Florida Gators

CLEMSON, S.C. – Florida track and field saved a pair of grand finales for its final day at the Clemson Invitational, posting national leads in the women's and men's 4x400 relays, the latter of which clocked one of the fastest times in collegiate history.
 
The men's quartet of junior Kunle Fasasi, sophomore Grant Holloway, and freshmen Chantz Sawyers and Benjamin Lobo Vedel completed the relay in 3 minutes, 3.49 seconds, which is the eighth-fastest time in collegiate history. The time is also ranks second on the program's All-Time Indoor Top 10, only trailing last season's 3:02.73 at the SEC Indoor Championships (that time was run on oversized track, though, making it ineligible for the all-time collegiate top 10).
 
The women's grouping of senior Taylor Sharpe, freshmen Taylor Manson and Lauryn Ghee, and junior Sharrika Barnett finished in 3 minutes, 31.17 seconds. In addition to being a national lead, the time ranks fifth on Florida's All-Time Indoor Top 10. Barnett's anchor split of 50.56 seconds is one of the best by a collegian this season.
 

Fan: "She ain't gonna come back..."

Sharrika Barnett: "Hold my Gatorade."

5?0?. ?? split and an @NCAATrackField-leading 3:31.17 for the #Gators! pic.twitter.com/PjrxHqBsms

— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) January 22, 2018

 
Redshirt junior AJ McFarland broke his own school record in the weight throw by seven centimeters (21.74 meters) to climb to fifth on the national indoor descending order list.
 
Fellow weight throwers Anders Eriksson and Thomas Mardal also logged massive personal records and climbed the program's All-Time Top 10. Eriksson became the No. 4-ranked thrower in school history and No. 10 thrower in the nation this season with a top mark of 21.12 meters—81 centimeters beyond his previous personal best. Mardal, a freshman, improved his personal record by 31 centimeters (20.80 meters), rising to No. 15 in the nation and strengthening his hold on the No. 6-ranked mark in program history.
 
Back on the women's side, junior Yanis David and senior Darrielle McQueen posted top-10 national marks in the triple jump. David's top jump of 13.60 meters (44 feet, 7.5 inches)—the earliest in a season she's bounded that far—ranks third nationally. McQueen's best mark, 13.02 meters (42 feet, 8.75 inches) ranks ninth on the national indoor descending order list.
 
And while sophomore Clayton Brown did not have his best day in the triple jump, his top mark of 15.72 meters (51 feet, 7 inches) ranks fifth nationally.
 
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 collegiate-leading times by the 4x400 relay teams…
"On the men's side, that group has been training extremely well. Not surprised at all with what they did. Obviously very pleased with their effort, but not surprised at all. Very proud of them. To run 3:03 and win the race by almost five seconds was pretty impressive.
 
"The thing with the women is they trusted themselves. I challenged them before the race to trust their fitness. They did that. Extremely proud of Taylor Manson running 51.8 on the second leg, and Sharrika Barnett running a phenomenal anchor leg; we were down about 20 meters, maybe more, when she got the stick."
 
Coach Holloway on AJ McFarland's school record leading the strong weight throw trio…
"(Associate head) Coach (Steve) Lemke just wanted to see his group get better this week. I think we saw that. Whether it was (Lloydricia Cameron) last night in the shot put, the women's weight throwers, the men's weight throwers … they all got a lot better. To see AJ break his school record again, and to listen to he and Coach Lemke talk about the things they can do better was great to hear. Excited to watch him continue to progress as the year goes on."
 
Coach Holloway on Yanis David's and Clayton Brown's national top-fives in the triple jump…
"Very pleased with both of them. Obviously there are some things we have to figure out with some of the other jumpers. It's just early season rust. We've got to get it shaken off. But very pleased with (Yanis and Clayton). Yanis' jump has got a good chance of getting her to the show (NCAA Indoor Championships)."
 
Coach Holloway on the team's weekend as a whole…
"Proud overall with the team this weekend. We challenged them to come in here and work hard, get better. I feel like everybody did that."


CLEMSON INVITATIONAL MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern)

• Results (Adkins Timing Associates)
• Day One Recap
• 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)

 

Saturday, January 20 (all events are finals)
Time	Gators – Event
200m (M)	3. Benjamin Lobo Vedel – 21.02 | Personal record
	7. Kunle Fasasi – 21.37
	10. Michael Timpson Jr. – 21.53
	11. Chantz Sawyers – 21.63
	15. Trevin Chambers – 21.74
200m (W)	3. Sharrika Barnett – 23.75 | 0.18 seconds off personal record (set outdoors)
	27. Lauryn Ghee – 25.18
600m (W)	9. Abbie Harrelson – 1:36.44 | Collegiate debut
800m (M)	11. Jack Rogers – 1:57.43 | Second-fastest time of career
800m (W)	7. Elisabeth Bergh – 2:16.34 | Indoor personal record
3,000m (M)	17. Jesse Millson – 8:48.73 | Topped personal record by 20.67 seconds (set outdoors); indoor collegiate debut
	19. Dominic Williams – 9:17.21 | Indoor collegiate debut
	Colin Schaefer – DNF
3,000m (W)	Maggie Parrish – DNF
4x400 (M)	1. Fasasi-Grant Holloway-Sawyers-Lobo Vedel – 3:03.49 | Eighth-fastest time in collegiate history; No. 2-ranked time on UF's All-Time Indoor Top 10
	5. Ryan Clark-Cory Poole-Cole Johnson-Chambers – 3:12.41
4x400 (W)	1. Taylor Sharpe-Taylor Manson-Ghee-Barnett – 3:31.17 | No. 5-ranked time on UF's All-Time Indoor Top 10
	9. Nikki Stephens-Amanda Froeynes-Timetria Mitchell-Harrelson – 3:49.24
HJ (M)	5. Jhonny Victor – 2.05 meters (6-8.75)
PV (M)	Harry Glasser – No Height
TJ (M)	2. Clayton Brown – 15.72 meters (51-7)
	3. Enzo Hodebar – 15.21 meters (49-11)
	KeAndre Bates – FOUL
TJ (W)	2. Yanis David – 13.60 meters (44-7.5)
	6. Darrielle McQueen – 13.02 meters (42-8.75)
	12. Asa Garcia – 12.20 meters (40-0.5)
WT (M)	2. AJ McFarland – 21.74 meters | School record; topped his previous school record by seven centimeters
	3. Anders Eriksson – 21.12 meters | Improved No. 4-ranked mark on UF's All-Time Top 10; topped previous personal record by 81 centimeters
	4. Thomas Mardal – 20.80 meters | Improved No. 6-ranked mark on UF's All-Time Top 10 by 31 centimeters
WT (W)	3. Lloydricia Cameron – 18.21 meters
	4. Jontavia Dykes – 17.84 meters
	7. Amara Wiggan – 17.39 meters | Second-best mark of career

 
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