For the first time this outdoor season, the Gators are coming home.
Florida hosts the 69th Annual Pepsi Florida Relays on Friday and Saturday at the Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium.
“The Florida Relays is really a competition where you see so much going on,” coach Mike Holloway said.
“I think the biggest part of it is that we get to compete in front of our home fans. Our whole team is competing in front of their family and their friends. Everybody’s excited. Everybody’s hyped about it.”
Under the guidance of former UF track coach Percy Beard, the Florida Relays began in 1939 and featured seven colleges, nine high schools and nearly 200 athletes.
Seventy-four years later, the meet now features more than 3,000 athletes from around the world.
“I’ve been around the Florida Relays since, like, 1977,” Holloway said. “It’s a great competition. You see Olympians, world champions, NCAA champions and great high school athletes all come together in one venue.
The thing that I’m always impressed with is the energy that goes into the meet.”
The Florida Relays mark the second major outdoor event for the Gators in as many weeks.
Last week, Florida brought home five event wins at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.
The event featured more than 6,500 athletes.
“It’s important that we see the better competition,” Holloway said.
“I don’t think that the [Southeastern Conference] is a league where you need to hide from people. You need to be able to run fast, throw far, jump high, jump far against the best in the country. That’s what we set the schedule for.”
Florida faces stiff competition this weekend.
No. 6 Florida State and No. 8 USC are among the schools competing on the men’s side.
The women take on No. 6 Texas and No. 12 UCF.
Although the No. 3 Florida men and the No. 4 women are the highest ranked teams in each squad’s respective field, the Gators say they are not taking the Florida Relays lightly.
“We have to understand that we still have to perform,” Holloway said.
“We can sleep in our own beds, we get to rest well, and we get to be focused, but we can’t just take it for granted that we’re going to run well because it’s Florida Relays. We’re very excited, but we’re going to take it very seriously.”
Sophomore jumper Marquis Dendy competes in the long jump at the SEC Indoor Track Championships on Feb. 23 in Fayetteville, Ark. Dendy qualified for the men's triple jump in next week's NCAA Outdoors Championships.
