The outdoor season has official begun for the Gators. At the UCF Invitational, the Florida men’s weight throwers were quick to make an impression.
Jeremy Postin, David Triassi and David Levin all had great performances in the hammer throw, especially Triassi, who set a new personal record by throwing a 56.55m/185-6 for a fourth-place finish. Postin threw a 65.81m/215-11 for a second place finish, and Levin threw a 49.67m/162-11 for seventh.
Florida was the only team to have three athletes place on Friday. Although they weren’t the top performers in their event, as the outdoor season progresses, the trio will prove to be valuable point earners for the men’s team.
“Stipe (Zunic), Fawn (Miller) and Jeremy all opened up well today,” coach Mike Holloway said. “I’m really pleased with their starts to the outdoor season, and I’m also pleased with David Triassi’s personal best in the hammer throw.”
Similar to Postin, Triassi and Levin, sophomore Zunic will also be a valuable team member for Florida if he continues to have performances like he did Friday.
Zunic finished the day getting the only victory for the Gators; he won the men’s javelin title by having a 73.84m/242-03 throw.
For the women, Fawn Miller led the way by finishing second in the javelin. Brittany Harrell trailed Miller by placing 14th. However, Holloway only sees improvement from Harrell as the season contines.
“[Harrell] is coming off a great performance at NCAAs,” Holloway said. “She threw the javelin today which isn’t done indoors, so we’re trying to get her ready to compete at Texas Relays next weekend and have her automatically qualify for NCAAs so we can focus on the conference meet.”
Despite the overall good performance, the Gators did have their share of disappointments on Friday. Out of the thirteen athletes who competed, Zane Breakiron, Anthony Amodio and Kyle Mailloux failed to place.
Holloway expects UF to rebound on the second day of the UCF Invitational on Saturday.
“I’m really looking forward to the running events [Saturday],” Holloway said. “We’re ready to get on the track and see what we can do.”
