On Monday, coach Mike Holloway talked about his disappointment with the women’s track and field team last season. This year, the Gators have been working to improve their image.
“They made a pact over the summer and this fall that they were going to get better and it was going to happen right away,” said Holloway on Monday.
Sophomore Brittany Harrell finished out the first day of the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships by sticking to that pact and a setting a new Florida record in the pentathlon (4,050).
Harrell is the first Gator on the women's squad to ever eclipse the 4,000-point mark in the heptathlon.
“You come to this meet and if you just put forth the effort, after all the training we've done, great things will happen,” Holloway said.
The pentathlon competitor, who finished fourth overall, ended the day with the 800-meter dash. Harrell recorded a time of 2:19.86, crushing her previous record of 2:27.06, which she set at the Texas A&M Challenge on Jan. 27.
That wasn’t the only personal record she beat Friday. Harrell also set a new personal best in the long jump (5.81m/19-0.75), and she tied her career-best in the high jump with a mark of 1.73m/5-8.
“I think her mark (4,050) is strong enough to get her to the NCAA Championships and for her to come out and compete the way she did was awesome," Holloway said.
Senior Gray Horn also made school history Friday, setting the UF record for the best first-day heptathlon total (3,418 points).
Horn set the school record for most total points in the heptathlon (5,971 points), which also stands as the sixth-best mark in collegiate history.
He began the day by tying his personal record in the 60m with a time of 6.96 seconds. He finished in first or second in every event Friday.
After day one, Horn leads the heptathlon, and Harrell finished in fourth place for the pentathlon.
“There's no doubt this set the tone for the rest of the weekend,” Holloway said. “When the rest of the team sees how Brittany and Gray did [Friday], they're going to be very pleased and it's going to get them fired up for what they need to do."
The second day of SEC Indoor Championship meet resumes Saturday at 11 a.m. and will run until 7:15 p.m.
