Men and Women’s Track Teams Head To Oxford For More Bling.
By LOREN MEADOWS
GatorBaitMedia.com
The campus of Ole Miss was scheduled to be full of Gators hunting bounty the weekend -- the Florida Gators Track teams. By Sunday they no doubt will have their quarry. Both teams were poised for big finishes that could lead to both individual and team championships – the men in second chasing down Alabama and the women Texas A&M.
For the men, the Gators have the fastest times in the conference in the 200m Dash, 400m dash, 4x100m relay, and the 4x400 relay. The 200m dash could feature one of the top races in the nation this weekend as defending national champion Gators Joseph Fahnbulleh will be challenged by Georgia’s Matt Boling with whom he shares the nation’s fastest time of 19.92s.
Fahnbulleh bested Boling head-to-head earlier this season at the Pepsi Florida Relays in Gainesville, so a possible rematch could take place for the SEC Title in Oxford. Fahnbulleh should most likely anchor the nation’s fastest 4x100m relay team as well.
The Gators could be challenged by both LSU and Alabama who have run 38.85s and 38.86s respectively less than a half second of the Gators time of 38.47s. LSU bettered the Gators two weeks ago when the Tigers capitalized on poor handoffs by the Gators to win the relay at the LSU Invitational. Depth could be key as the Gators feature a combination of five runners that could participate in the relay.
The Gators will also look to score big in the 400m dash as both Champion Allison and Ryan Willie are tied for the SEC lead at 45.16s. If both run, they could possibly be part of the 4x400m relay team that has already set the collegiate record this year at 2:58.53s. Allison and Willie could be joined by Jacob Miley and Jacory Patterson to take another run at NCAA history. The Gators also have the team depth to run multiple combinations in this event as well.
The Gator women begin the postseason looking to add the SEC Outdoor title to an already impressive year. The 2022 National Indoor Champions feature a diverse roster that showcases the athleticism of the roster.
Florida’s most versatile athlete, Anna Hall, was crowned the USATF National Champion at last week’s Combined Events National Championships earning her a spot on the US National Team. Hall will take a break from the heptathlon and compete in the 400m hurdles where she currently has the second fastest time in the nation and SEC behind Britton Wilson from Arkansas.
Hall will also compete in the long jump where she ranks fifth nationally with a jump of 22 feet, 1.5 inches. Along with Hall, Florida athletes Grace Stark, Jasmine Moore and Natricia Hooper are in the top five nationally in their events going into the weekend.
Grace Stark is the reigning Indoor National Champion in the 60m hurdles. She ranks third nationally in the 110m hurdles and should challenge Alia Armstrong of LSU and Kaylah Robinson of Texas A&M for the outdoor title. Armstrong dealt with disqualification and false starts during the indoor postseason so an outdoor showdown could be one to watch with a clean start by all three ladies.
Moore and Hooper give the Gators an opportunity to score as many as 18 points in the triple jump. Hooper and Moore are first and second nationally with jumps of 46 feet, 6.25 inches, and 46-2 respectively. The duo finished first and second in the triple jump in the indoor conference and national meet to help the and will look to repeat the feat at the outdoor conference meet.
Moore is the reigning SEC and national champion in the triple and long jumps. Outdoors she is ranked second with a jump of 22 feet, 5 inches. She will be challenged by Deborah Acquah of Texas A&M who leads the SEC with a jump of 22-7.25. Florida could also find scoring in the event from Claire Bryant who ranks fourth in the SEC with a jump of 22-1.
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