor Championships during the meet, joining three Gators who qualified earlier this season.
“We had a good competition,” Holloway said. “Our goal was to get better and I think we did that.”
Proctor, a four-time All-American, will join teammate Mariam Kevkhishvili in the NCAA Indoor Championships after breaking the automatic qualifying mark in the long jump by nearly a quarter of a meter.
After recording a career-best throw in the Kentucky Invitational two weeks ago, Kevkhishvili broke the minimum NCAA qualifying standard again with a throw of 18.19m/59-8.25 in the shot put.
She finished first in the shot put for the ninth-consecutive time in an indoor competition.
Distance runner Charlotte Browning also finished first for UF, winning the 800-meter run in a career-best time of 2:05:50.
She cut nearly seven seconds off her previous best and was only a half-second away from an NCAA automatic qualifying mark.
Holloway said he was also impressed with the performance of freshman Jeremy Postin. Postin finished third at the meet in the weight throw, recording an 18.15/59-6.75.
Sophomore Gray Horn put together a solid effort in his first heptathlon of the season with a second-place finish and score of 5,538. But he was overshadowed by Oregon’s Ashton Eaton’s NCAA-record 6,256 points.
“What can we do about something like (Eaton’s performance)?” Holloway said. “All we can do is take care of the Gators.”
Thirteen-time All-American Calvin Smith qualified at the provisional level in his first 400-meter run of the season. The senior ran a 46.48 to finish second.
Sophomore Rebecca Lowe finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run with a provisional qualifying time of 9:30:69.
Omar Craddock, in his first meet for the Gators, also racked up a provisional qualifying result with a 15.46/50-8.75 in the triple jump, finishing third in the meet.
