While this year's edition of the Penn Relays got off to a delayed
start due to inclement weather, the Gators finished the day ahead
of schedule with five personal-best efforts.
On Thursday in Philadelphia, Penn., junior Genevieve LaCaze ran the
second-fastest women's steeplechase time in school history,
claiming second place in the event. The distance runner crossed the
finish line in 10:12.33, more than 14 seconds faster than her
previous high.
"Coming off finals week, sometimes athletes have the tendency to be
flat, but we really challenged our athletes to come in here and
give us great effort," UF coach Mike Holloway said. "I thought
that's what we were able to do today."
Also garnering a second-place finish Thursday was sophomore Ugonna
Ndu, who matched her personal-best effort (58.79) in the 400-meter
hurdles.
Before sophomore Callie Cooper notched her own personal record and
11th place in the 5,000-meter run, both the women's 4x100 and 4x400
relay teams racked up top-10 preliminary finishes, qualifying for
finals action on Friday and Saturday.
The No. 4 men's team also received strong efforts from its distance
runners.
Freshmen Matt Mizereck and Mark Parrish both ran personal bests in
the 5,000m. Mizereck clocked in a 14:17.9 in the upper-Championship
classification, finishing in 12th place. Parrish took first the
College division with a time of 14:25.95.
The Gators are set to compete in 11 events on Friday, including
five relays and one championship.
UF Communications contributed to this report.
