CLEMSON, S.C. – Florida track and field kicked its season into gear Friday night at the Clemson Invitational, with
Grant Holloway's school record and world-leading time highlighting five performances that cracked the program's All-Time Indoor Top 10, as well as a handful of national top-10 performances.
Holloway tied the third-fastest 60-meter hurdles time in collegiate history, crossing in 7.49 seconds to break Gator Great Eddie Lovett's school record (7.50) from the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships. Here's more context to Holloway's blazing time:
- Sixth sub-7.50-second performance in collegiate history (Omar McLeod, Arkansas, 7.45 at 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships; Reggie Torian, Wisconsin, 7.47 in February 1997; McLeod, 7.49 at 2015 SEC Indoor Championships; Jarret Eaton, Syracuse, 7.49 in January 2012; Torian, 7.49 at 1997 USATF Indoor Championships)
- Fourth man in collegiate history to break 7.50 seconds
- Tied Eaton as the No. 3-ranked 60 hurdler in collegiate history
- Time would have been tied for sixth-fastest in the world for the 2017 season
- Holloway is now the only man in the world since 1999 to boast indoor personal records below 7.50 seconds (60 hurdles) and at least 8.05 meters (long jump)
In her first-ever collegiate pentathlon, freshman
Amanda Froeynes posted the second-highest score in the nation this year and became the No. 2 performer on the program's All-Time Top 10. Froeynes finished with 4,199 points, leaving her 88 points off Brittany Harrell's school record from the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships. While there are plenty of meets remaining, Froeynes' score has been in the top 16 of the national indoor descending order list each of the last eight seasons, giving her a high probability of qualifying for this year's NCAA Indoor Championships.
Froeynes also tied the No. 5-ranked high jump mark on the program's All-Time Indoor Top 10 (1.79 meters / 5 feet, 10.5 inches) during the pentathlon.
Amanda Froeynes (front) in her pentathlon debut. (Photo: Cheryl Treworgy)
Senior and reigning indoor long jump national champion
KeAndre Bates threw down a season-best jump of 7.79 meters (25 feet, 6.75 inches), moving him to third on the national descending order list. Sophomore
Clayton Brown, competing in indoor long jump for the first time, set a personal record (7.53 meters / 24 feet, 8.5 inches) to rank 15th nationally.
In the women's shot put, senior
Lloydricia Cameron improved her season-best and No. 4-ranked mark in the nation by a centimeter, winning with a top throw of 17.33 meters (56 feet, 10.25 inches).
Sophomore
Brandee' Johnson climbed to No. 4 on the Gators' All-Time Top 10 in the 60-meter hurdles, lowering her personal record by 0.12 seconds. Johnson clocked a time of 8.26 seconds, which ties her for ninth nationally.
The Gators conclude their two-day stint at the Clemson Invitational Saturday afternoon.
Note: the top 16 student-athletes on the final national indoor descending order list (i.e. – following the nation's last conference championship meets) qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
HEARING OUT (COACH) HOLLOWAY
Head coach Mike Holloway on Grant Holloway's school record and tying the third-fastest time in collegiate history…
"Phenomenal performance. He beat a guy (Jarret Eaton) that was a World Indoor Championships finalist (in 2016). We're really pleased with that, but we have to remember we still have work to do. That's not the end goal. Although we're very pleased, we're by no means satisfied."
Coach Holloway on Amanda Froeynes' becoming the No. 2-ranked pentathlete in program history…
"We thought we had something special when we recruited her. As she progressed through the fall, we thought she could do some great things. Today was scratching the surface of that. We left a lot of points out there. But very pleased with her and how she performed today. That was big for her to go into her first pentathlon as a college freshman and do that."
Coach Holloway on the performances of KeAndre Bates, Lloydricia Cameron, and Brandee' Johnson…
"Collegiate PR for Brandee'. Lloydricia, we've got to get her some competition; she won by five feet today. But for her to come out and execute when she really didn't have anyone pressuring her was big. KeAndre is KeAndre, building slowly and trying to figure things out. He and Coach (Nic) Petersen are starting to get that done."
Coach Holloway on some of Friday's other notable performances…
"Very pleased with
Taylor Manson in her first 400 as a freshman. That's an indoor PR. Very pleased with
Taylor Sharpe; we're in a good spot there. And even though things didn't go well overall for
Nikki Stephens, I thought she had a good effort in her first collegiate pentathlon as well. She had a little snafu in the hurdles, but other than that I thought she had a good competition."
A WORD FROM THE RECORD BREAKER
Grant Holloway on breaking the school record and tying the third-fastest time in collegiate history…
"It was good. Going out to the race, I felt good. It was kind of expected of me. I just had to execute. It means a lot to me. But, at the same time, we have to stay hungry for more. We can't be satisfied with just 7.49. We're trying to get collegiate records and world records. And I'm still growing. I'm only 20 years old. The sky is the limit, so I'm just going to keep pushing. Back to work on Monday."
CLEMSON INVITATIONAL MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern)
- Live Results (Adkins Timing Associates)
- Venue: Clemson University Indoor Complex
- Competing Teams: Duke, Georgia (No. 2 men; No. 3 women), Georgia Tech, J.C. Smith, Kentucky (No. 9 women; No. 18 men), Penn State (No. 22 men; No. 23 women), Purdue, Virginia Tech (No. 8 men)
| Friday, January 19 (unless denoted by *, all events are finals) |
| Event |
Place, Gator – Time / Mark | Notes |
| 60m (M) |
6. Michael Timpson Jr. – 6.78 |
| 60m (M)* |
4. Timpson Jr. – 6.73 | Advanced to final (time) |
|
14. Trevin Chambers – 6.96 |
| 400m (M) |
13. Ryan Clark – 48.62 |
|
16. Cole Johnson – 48.81 | Season-best time |
|
31. Dawson Guillory – 51.66 |
| 400m (W) |
6. Taylor Manson – 54.17 |
|
8. Taylor Sharpe – 54.43 | Season-best time |
| Mile (M) |
13. Colin Schaefer – 4:26.18 | Indoor collegiate debut |
|
16. Jesse Millson – 4:29.22 | Indoor collegiate debut |
|
18. Dominic Williams – 4:33.22 | Indoor collegiate debut |
| Mile (W) |
12. Maggie Parrish – 5:32.05 | Indoor collegiate debut |
| 60mH (M) |
1. Grant Holloway – 7.49 | Tied third-fastest time in collegiate history; school record; facility record |
|
7. Cory Poole – 7.97 |
| 60mH (M)* |
2. Holloway – 7.66 | Season-best time; advanced to final (automatic) |
|
6. Poole – 7.90 | Advanced to final (time) |
| 60mH (W) |
5. Brandee' Johnson – 8.26 | No. 4-ranked time on UF's All-Time Top 10; topped personal record by 0.12 seconds |
| 60mH (W)* |
5. Johnson – 8.36 | Advanced to final (time) |
|
13. Timetria Mitchell – 8.61 |
| LJ (M) |
1. KeAndre Bates – 7.79 meters (25-6.75) | Season-best mark |
|
4. Clayton Brown – 7.53 meters (24-8.5) | Topped personal record by 11 centimeters (4.5 inches) |
|
9. Enzo Hodebar – 7.17 meters (23-6.25) | Season-best mark |
| SP (W) |
1. Lloydricia Cameron – 17.33 meters (56-10.25) | Season-best mark |
| Pentathlon |
1. Amanda Froeynes – 4,199 points | No. 2-ranked score on UF's All-Time list; fourth-highest score in school history |
|
4. Nikki Stephens – 3,636 points | No. 7-ranked score on UF's All-Time list |
|
Pentathlon Event-by-Event Scores |
| 60mH (P) |
3. Froeynes – 8.94 [922 points] | Season-best time |
|
8. Stephens – 9.54 [800 points] |
| HJ (P) |
2. Froeynes – 1.79 meters (5-10.5) [966 points] | Tied No. 5-ranked mark on UF's All-Time Indoor Top 10; best high jump clearance by a multis athlete in UF history |
|
t-6. Stephens – 1.61 meters (5-3.25) [747 points] |
| SP (P) |
2. Froeynes – 10.73 meters (35-2.5) [577 points] |
|
8. Stephens – 8.56 meters (28-1) [436 points] |
| LJ (P) |
1. Froeynes – 6.04 meters (19-9.75) [862 points] | Topped personal record by 19 centimeters (6.75 inches) |
|
4. Stephens – 5.63 meters (18-5.75) [738 points] |
| 800m (P) |
1. Stephens – 2:13.43 [915 points] | Topped personal record by 3.07 seconds |
|
2. Froeynes – 2:16.45 [872 points] |
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