Gators Track and Field Off To Hot Start in NCAA East Preliminaries

Saying the Gators track and field team had good first day in the NCAA East preliminaries might be an understatement.

Florida had nine athletes qualify on the first day of the preliminaries for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Those take place from June 6 through June 9.

Tickets Punched to Eugene

The day started with a little bit of school history. For the first time ever, three Gator hammer throwers advanced to the NCAA Championships. Junior Anders Eriksson, red-shirt junior A.J. McFarland, and freshman Thomas Mardal. Eriksson had the longest Gator throw at 71.68 meters.

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Senior Keandre Bates and sophomore Grant Holloway qualified in the long jump. Bates took home first and Holloway took second at last year’s Championships.

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Sixth-year senior Avione Allgood qualified for Eugene in the javelin throw for the first time as a Gator. It’ll be her first outdoor championships appearance since 2014, when she made it as an Oklahoma Sooner.  She won the preliminary with a throw of 54.90 meters.

Joining her in Oregon will be Lloydricia Cameron in the shot put. She qualified for her third straight trip to the championships after coming in second in the preliminaries.

Finally, two Gators qualified in the women’s long jump. Yanis David and Darrielle McQueen after each placing in the top 10 in preliminaries.

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The preliminaries continue this weekend in Tampa.