On a damp and chilly day at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic in Gainesville, littered with delays and timekeeping malfunctions, the Gators managed to sweep three events: the men’s hammer throw, men’s 3000m and women’s 1500m.
In both the hammer throw and the men’s 3000m, Florida finished with the top-four finishers. In the women’s 1500m, the Gators finished with the top three.
With a distance of 65.21m, senior Jeremy Postin finished first for the Gators in the hammer throw. Kyle Strawn, David Triassi, and David Levin finished second, third and fourth behind Postin, each throwing personal-best distances of 64.05m, 61.54m, and 58.02m, respectively.
“David Triassi is just a great guy,” coach Mike Holloway said. “I’m really happy for him. Him being a senior, his last home meet...it was good from him to go out with a big PB.”
Freshman Jimmy Clark won the men’s 3000m for the Gators, setting a personal-best time of 8:10.21. Behind Clark finishing second, third and fourth were fellow Gators JL Hines, Josh Izewski, and Elliot Clemente, respectively.
“Jimmy’s going to run the 10k from here on out, so this was a good test for him,” Holloway said.
Junior Stephanie Strasser won the women’s 1500m with a time of 4:23.66 – a new personal best. Following Strasser was fellow junior Shelby Hayes with a time of 4:27.99 and senior Mandy Perkins with a time of 4:29.14.
“Big PR for Steph,” Holloway said. “Her family was here so it was big for them to be able to watch that, too.”
In total, Florida managed to rack up a slew of event victories on Saturday at the Percy Beard Track.
Taylor Burke won her second consecutive women’s long (high) jump. After winning at the Florida Relays by clearing a height of 1.76m, Burke leapt a height of 1.80m – beating international competitor Paola Garcia of Colombia by 0.9 meters.
Senior hurdler Ugonna Ndu won the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 13.34 seconds. Finishing third in the event was Florida junior Lorraine Graham. Graham set a new personal best with a time of 13.82 seconds.
Junior hurdler Eddie Lovett had a strong showing in the men’s 110m hurdles. Finishing second to former World Champion Ryan Brathwaite by only a tenth of a second, Lovett had the top collegiate finish in the race.
“It was a good race,” Lovett said. “I’m still working on my start. I finished it pretty well but my coach told me somewhere in there I was tense and I was pushing the rhythm. He said somewhere around (hurdle) 4 or 5 I relaxed a little bit, but it was a pretty good race. It felt good. It’s a PR for me, so it was a good race.”
Many athletes competed in events they usually do not compete in. Sean Obinwa anchored the men’s 4x4, and Ebony Eutsey won her heat in the women’s 200m in order to increase their performances in the men’s 800m and women’s 4x4, respectively.
“It’s part of my training model,” Holloway said. “I don’t want them to get bored or stale in their event areas. Plus, they’re talented. They can do those things.”
Junior Eddie Lovett (left) races in the 55m hurdles at the Gator Invitational in the O’Connell Center.
