On
the strength of four top-five finishes, the No. 2 Gators men’s team
shot up to second place in the standings at the NCAA Outdoor
Championships on Friday.
Florida’s charge began in the long jump and decathlon events, which
were postponed on Thursday due to weather delays.
Junior Will Claye — the Southeastern Conference Field Athlete of
the Year — gave No. 2 Florida six points with his third place
result in the long jump. Multi-event athlete Gray Horn tacked on
four points after coming in fifth in the decathlon.
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“We’re not going to come out and talk about winning a title
tomorrow,” UF coach Mike Holloway said. “We’re going to focus on
execution. We’re in a great position, we just have to come out here
and, as we’ve been saying for the past few years, finish the
mission.”
Horn’s final tally of 7,914 points over his three days of
competition was career-high and school record for the junior, who
also became the first UF men’s decathlete to place in the top-five
at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Later in the penultimate day of the meet, senior Terrell Wilks
continued the Gators’ surge up the leaderboard with another fifth
place finish in the 100-meter dash.
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“It brought tears to my eyes to watch Terrell finish fifth
tonight,” Holloway said. “People don’t know, but Terrell has been
through a lot here. He had some hip surgery and he hasn’t always
been healthy. For him to be able to come in here and pick the team
up after what happened earlier this week, I am really proud of
him.”
Fellow sprinter Tony McQuay would cap off the scoring drive for UF
with eight points coming in the 400-meter dash. The sophomore
finished in second with a time of 45.14.
With 14 of 21 events scored and one day left of competition,
Florida and Virginia Tech are tied with 28 points a piece and trail
meet leader Florida State by one point.
On
the women’s side, the No. 17 Gators continued to struggle with only
four scoring chances remaining left on Saturday.
The
squad has still yet to put a single point on the board but did
manage to qualify for the finals of the 4x400 relay.
Heading into the fourth and final day of the championships, Oregon
leads all women’s teams with 33 points.
