Florida Relays Begin With Seven Gators on Tap to Participate

The 2018 Pepsi Florida Relays are officially underway in Gainesville! Several Olympians, Gator greats and over 250 high schools will showcase their talents at this meet.   Also, seven top 25 collegiate teams in both men’s and women’s competition will be on hand for the event as well.

Gators in the Relay

With the relays underway, the first Florida representative to take the field is three-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion Christian Taylor.

https://twitter.com/GatorsTF/status/979437971458969601

First, with Taylor taking the track for Florida, he would impress with his time in the 400 meter relay. The 45.48 time put up by Taylor would have everyone impressed, but not surprised. The former world and Olympic champion is used to high pressure, and he is using the Florida Relays to add on to his already impressive resume.

The response to his time is especially surprising due to Taylor being a triple jumper, as one tweet would point out after the relay.

He finished second in the event, with fellow Gator alum TJ Holmes finishing third.  Other Gator alums did well as Robin Reynolds and collegiate record holder Kyra Jefferson finished first and second in the women’s 400 meters competition.  The lone competition Thursday from current Gators occurred in the 5000 meters competition as Morgan Hull and Magnus Petersen set personal bests in the women’s and men’s competitions respectively.  The Gators also sent athletes to the Texas Relays where Amanda Froeynes took third in the heptathalon with the fifth best score in the nation and fellow freshman Nikki Stephens took 14th, ranking her 18th nationally.

https://twitter.com/GatorsTF/status/979159281646866433

While the Relays are a tough stage to compete on, there is always time for Taylor to take a second with Gators’ head coach Mike Holloway.

On Friday,

Relay Information

The Pepsi Florida Relays take place this weekend at Percy Beard Track on the campus of the University of Florida and run through Saturday.  Friday’s action will feature largely collegiate action and Saturday will be a fun day where every event scheduled is a relay.

https://twitter.com/GatorsTF/status/979021164008833028

For live and up-to-date coverage, follow Gator Track & Field on Twitter for times and results as they become available.

About Stephen Cabrera

Stephen Cabrera is a current University of Florida Journalism student and fan of football, basketball, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling.

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