With just a few weeks to go until the start of the SEC Outdoor Championships, Gators track and field athletes rewrote program record books at two different meets this weekend, setting marks in Gainesville and North Carolina.
Sprints
Early on Friday, Malia Campbell got action going in Gainesville in the women’s 200-meter with a 24.10-second time, placing her 33rd out of a long list of competitors.
Freshman Marianna Wright followed her up in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a third-place finish, and a 58.25-second time that puts her just outside the top 10 in program history.
In the men’s 200-meter invite, sophomore Trenton Howard finished just outside the top 10, with a 20.66-second performance good for 11th overall.
Tyra Cox added another historic performance to her resume Saturday, with a 51.54-second run in the women’s 400-meter invite, placing her No. 10 all-time in program history, and ninth overall in the event.
The men kept the momentum going, with Justin Braun providing a personal best 45.07-second performance in the 400-meter. Braun was edged out by South Carolina’s Josiah Wrice and Devan Crumpton, along with Purdue’s Samuel Vessat, in the competition. Just behind him, Nicholas Spikes was adding another personal best and top 10 finish with his 45.62-second run.
In the men’s 800-meter sprints, three Gators added personal best performances to their resumes. Miguel Pantojas moved to No. 7 in program history in the event with a 1:46.44, while Jonah Kirspel and Alejandro De Bastos added personal best performances of 1:47.26 and 1:52.18, respectively.
Distance
A few states away in North Carolina, Gator distance runners had some stellar, record-breaking Friday performances in the Wake Forest Invitational.
Kelvin Cheruiyot collected another Gators record, winning the 10k event with a 28:25.28 time. Cheruiyot added a win for the Gators after hawking down Auburn’s Nickson Chebii in the last mile of the race.
Oussama Allaoui continued his phenomenal freshman year with another school record performance. In a star-studded heat, Allaoui’s 3:35.30-second 1500-meter was good for a school record in the event, along with a fourth-place finish.
Riley Smith wasn’t far behind, with a 3:39.79 second performance that placed him fourth in program history.
Tia Wilson and Claire Stegall gave Florida its second and third-best times in program history in the 1500, along with the 19th and 21st fastest 1500-meter runs in collegiate history. Wilson’s 4:06.43 second performance, along with Stegall’s 4:06.47, placed them third and fourth in the contested heat.
In the women’s 10000-meter, Reagan Gilmore finished second overall and became the eighth-fastest Gator in program history on her first run in the event.
Jumps
Asia Phillips delivered an admirable performance in the women’s triple jump invite, with a 13.44-meter jump on her first attempt that placed her fourth. Phillips was only beaten out by Clemson’s Shantae Foreman, Kayla Woods and Olympian Ana Jose Tima.
Phillips added another strong showing in the women’s long jump. Her 6.26-meter mark was a third-place finish, while India Alix’s personal best 6.09-meter jump put her just behind Phillips at fifth.
Throws
In the men’s shot put invite, freshman Jarno Van Daalen was able to churn out a 19.51-meter toss on his third attempt, leading to a third-place finish.
Van Daalen didn't stop there. His performance in the men’s discus throw cemented his name in school record books, with his 60.64-meter throw putting him No. 4 in program history.
Basel Abosina and his 67.40-meter toss in the men’s hammer throw gave him a fifth-place finish in the international section in Gainesville, and placed another Gator in the top 10 in program history. His throw moved him to sixth.
Leikel Cabrera Gay finished third in the men’s javelin final, with a 75.78-meter toss, his best of the season.
Gators throwers continued putting their names in the record books on the women’s side, with Akari Isaac moving to No. 3 in program history in the women’s discus throw. Isaac’s 56.77-meter performance placed just behind Tennessee's Cedricka Williams and Alabama’s Joyce Oguma.
Relays
The Gators finished out a record-breaking weekend with a pair of podium finishes in the 4x400 relays in both the men’s and women’s competition.
Quincy Penn, Tyra Cox, Gabrielle Matthews and Sydney Sutton ran a 3:23.95 second relay that was good for third, narrowly edged out by LSU’s 3:23.94.
Nicholas Spikes, Justin Braun, Daneil Wright and Miguel Pantojas added another third-place finish for the Gators. Their 3:03.22-second run placed them behind LSU and Texas A&M.
Florida will take the track again May 1 when it travels to Jacksonville for the East Coast Relays, the last meet before the start of the SEC Outdoor Championships May 14-16.
Contact Logan McBride at lmcbride@alligator.org. Follow him on X @LoganDMcBride
Logan McBride is a journalism junior and a Spring 2026 track and field reporter. In his free time, he enjoys watching TV shows or playing basketball at Southwest Rec. He is also a big football fan and will die for Dak Prescott.
