Senior thrower Kemal Mesic (Sarajevo, Bosnia) set a new Florida record in the shot put to highlight the start of the 2012 season at the Alabama Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. on Saturday.

 

The five-time All-American and reigning SEC Indoor Champion in the shot put bested his own previous school record of 19.53m/64-1 with a throw of 19.95m/65-05.50, an NCAA automatic qualifying mark, a Birmingham Crossplex record and the longest throw of the day by nearly three meters.

 

“I think today was a typical opening meet,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “We saw some good performances, saw some need for improvement and then saw some really great performances out of guys like Kemal and Gray (Horn).”

 

Senior multi-event athlete Gray Horn (Waynesfield, Ohio) had a stellar outing in Birmingham, leaping to a first place finish in the long jump with a career-best 7.66m/25-01.75, a Birmingham Crossplex record and good for 10th all-time in Florida history.

 

“I was really impressed with Gray,” Holloway said. “He had one of his best performances in the hurdles and I can’t say enough about what he did in the long jump.”

 

The women’s 4x400-meter relay team, comprised of Alishea Usery (St. Louis, Mo), Lanie Whittaker (Miami, Fla.), Ugonna Ndu (Newark, N.J.) and Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.) took home the third Birmingham Crossplex record of the day for the Gators, racing to a first place finish with a time of 3:39.76.

 

Junior thrower Jeremy Postin (Auburndale, Fla.) had a career outing on Saturday, recording a personal best 20.15m/66-01.50 mark in the men’s weight throw, tallying another Crossplex record and improving his standing in the Florida record book at third all-time at UF.

 

The newcomers had their chance to shine as well on Saturday. Freshman distance runner Tyler Cardillo (Punta Gorda, Fla.) earned his first victory of the 2012 indoor season, taking the 800 meter title with a time of 1:51.50, finishing just ahead of teammate John Mitchell (Plant City, Fla.) and his time of 1:51.54.

 

Freshman jumper Ciarra Brewer (Union City, Calif.) took a second place finish in the women’s triple jump in her first collegiate meet, leaping to a 12.74m/41-09.75 mark on Saturday.

 

Freshman distance runner Harsha Torke (Melbourne, Fla.) took second in the men’s mile run with a time of 4:12.63, while freshman jumper Marquis Dendy (Middleton, Del.) recorded a 15.24m/50-00.00 mark in the men’s triple jump to earn second place.

 

The Gators now return home to the friendly confines of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center as the track and field teams play host to the 2012 Gator Invite on Sunday, January 22.

 

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.

 

2012 ALABAMA INVITATIONAL (JAN. 14, 2012 – BIRMINGHAM, ALA.)

 

Women’s Weight Throw

8. Ashley Miller, 16.40m/53-09.75

10. Jayla Bostic, 16.13m/52-11.00

 

Men’s Weight Throw

1. Jeremy Postin, 20.15m/66-01.50

2. David Triassi, 20.00m/65-07.50

5. David Levin, 16.14m/52-11.50

 

Women’s 60m

5. Alishea Usery, 7.49

6. Darshay Davis, 7.52

 

Men’s 60m Hurdles Prelims

5. Gray Horn, 8.11

6. William Wynne, 8.19

 

Women’s 60m Hurdles

4. Ugonna Ndu, 8.61

 

Women’s Long Jump

5. Ciarra Brewer, 5.79m/19-0

7. Lorraine Graham, 5.78m/18-11.75

13. Brittany Harrell, 5.49m/18-00.25

 

Men’s Long Jump

1. Gray Horn, 7.66m/25-01.75

19. Josh Pederson, 6.32m/20-09.00

 

Women’s Pole Vault

4. Claire Spurling, 3.70m/12-01.50

 

Men’s Pole Vault

8. Max Lang, 4.90m/16-00.75

 

Women’s Mile

4. Sarah Davis, 5:01.35

 

Men’s Mile

2. Harsha Torke, 4:12.63

6. Daniel Wehunt, 4:22.26

 

Women’s 400m

4. Lanie Whittaker, 54.79

13. Ashley Usery, 56.89

 

Women’s Shot Put

6. Arlithia Mackey, 12.82m/42-00.75 

 

Women’s High Jump

4. Taylor Burke, 1.75m/5-08.75

8. Alexis Muniz, 1.70m/5-07.00

 

Men’s 400m

8. Sean Obinwa, 48.70

 

Men’s 800m

1. Tyler Cardillo, 1:51.50

2. John Mitchell, 1:51.54

9. Luc Lawrence, 1:59.56

 

Women’s 200m

3. Ebony Eutsey, 24.06

 

Women’s Triple Jump

2. Ciarra Brewer, 12.74m/41-09.75

12. Trish Leger, 11.14m/36-06.75

 

Men’s Triple Jump

2. Marquis Dendy, 15.24m/50-0

 

Men’s 200m

5. Hugh Graham, 21.83

 

Women’s 3,000m

4. Shelby Hayes, 9:43.73

10. Brittany Koziara, 10:57.10

 

Men’s Shot Put

1. Kemal Mesic, 19.95m/65-05.50

 

Women’s 4x400m Relay

1. Florida “A” (Al. Usery, L. Whittaker, Ndu, Eutsey, 3:39.76

7. Florida “B” (As. Usery, Davis, Goodson, Harrell), 3:50.30