Former UF track and field coach Percy Beard helped create and build one of the best men’s teams in the country. This Saturday’s meet on Percy Beard Track will commemorate one of the most important figures in the women’s team’s history.
The third-annual Tom Jones Memorial Invite will give the men’s and women’s track teams another home meet to prepare for the Southeastern Conference and NCAA Championships in May and June, respectively. It will also honor an icon of UF track and field.
Jones died on Mar. 21, 2007 at age 62 after battling cancer. He coached the women’s cross country and track teams from the fall of 1992 until the spring of 2007 and led them to six SEC championships.
“He had a huge impact on UF, and it’s really important to him that we perform well in the meet to remember him,” middle-distance runner Charlotte Browning said.
The meet features teams from UCF, USF, Florida Atlantic, Kentucky, Brown, Princeton and UCLA. It begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday on the track at James G. Pressly Stadium.
“When we have a home competition, we want to show our best to the people who watch us from Gainesville,” shot putter Kemal Mesic said.
After a highly successful Florida Relays two weekends ago that saw the Gators set two school records and win 10 events against some of the best competition in the country, the Tom Jones Memorial will give UF a more low-key meet to prepare for the championship competitions later in the season.
Browning said this is the most important time of the year for the team because the athletes can put in some of their hardest training without tapering their workouts to compete in regular-season meets.
This will be the first meet for Steve Lemke as associate head coach. Lemke has served as throws coach for the past four seasons at UF and has coached 12 Olympic qualifiers during his 25 years of collegiate experience.
“He’s one of the best coaches in the world for throwing events,” Mesic said. “He’s a hard worker, and he makes us work hard to achieve our goals.”
Lemke has assembled one of the most talented throwing units in the world and features athletes from the Netherlands, Brazil, Georgia, Australia and Bosnia.
The group is led by Mariam Kevkhishvili, who is a four-time NCAA Champion in the shot put, including winning the event in the indoor this year.
