Different setting, same results for the UF men’s and women’s track teams.
Winning 11 events at the UCF Invitational over the weekend, the Gators continued their success from the indoor season into their first significant meet of the outdoor season.
The meet featured many UF athletes who competed in the indoor national championships on March 12-13. It was the first outdoor meet for the majority of the team after taking last weekend off from competition.
Freshman thrower Jeremy Postin broke the 14-year-old school record in the hammer throw, tossing 59.90 meters and capturing first place in the event. Postin beat second-place Jack Brady of Harvard by more than two meters and third-place teammate David Triassi with a throw of 54.49 meters.
Tony McQuay secured two event titles, continuing the momentum from his strong freshman campaign in the indoor season. Five Gators placed in the top seven of the 100-meter dash as McQuay held off teammate Jeremy Rankin by one-hundreth of a second, winning the finals in 10.57.
McQuay beat teammate Calvin Smith in the 200-meter dash finals, running in 20.80 as the Gators put three athletes in the top four.
Both 4x100 relay teams won their races over the weekend. The men’s A team of Rankin, Jeremy Hall, Terrell Wilks and Jeff Demps won the finals in 39:37, nearly two seconds ahead of second-place Bethune-Cookman.
The women’s A relay of Madison McNary, Alishea Usery, Danielle Williams and Shara Proctor beat Hampton with a time of 45.39 in the finals.
The men’s 4x400 A squad dominated the relay finals, winning in 3:05:99. McQuay and Smith teamed with R.J. Anderson and Carlos Phillips to hold off the UF B team, which finished second among college teams with their 3:13:46.
Phillips won the 400-meter dash in 47.28 seconds while teammate Preston Wilson finished second in 47.54.
The women’s 4x400 of Usery, Williams, Michelle Stegall and Ije Iheoma finished in third place.
After placing eighth in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Keely Medeiros won the event on her first attempt of the outdoor season with a throw of 16.07 meters. She also won the discus by landing a 49.28-meter throw.
The Gators finished one-two in the women’s pole vault with Daisy Glasser winning with a jump of 3.80 meters, .30 meters ahead of teammate Claire Spurling.
Mandy Perkins won the women’s 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:37:09. Jarius Cooper won the 110-meter hurdles with his 14.85-second effort.
