The Gators track and field team split athletes between Arkansas for the Tyson Invitational and Nashville for the Music City Challenge to close out the 2022 regular indoor season.
On Friday, The Gators got off to a hot start placing two in the top three of the 400m dash. Freshman Ryan Willie placed second with a time of 45.83 seconds and Senior Champion Allison followed him with a time of 45.92 seconds. These times are third and fouth in the nation for the season. For the women, Caitlan Tate ran 54.25 seconds, a personal best for her.
In the 60m dash final, Juniors Dedrick Vanover and PJ Austin placed third and fourth with times of 6.69 seconds and 6.70 seconds. Meanwhile in Nashville at the Music City Challenge Imogen Barrett placed ninth in the mile with a time of 4:43.30.
Over on the runway, the Gators were led by Malcom Clemons and PJ Austin, both having season best days and top ten SEC jumps. Clemons bounced to 7.80m which places him at seventh in the conference while Austin jumped 7.65m placing him tenth in the conference.
The next day provided just as much excitement for the Gators. Over in Nashville again, Freshman Sam Austin was cooking with gas. Austin ran a time of 1:47.79 in the 800m race at the Music City Challenge, which places him seventh in school history and the fourth best time in the NCAA this year.
In the 200m dash, the Gators took first in both men and women. Jacorey Patterson equaled his personal best running 20.91 seconds. For the women, freshman Talitha Diggs zoomed to a personal best of 22.75 seconds. This time for Diggs also places her second in the nation and improves her second place time in school history.
Heading over to jumps, it was once again Jasmine Moore and Natricia Hooper leading the way. Moore finished in first place of the triple jump with a mark of 14.19m and Hooper was right behind her with a leap of 13.96m.
To end the weekend, the Florida men’s 4x400m relay team improved their NCAA leading time. The men ran a time of 3:02.09 to take home first place. This beats their previous NCAA leading mark by over a second. The team was led by Jacory Patterson who handed to Ryan Willie who then passed to Jacob Miley and was closed by Champion Allison in a thrilling finish. The men’s time also places them second in school history. The women’s 4x400m relay team did not finish.
Next, the Gators will travel to College Station, Texas to compete for the SEC Championship’s on February 25th and February 26th.
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