The University of Florida track and field teams captured seven events, notching 10 NCAA provisional-qualifying marks and one automatic-qualifying mark to highlight the Gators’ participation in the SEC/Big 12 Showdown on Saturday at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University.

Among the impressive performances on Saturday was junior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili’s (Tbilisi, Georgia) third consecutive win and automatic-qualifying mark in the women’s shot put and the 1-2-3 finish by the Florida women in the mile.   

“Overall, I thought we did some good things today,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “I did feel like we came out a little bit flat today and didn’t show a lot of emotion, but I thought our throwers really did a good job of improving and I was very impressed with our women’s mile, as well as our sprinters and Shara Proctor in the long jump. The big thing for us is that we came out of this meet healthy and we now have two weeks to go back and get ready for our meets at Arkansas and Iowa State.”

Kevkhishvili, the reigning SEC Female Field Athlete of the Week, improved her nation-leading throw in the women’s shot put to 56-2/17.12m. She is a perfect 3-for-3 on event wins this season, having claimed the women’s shot put at the Kentucky Invitational (1/17), the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational (1/24) and the SEC/Big 12 Showdown (1/31). Kevkhishvili has notched an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark in each of the team’s three meets this year.

Sophomore thrower Keely Medieros (Luziana, Brazil) also notched an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark in the women’s shot put with a toss of 50-0.75/15.26m. Freshman thrower Fidela James (Jacksonville, Fla.) put on an exceptional display in the women’s weight throw, notching a personal-best toss of 59-5.50/18.12m to finish third in just her third meet ever throwing the 20-pound weight.

Junior distance runner Charlotte Browning (West Sussex, England) led trio of Gators who earned NCAA provisional-qualifying times in the women’s mile. Browning claimed the event in a collegiate-best time of 4:43.52, eclipsing her previous indoor best of 5:00.00 achieved last season in the Washington Invitational as part of the UNLV track and field team. Browning’s mile time was the fourth-best in school history in the women’s indoor mile and she became just the fourth woman in school history to break the 4:44 barrier in the event.

Sophomore Kaitlin Shiver (Satellite Beach, Fla.) was second in the women’s mile in a provisional-qualifying time of 4:46.21, while freshman Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia) – the reigning SEC Female Freshman of the Week – was third in 4:47.63.

Senior thrower Beau Burroughs (Tampa, Fla.) engineered a successful comeback to win the men’s shot put with a toss of 57-11.75/17.67m on his final attempt. Burroughs struggled in each of his first four attempts, failing to surpass the 17-meter mark before rallying in his final two throws to capture the event.

In all, three of Florida’s four performers in the shot put on Saturday – Burroughs, James (44-11/13.69m) and Kevkhishvili each notched season bests in that event.

Junior Shara Proctor (The Valley, Anguilla), a 2008 NCAA Outdoor All-American in the long jump, made the most of her first appearance in that event this season. Proctor won the women’s long jump with a provisional-qualifying mark of 20-8/6.30m.

A young corps of runners helped the Gators win the women’s distance medley relay as Shiver, freshman Ashley Usery (St. Louis, Mo.), Browning and LaCaze captured that event title in 11:34.22.

Men’s sprinters Jeremy Hall (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.) each charted seasonal bests and provisional-qualifying times in the finals of the men’s 60-meter dash. Wilks finished third overall and tied his collegiate indoor best with a time of 6.73 – which ranks eighth all-time in school history, while Hall was fourth in 6.74.

Freshman Gray Horn (Wapakoneta, Ohio) notched an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark in the men’s heptathlon. Horn finished third overall in the event with 5,384 points, marking the third-best heptathlon performance in school history. Impressively, each of the top three heptathlon performances in Florida annals have come since February 2008.

Horn, who on Friday notched the best opening day heptathlon debut by a freshman in school history, opened Saturday’s competition with a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.60. He followed that up with a third-place showing in the pole vault (14-9/4.50m) and concluded the day with a fifth-place effort in the 1,000-meter run (2:52.70).

For the third consecutive week, the men’s 4x400-meter relay team won its event and posted a provisional-qualifying time, as the quartet of Carlos Phillips (Winter Park, Fla.), R.J. Anderson (Big Pine Key, Fla.), William Wynne (Marietta, Ga.) and Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.) used a strong final leg from Smith to hold off Texas A&M to win the event in a time of 3:10.04.

Phillips recorded an NCAA provisional-qualifying time in the men’s 800m run for the second consecutive week, placing fourth overall in 1:50.26.

The Big 12 Conference claimed both sides of the event, which was scored not by teams, but rather by conferences. On the men’s side, the Big 12 defeated the SEC 332-279, while the Big 12 women topped the SEC women 359-226.

The Florida track and field has a week off from competition before sending split squads to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, the weekend of Feb. 13-14.

The University of Florida is home of the 2009 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. For all of the latest information on Gator Track and Field, log on to www.GatorZone.com.

 

SEC/Big 12 Showdown – Saturday, January 31, 2009 (College Station, Texas)

 

Showdown Results

Men – Big 12 332, SEC 279

Women – Big 12 359, SEC 226

 

Men’s Heptathlon – 12 p.m. EST (AUTO: 5,650; PROV: 5,300)

3. Gray Horn – 5,384 P

 

Men’s Heptathlon #4 60-Meter Hurdles

3. Gray Horn – 8.60 (836 points)

 

Men’s Heptathlon #5 Pole Vault

T3. Gray Horn – 14-9/4.50m (760 points)

 

Men’s Heptathlon #6 1,000-Meter Run

5. Gray Horn – 2:52.70 (738 points)

 

Women’s 60-Meter Dash Preliminaries – 3:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.26; PROV: 7.44)

7. Madison McNary – 7.57q

13. Daniela Griffin – 7.82

 

Men’s 60-Meter Dash Preliminaries – 3:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 6.63; PROV: 6.74)

3. Jeremy Hall – 6.77q

4. Terrell Wilks – 6.78q

 

Women’s Mile – 5 p.m. EST (AUTO: 4:38.00; PROV: 4:48.00)

1. Charlotte Browning – 4:43.52 P

2. Kaitlin Shiver – 4:46.21 P

3. Genevieve LaCaze – 4.47.63 P

 

Men’s Mile – 5 p.m. EST (AUTO: 3:59.50; 4:04.00)

3. Justin Taylor – 4:08.96

8. Anthony Morales – 4:14.06

 

Women’s Shot Put – 5 p.m. EST (AUTO: 16.90; PROV: 15.20)

1. Mariam Kevkhishvili – 56-2/17.12m P

4. Keely Medieros – 50-0.75/15.26m P

8. Fidela James – 44-11/13.69m

 

Women’s Long Jump – 5 p.m. EST (AUTO: 6.35; PROV: 6.10)

1. Shara Proctor – 20-8/6.30m P

 

Men’s Long Jump – 5 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.85; PROV: 7.50)

5. Christian Taylor – 23-11/7.29m

 

Women’s Pole Vault – 5 p.m. EST (AUTO: 4.20; PROV: 3.95)

3. Natalie Moser – 12-6/3.81m

5. Daisy Glasser – 12-6/3.81m

6. Lauren Menke – 12-0/3.66m

 

Men’s Pole Vault – 5 p.m. EST (AUTO: 5.50; PROV: 5.20)

5. Justin Semeyn – 16-0.75/4.90m

 

Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles – 5:25 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.70; PROV: 7.91)

1. Kallinka Pitt – 7.93

2. William Wynne- 7.95

5. Dennis Martin – 8.04

6. Jarius Cooper – 8.08

 

Women’s 400-Meter Dash – 5:35 p.m. EST (AUTO: 52.40; PROV: 54.40)

5. Ije Iheoma – 56.73

11. Danielle Williams – 57.52

 

Men’s 400-Meter Dash - 5:35 p.m. EST (AUTO: 46.15; PROV: 47.25)

3. RJ Anderson – 47.94

11. William Wynne – 48.60

21. Preston Wilson – 50.53

 

Women’s 60-Meter Dash Finals – 6:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.26; PROV: 7.44)

6. Madison McNary – 7.48

 

Men’s 60-Meter Dash Finals – 6:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 6.63; PROV: 6.74)

3. Terrell Wilks – 6.73 P

4. Jeremy Hall – 6.74 P

 

Women’s 800-Meter Run – 6:20 p.m. EST (AUTO: 2:05.00; PROV: 2:09.00)

14. Ashley Usery – Florida – 2:20.28

 

Men’s 800-Meter Run – 6:20 p.m. EST (AUTO: 1:48.00; PROV: 1:50.50)

4. Carlos Phillips – 1:50.26 P

7. Lamarr Davis – 1:52.04

16. Ethan Philpot – 1:56.55

 

Women’s Weight Throw – 6:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 21.00; PROV: 18.75)

3. Fidela James – 59-5.50/18.12m

 

Men’s Shot Put – 6:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 19.30; PROV: 17.75)

1. Beau Burroughs – 57-11.75/17.67m

  

Women’s 200-Meter Dash – 6:40 p.m. EST (AUTO: 23.20; PROV: 23.90)

6. Alishea Usery – 24.19

9. Madison McNary – 24.59

16. Daniela Griffin – 25.76

 

Men’s 200-Meter Dash – 6:40 p.m. EST (AUTO: 20.83; PROV: 21.23)

3. Calvin Smith – 21.42

4. Terrell Wilks – 21.54

 

Women’s Triple Jump – 6:45 p.m. EST (AUTO: 13.30; PROV: 12.65)

4. Shara Proctor – 41-4.25/12.60m

8. Michelle Jenije – 39-8.50/12.10m

9. Madara Apine – 38-6.75/11.75m

 

Men’s Triple Jump – 6:45 p.m. EST (AUTO: 16.10; PROV: 15.40)

6. Christian Taylor – 48-11/14.91m

11. Joshua Postell – 45-6.25/13.87m

 

Women’s 5,000-Meter Run – 7:20 p.m. EST (AUTO: 16:08.00; PROV: 16:45.00)

2. Laura Garrow – 17:16.83

 

Men’s 5,000-Meter Run – 7:20 p.m. EST (AUTO: 13:47.00; PROV: 14:10.00)

11. Michael Anderson – 15:15.04

 

Women’s Distance Medley Relay – 7:45 p.m. EST (AUTO: 11:09.00; PROV: 11:30.00)

1. Florida – 11:34.22

          -Kaitlin Shiver, Ashley Usery, Charlotte Browning, Genevieve LaCaze

 

Men’s Distance Medley Relay – 7:45 p.m. EST (AUTO: 9:34.00; PROV: 9:45.70)

4. Florida – 10:07.58

          -Anthony Morales, Lamarr Davis, Ethan Philpot, Justin Taylor

 

Women’s 4x400-Meter Relay – 8:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 3:33.00; PROV: 3:40.00)

3. Florida – 3:44.84

          -Alishea Usery, Ije Iheoma, Danielle Williams, Paige Morton

 

Men’s 4x400-Meter Relay – 8:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 3:06.50; PROV: 3:10.40)

1. Florida – 3:10.04 P

          -Carlos Phillips, R.J. Anderson, William Wynne, Calvin Smith

 

SEC/BIG 12 SHOWDOWN – FLORIDA’S NCAA AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS

• Mariam Kevkhishvili – Women’s Shot Put – 56-2/17.12m A

 

SEC/BIG 12 SHOWDOWN – FLORIDA’S NCAA PROVISIONAL QUALIFIERS

• Gray Horn – Men’s Heptathlon – 5,384 P
• Charlotte Browning – Women’s Mile – 4:43.52 P
• Jeremy Hall – Men’s 60-Meter Dash - 6.74 P
• Genevieve LaCaze – Women’s Mile – 4:47.63 P
• Keely Medieros – Women’s Shot Put – 56-0.75/15.26m P
• Carlos Phillips – Men’s 800-Meter Run – 1:50.26 P
• Shara Proctor – Women’s Long Jump – 20-8/6.30m P
• Kaitlin Shiver – Women’s Mile – 4:46.21 P
• Terrell Wilks – Men’s 60-Meter Dash – 6.73 P
• Men’s 4x400m Relay – Phillips, R. Anderson, Wynne, Smith – 3:10.04 P

 

SEC/BIG 12 SHOWDOWN – FLORIDA EVENT WINNERS

• Charlotte Browning – Women’s Mile – 4:43.52 P
• Beau Burroughs – Men’s Shot Put – 57-11.75/17.67m
• Mariam Kevkhishvili – Women’s Shot Put – 56-2/17.12m A
• Kallinka Pitt – Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles – 7.93
• Shara Proctor – Women’s Long Jump – 20-8/6.30m P
• Men’s 4x400m Relay – Phillips, R. Anderson, Wynne, Smith – 3:10.04 P
• Women’s DMR – Shiver, Usery, Browning, LaCaze – 11:34.22

 

END OF REPORT