The women’s 4x400 meter relay team, composed of Lanie Whittaker (Miami, Fla.), Alishea Usery (St. Louis, Mo.), Bria Goodson (Orange Park, Fla.) and Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.), capped off a stellar evening for the Florida track and field teams at the Don Kirby Collegiate Elite, hosted by the University of New Mexico at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

 

The foursome ran an NCAA-leading 3:33.22 on Friday evening, becoming the only team to automatically qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho.

 

“That was a very special run by those four young ladies,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “They set a goal when they came here of running an NCAA automatic qualifying time and that’s what they did. We couldn’t be more proud.”

 

Overall, the Gators had five event victories in New Mexico, along with eight personal bests between Albuquerque and Seattle, Wash., where the distance corps began the first day of the Flotrack Husky Classic hosted by the University of Washington.

 

“Every week, we want to come in and get better, and I think we did that today,” Holloway said. “I think Marquis (Dendy) did a great job, I’m very proud of Kemal (Mesic) and Keely (Medeiros) as well.”

 

Freshman jumper Marquis Dendy (Middleton, Del.) won the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.82m/25-8, a personal best and good for eighth all-time at Florida.

 

Junior sprinter Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.) sped his way to a season-best and an SEC and NCAA-tying 6.55, shared with Auburn’s Harry Smith. Demps’ time will be adjusted for altitude.

 

“Jeff was Jeff,” Holloway said. “He had a seasonal best but I think he would be the first to tell you that he rushed it tonight. We need to work on being more patient.”

 

Freshman jumper Taylor Burke (Medina, Ohio) and her winning streak did not take a break in Albuquerque, earning her fourth straight high jump title by clearing 1.78m/5-10 on Friday evening.

 

Senior thrower Kemal Mesic (Sarajevo, Bosnia) narrowly missed his school record with a throw of 20.23m/66-4.50, finishing second, while fellow senior thrower Keely Medeiros (Blumenau-SC, Brazil) registered a season-best 16.61m/54-6 in the women’s shot put, placing second and continuing her return from injury.

 

The trio of women’s 60 meter sprinters, Usery, Goodson and Darshay Davis (Miramar, Fla.), impressed Holloway, especially Davis’ performance not only in the 60 meters, but the women’s 200 meters as well.

 

“I thought the women’s 60 meter group did a great job,” Holloway noted. “Bria and Darshay each had personal bests tonight and Alishea ran a season-best. I was also pleased with Darshay’s PB in the 200 meters as well.”

 

Usery, Davis and Goodson recorded 60 meter times of 7.35, 7.40 and 7.56, respectively. Davis then ran a personal-best 23.84 in the women’s 200 meters, good for fourth place and her second-consecutive 200 meter PR in as many weeks.

 

Senior thrower Fidela James (Jacksonville, Fla.) registered a personal-best 20.48m/67-2.25 mark in the weight throw, improving her standing at eighth all-time in Florida school history.

 

Over in Seattle, the distance crew got off to a solid start, led by Florence Ngetich (Kenya) and Callie Cooper (St. Johns, Fla.) and their 5,000-meter performances. Ngetich turned in the second-best performance in Gator history, placing sixth with a time of 16:15.18 while Cooper shaved nearly 23 seconds off her personal best, recording a time of 16:32.68.

 

“I’m really proud of Florence, performing the way she did in Seattle,” Holloway commented. “And for Callie to have that kind of PB is nothing short of special. Really pleased with both of their performances tonight.”

 

The Gators continue their stay in Seattle as the second day of the Flotrack Husky Classic commences at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday morning. Live stats can be found here.

 

For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/trackfield or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Florida track and field on Twitter at @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField. You can also find the Gators on Facebook.

 

DON KIRBY COLLEGIATE ELITE (FEBRUARY 10, 2012: ALBUQUERQUE, NM)

 

FIELD EVENTS

 

Men’s Long Jump (AUTO: 8.00m/26-3)

1.     Marquis Dendy, 7.82m/25-8 (P)

5.     Gray Horn, 7.20m/23-7.50

 

Men’s Weight Throw (AUTO: 21.50m/70-6)

3.     Jeremy Postin, 20.57m/67-6

4.     David Triassi, 20.12m/66-0.25

11. David Levin, 15.73m/51-7.25

 

Men’s High Jump (AUTO: 2.24m/7-4.25)

2.     Dwight Barbiasz, 2.22m/7-3.25

3.     Frankie Hammond, 2.18m/7-1.75

 

Women’s High Jump (AUTO: 1.85m/6-0.75)

1.     Taylor Burke, 1.78m/5-10

T4.  Alexis Muniz, 1.68m/5-6

 

Women’s Weight Throw (AUTO: 21.00m/68-10)

3.     Fidela James, 20.48m/67-2.25 (P)

11.  Jayla Bostic, 17.30m/56-9.25

 

Women’s Long Jump (AUTO: 6.45m/21-2)

18. Lorraine Graham, 5.43m/17-9.75

 

Men’s Pole Vault (AUTO: 5.50m/18-0.50)

20. Gray Horn, 4.65m/15-3

 

Men’s Shot Put (AUTO: 19.35m/63-6)

2.     Kemal Mesic, 20.23m/66-4.50

 

Men’s Triple Jump (AUTO: 16.30m/53-5.75)

7.     Marquis Dendy, 15.00m/49-2.50

--     Omar Craddock, FOUL

 

Women’s Triple Jump (AUTO: 13.30m/43-7.75)

5.     Ciarra Brewer, 12.71m/41-8.50

 

Women’s Shot Put (AUTO: 17.20m/56-5.25)

2.     Keely Medeiros, 16.61m/54-6

8.     Fidela James, 15.05m/49-4.50

19. Brittany Harrell, 11.23m/36-10.25

 

RUNNING EVENTS

 

Men’s 60m Hurdles Prelims (AUTO: 7.70)

3.     Eddie Lovett, 7.87q

13. Gray Horn, 8.06q

 

Women’s 60m Hurdles Prelims (AUTO: 8.10)

4.     Ugonna Ndu, 8.35q (P)

7.     Ashley Favors, 8.58q

10. Amani Bryant, 8.79q

11. Paige Morton, 8.80q

14. Brittany Harrell, 8.88q

 

Men’s 60m Prelims (AUTO: 6.60)

1.     Jeff Demps, 6.56q

3.     Hugh Graham, Jr., 6.65q (P)

22. Dedric Dukes, 6.98

 

Women’s 60m Prelims (AUTO: 7.23)

2.     Alishea Usery, 7.41q (7.409)

3.     Darshay Davis, 7.41q (7.410)

14. Bria Goodson, 7.64q (7.639)

 

Women’s 60m Hurdles Finals (AUTO: 8.10)

5.     Ugonna Ndu, 8.39

8.     Ashley Favors, 8.53

10. Paige Morton, 8.83

11. Brittany Harrell, 8.86

14. Amani Bryant, 8.93

 

Men’s 60m Hurdles Finals (AUTO: 7.70)

7.     Eddie Lovett, 7.92

11. Gray Horn, 7.99 (P)

 

Men’s 60m Finals (AUTO: 6.60)

1.     Jeff Demps, 6.55

3.     Hugh Graham, Jr., 6.66

 

Women’s 60m Finals (AUTO: 7.23)

2.     Alishea Usery, 7.35

5.     Darshay Davis, 7.40 (P)

12.  Bria Goodson, 7.56 (P)

 

Women’s 600m (Not an NCAA Championship Event)

3.     Ashley Usery, 1:33.45

 

Men’s 200m (AUTO: 20.73)

10. Leonardo Seymore, 21.54

 

Women’s 200m (AUTO: 23.12)

4.     Darshay Davis, 23.84 (P-Ind.)

 

Men’s 4x400m Relay (AUTO: 3:06.50)

2.     Florida (H. Graham, D. Dukes, J. Toppin, T. McQuay), 3:09.46

 

Women’s 4x400m Relay (AUTO: 3:34.00)

1.     Florida (L. Whittaker, Al. Usery, B. Goodson, E. Eutsey), 3:33.22 (A)

 

FLOTRACK HUSKY CLASSIC (FEBRUARY 10-11, 2012: SEATTLE, WA)

 

Women’s 5,000m (AUTO: 15:57.00)

6.     Florence Ngetich, 16:15.18 (P)

13. Callie Cooper, 16:32.68 (P)

 

Men’s 5,000m (AUTO: 13:44.60)

41. Josh Izewski, 14:27.79

74. Jimmy Clark, 15:00.19