Gators Earn 25 Medals at Pepsi Florida Relays

Florida track and field hosted its first of two outdoor meets last weekend, and the Gators participating in the Pepsi Florida Relays did not disappoint.

Florida racked up 25 medals, including ten gold, six silver and nine bronze.

https://twitter.com/GatorsTF/status/1641771736055304196

Day One

Florida won seven events on the first day of competition at James G. Pressly Stadium, six of which came via event sweeps.

Alicia Van Daalen set the tone by establishing a new school record in the discus. She placed third with a distance of 58.7 meters.

The Discus 👑

Alida Van Daalen's first discus throw as a Gator is a SCHOOL RECORD (58.70m/192'7")😤#GoGators 🐊 pic.twitter.com/D9faOcx01w

— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) March 31, 2023

Florida’s first pair of victories came in the long jump invite. Sean Dixon-Brodie (8.00m) won the men’s competition while Claire Bryant (6.56m) took the women’s title.

Robert Gregory put his name in the record books as the eighth fastest Gator to run the 200-meter dash. He finished in 20.31 seconds. Talitha Diggs secured UF’s second sweep of the match by running the 200 in 22.61 seconds.

Florida ended day one by placing first in the 4×400-meter preliminaries for both its men’s and women’s squads.

The quartet of Ryan Maseman, Hugh Brittenham, Deshay Fernandes and Sam Austin crossed the finish line first in the men’s 4×800-meter relay with a time of 7:23.8.

Day Two

Van Daalen made her mark on both days with her performance in the women’s shot put. She carried out a 17.94-meter toss to win the title and set a new nationwide mark for the season.

The Gators swept the 100-meter dash thanks to the efforts of Pjay Austin (10.10) and Diggs (10.92).

The Gators closed out the meet with an incredible performance in the 4×400-meter finals, besting all of their opponents to win both competitions.

The Gators women's 4×100 relay today

🔷 🥇(43.37)
🔷 8th Fastest in School History
🔷 3rd Fastest in the Country this Year
🔷 4th Fastest in the 🌎 this Year#GoGators 🐊 pic.twitter.com/x7pUgOB0fW

— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) April 1, 2023

Diggs, Grace Stark, Jayla Hollis and Kynnedy Flannel finished first with the eighth-best time in school history (43.37 seconds).

Jacory Patterson, Ryan Willie, Jacob Miley and Emmanuel Bamidele’s 3:02.01 time in the event was the fastest in the world this year.

What’s Next?

The Gators wrap up the home slate of the outdoor season with the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville on April 14-15.