The 2025 season will go down in the history of Florida track and field as one marred with injuries that robbed opportunities for greatness. From before the indoor season began to the final day of the outdoor season, the injury bug hit the Gators over and over.
An eighth-place finish for the men and 15th for the women at the NCAA Outdoor Championships hosted in Eugene, Oregon, June 11-14, was far from representative of what UF’s rosters are capable of.
One athlete embodied these challenges during the indoor season: Malcolm Clemons. The redshirt senior failed to qualify for nationals due to a nagging heel injury that severely limited his performance. It was a slow build for him as the outdoor season progressed, but he seemed to be in a good position headed into nationals.
On his first attempt, Clemons tore down the runway and launched himself 8.04 meters into the sand, a significant season’s best. While the mark was wind-aided, it still represented an important breakthrough for the Oakland native.
“I always try to come out to these competitions and try to get a good jump on my very first one,” Clemons said. “That’s exactly what I did today, and I think that really carried me to try and get a better jump throughout the rest of the competition.”
The rounds ticked by, but nothing changed at the top. There were eight men in the field, aside from Clemons, who jumped at least 8.04 meters in their careers, but none managed to do so on the national stage.
When the last jump, which could have unseated Clemons’ first-place position, was measured at only 7.55 meters, the reality of what happened began to set in. After five years, four national championships and three top-four finishes, he finally claimed the title of national champion.
“After coming off of such a high at the Olympics to getting injured at the first meet of the year, it really took a toll on my confidence,” Clemons said. “[Florida jumps coach Nic Petersen] helped me build my confidence back up, being able to know that I can run down the runway and jump far at any moment.”
Men’s team
There was a distinct difference in the Florida men’s team’s fortunes in the field and on the track June 11. In two field events, the Gators scored 18 points: 10 for Clemons’ victory and eight from a second-place finish in the javelin for Leikel Cabrera Gay.
The Cuban sophomore strung together the best season of his life en route to an NCAA silver. His first throw of 78.51 meters represented his first clearance of the 78-meter barrier, but he bettered the mark with a 79.05-meter heave in round three. It moved Cabrera Gay up to third in program history and became the best throw by a Gator since 2008.
“It’s still stunning,” Cabrera Gay said. “I was just focused. This is the time of year you have to be focused on what you want. I was just like, ‘Let’s go for it.’”
For Cabrera Gay, the Oregon performance holds extra significance. He spent last year competing at Umpqua Community College just 54 miles south of Eugene.
“I just want to thank Umpqua Community College for trusting me,” he said. “They were the first ones to give me an opportunity, and I’m very thankful for them.”
On the track, junior Demaris Waters was disqualified from the semifinals of the 110-meter hurdles after a false start. Redshirt senior Jenoah McKiver struggled his way around the track in 46.92 seconds, the slowest time of any athlete who finished the 400-meter semifinals.
Fortunes turned in the 4x400-meter semifinals, where the team qualified for the final even without McKiver. Their run in the final was impressive. Sophomore Rios Prude Jr., junior Justin Braun, senior Ashton Schwartzman and redshirt senior Reheem Hayles got the baton around in 3:01.88, just a shade off the best time by a Florida group this season.
Braun made a strong move to the front when he got the baton on anchor, holding the lead position into the home straight. Eventually, the pack reeled him in, and the Gators finished fifth.
Women’s team
A lot went right for the Florida women during their qualifying day on June 12, and a lot went wrong during the finals on June 14.
The dichotomy began in the 4x100-meter relay. In the semifinal, freshman Habiba Harris, sophomore Quincy Penn and juniors Anthaya Charlton and Gabby Matthews finished in 43.06 seconds. It marked a season best for the group and made them the fifth-fastest relay team in program history.
“What I love about us is that we get better each time we run the team,” Charlton said. “It’s great, it’s reassuring. We just know when we touch that track again, it’s going to be a movie.”
In the final, the group looked positioned to score solid points, but Harris was forced to pull up with an injury only a few steps into her anchor leg. The promising outlook for the team race took a hit with a DNF, compounded 40 minutes later by Harris’ DNS in the 100-meter hurdles, an event where the Jamaican athlete led nationally throughout most of the season.
Charlton’s semifinal in the open 100 meters was picture-perfect. The Nassau native powered away for a win to the tune of a 10.87-second clocking. The mark shattered Charlton’s previous best of 11.01 seconds and made her the sixth-fastest woman in NCAA history, tied with South Carolina sophomore JaMeesia Ford, who ran the same time two heats later.
“I always believed I could run sub-11,” Charlton said. “I think that was the most relaxed I’ve ever ran. Was I shocked to see the time? A little bit, but it felt great, and I know it can get better from there.”
Saturday’s final brought far less favorable sprint conditions, with temperatures in the 60s and a 1.4-meter-per-second wind blasting down the straightaway into the runners’ faces. The race also had to be recalled after the first start, presenting several circumstances working against the athletes. However, Charlton still managed a respectable time of 11.19 seconds, finishing in fourth by thousandths of a second to LSU sophomore Tima Godbless.
Matthews’ appearance in the 200 meters was the final entry the Gators had on the track, and she made the most of her time in Hayward. Running out of lane nine in the semifinal, Matthews produced the fastest run of her career, finishing the half-lap in 22.59 seconds.
She moved up to third in program history with the mark and gained an advantage over Godbless by 0.004 seconds, locking up the last spot in the final. She couldn’t match the same mark with a 22.84-second clocking June 14, finishing eighth. The finish exceeded expectations for an athlete who entered the weekend as the 32nd-fastest woman in the NCAA.
The Gators found significant points in the field events. Just moments after her historic 100-meter race June 12, Charlton stepped on the long jump runway to compete in the final. She recorded one legal mark, a 6.58-meter second-round effort, but it ended up being good enough for fifth.
“My biggest problem was controlling [speed] on the runway,” Charlton said. “The 6.58 was a safe jump. It didn’t go how I wanted it to, but you win some, you lose some.”
Fresh off a ninth-place finish in the shot put, Alida van Daalen entered the discus competition primed for a battle with Louisville senior Jayden Ulrich, the second-best woman in NCAA history. Yet, it was Fresno State senior Cierra Jackson who opened the final with an almighty sucker punch.
Jackson’s first-round effort of 65.82 meters was not only a personal best by nearly a meter and a half, but also a meet record. Van Daalen immediately had a mark to chase, and she inched toward it with each legal throw.
At the competition’s conclusion, her fifth-round toss of 64.94 meters got her closest to Jackson, but she finished second. It’s both the best mark and place van Daalen earned in her three appearances in this particular final.
“It’s like getting silver with a golden rim,” van Daalen said. “I had my best throw at NCAAs since 2023 so far, so I have mixed feelings… It’s a little hard, but I’m also very proud.”
For many members of the team, their attention now turns toward the summer, when international athletes will head home to compete in their national championships. Some will attempt to accrue enough ranking points to qualify for the World Championships in mid-September.
The Gators’ cross country season begins in September.
Contact Paul Hof-Mahoney at phof-mahoney@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @phofmahoney.
Paul is a junior sports journalism major who is covering the track and field beat in his first semester with the Alligator. In his free time, he enjoys watching commentary Youtube channels and consuming every medium of track and field content imaginable.
