Florida’s track and field team doesn’t often leave events empty-handed, and the 85th Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays was no exception.
Together, Jeremy Postin (hammer throw), Daniela Griffin (long jump), Stipe Zunic (javelin throw) and Jeff Demps (100m) were able to grab four titles for Florida in their respective events.
In addition to the four wins, Florida also had a total of 13 top-five finishes over the course of the four-day meet.
The two most impressive performances of the weekend came from Demps and sophomore Brittany Harrell, who were both able to open and close the Texas Relays strong.
Harrell started the weekend big with a second-place finish in the women’s heptathlon. She set a personal record in her first performance in the heptathlon this season and also qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
“We knew coming into [the meet] that Brittany was going to do big things this week,” coach Mike Holloway said. “In her training and during competition last weekend at UCF, she showed she was ready for a strong performance at the Texas Relays.”
As the meet wrapped up, Demps was able to make a huge impression at his first outdoor event this season. On top of winning the 100m by .14 of a second, he was able to set the nation’s fastest all-conditions time this season at 10.01.
“We’re pleased that he won in such a great field, but we’re looking forward to his growth throughout the season,” Holloway said.
At a press conference last week, Holloway talked about how the meet would gauge where Florida is at in its training. After facing some top competitors this weekend, the Gators know what they will need to practice on during the week as they prepare for their upcoming home event – the Pepsi Florida Relays.
Both the men and women will likely be focusing on their relays.
Florida entered four relay teams at the Texas Relays: the men's and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m. Only three of the teams made it to the finals after the women’s 4x100m team was disqualified for being out of zone.
The strongest of all four teams was the men’s 4x400m, which came in third, losing to first place LSU by only .28 of a second. The women’s 4x400m and the men’s 4x100m teams both had average performances, finishing in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
However, Holloway said he still feels like his teams and their performances will improve for their home meet.
“We competed against the better teams and better athletes in the nation and I think we got better. Now we’re ready to focus on Florida Relays and the rest of our outdoor season,” Holloway said.
