Set a bar for junior jumper Will Claye, and he will clear it.
Claye, the No. 8 seed in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor
Championships, finished second in the event with a personal-best
mark of 8.04m/26-4.50 Friday.
His score was good enough to earn the Oklahoma transfer first team
All-America honors for No. 1 Florida.
“It was a tough day today…we projected that we would have 12-15
points today and we have eight,” head coach Mike Holloway said.
“So we’re not far from where we want
to be.”
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Another Gator who had a good day was junior heptathlete Gray
Horn.
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Horn set a first-day school record with 3,245 points in the
heptathlon, sitting in fifth place headed into Saturday’s final
three events.
Meanwhile, the Gators had four athletes advance to the finals for
their events Saturday.
Sophomore sprinter Tony McQuay ran the best time in the 400m dash
(45.82 seconds) and is expected to compete Saturday as the top
seeded runner, despite a minor hamstring injury.
The injury kept McQuay from competing in the 200m dash final
Friday.
Joining McQuay in final events Saturday will be sophomore sprinter
Jeff Demps (60m dash), junior distance runner Dumisane Hlaselo
(men’s mile run) and freshman distance runner Cory McGee (women’s
mile run).
The NCAA Indoor Championship Meet will resume Saturday at noon.
Holloway, Booth, Taylor win awards at NCAA Indoors
banquet
No. 1 Florida took home some hardware prior to beginning its
national title defense at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
honored the Gators with three awards Thursday.
Head coach Mike Holloway was named South Region Head Coach of the
Year, assistant coach Dick Booth was named South Region Assistant
Coach of the Year and junior jumper Christian Taylor was named
South Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year.
