When coach Mike Holloway tells freshman sprinter Hugh Graham that he will be competing against the defending national champion, Graham doesn’t flinch.
For Graham, it’s just another day at practice.
“I get better by practicing with Tony (McQuay) and guys like him,” Graham said.
Graham came to Florida after becoming the 2011 FHSAA Class 4A State runner-up in the 400m with the time of 46.72 — .28 seconds slower than his personal best.
In high school, Graham was also part of the 2011 Miami Herald All-Dade Track and Field First Team in the 100m and 4x400m in addition to the 400m.
As a freshman at UF, Graham placed fourth at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championship in the 400m and the was part of a fourth-place 4x400m relay team. He was also able to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championship in the 400m.
“It was a big change as far as the competition and the attention,” Graham said. “In high school, I was able to run hard when I wanted to run hard, but in college it’s a whole other level.”
As Graham heads to his first outdoor meet this weekend at the 85th Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin, Texas, he’s excited to see what he can accomplish.
The Texas Relays is the first outdoor meet of the season for many of Florida’s top track and field athletes. Holloway said the Gators are ready to see where they stand among the other teams.
“It gives us a chance to see some of the competition from the southwest and from the west coast at this meet,” Holloway said. “It’s always been a meet we’ve been able to go to and gauge where we’re at in our training. We’re going to open up in our relays this weekend with the men and women’s [4x100m] and [4x400m].”
Although Florida has come close to an outdoor national title the last three years, it hasn’t won one yet. But Holloway said he is ready for his teams to show everyone at this meet what they’re capable of this year.
The meet opened up Wednesday with sophomore Brittany Harrell competing in the first day of the heptathlon. She finished Thursday in second place with a personal record and automatically qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
“The thing that people don’t understand is we’ve done very well indoors, but we’re an outdoor program, so we feel better about being outdoors,” Holloway said. “We’re a lot more comfortable outdoors than we are indoors.”
