Grant Holloway broke Eddie Lovett's school record (7.50) with a 7.49 finish in the 60-meter hurdles.
CLEMSON, S.C. – Florida track and field kicked its season into gear Friday night at the Clemson Invitational, with Grant Holloway's school record and world-leading time highlighting five performances that cracked the program's all-time indoor top 10, as well as a handful of national top 10 performances.
Holloway tied the third-fastest 60-meter hurdles time in collegiate history, crossing in 7.49 seconds to break Gator great Eddie Lovett's school record (7.50) from the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships. Here's more context to Holloway's blazing time:
- Sixth sub-7.50-second performance in collegiate history (Omar McLeod, Arkansas, 7.45 at 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships; Reggie Torian, Wisconsin, 7.47 in February 1997; McLeod, 7.49 at 2015 SEC Indoor Championships; Jarret Eaton, Syracuse, 7.49 in January 2012; Torian, 7.49 at 1997 USATF Indoor Championships)
- Fourth man in collegiate history to break 7.50 seconds
- Tied Eaton as the No. 3-ranked 60 hurdler in collegiate history
- Time would have been tied for sixth-fastest in the world for the 2017 season
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) January 19, 2018
SCHOOL RECORD, tied for THIRD-FASTEST IN COLLEGIATE HISTORY for @Flaamingoo_
*drops mic* pic.twitter.com/TZw9Ke7No3
In her first-ever collegiate pentathlon, freshman Amanda Froeynes posted the second-highest score in the nation this year and became the No. 2 performer on the program's all-time top 10. Froeynes finished with 4,199 points, leaving her 88 points off Brittany Harrell's school record from the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships. While there are plenty of meets remaining, Froeynes' score has been in the top 16 of the national indoor descending order list each of the last eight seasons, giving her a high probability of qualifying for this year's NCAA Indoor Championships.
RANKINGS: Florida men lead preseason indoor poll | Women's poll
Froeynes also tied the fifth-ranked high jump mark on the program's all-time indoor top 10 (1.79 meters / 5 feet, 10.5 inches) during the pentathlon.
When your teammate becomes the third-fastest collegian ever
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) January 20, 2018
: @ctreworgy pic.twitter.com/BbtgLHfANn
Senior and reigning indoor long jump national champion KeAndre Bates threw down a season-best jump of 7.79 meters (25 feet, 6.75 inches), moving him to third on the national descending order list. Sophomore Clayton Brown, competing in indoor long jump for the first time, set a personal record (7.53 meters / 24 feet, 8.5 inches) to rank 15th nationally.
In the women's shot put, senior Lloydricia Cameron improved her season-best and No. 4-ranked mark in the nation by a centimeter, winning with a top throw of 17.33 meters (56 feet, 10.25 inches).
Sophomore Brandee' Johnson climbed to No. 4 on the Gators' all-time top 10 in the 60-meter hurdles, lowering her personal record by 0.12 seconds. Johnson clocked a time of 8.26 seconds, which ties her for ninth nationally.
.@Lilmamba_nuna is into the Clemson Invite final with time of 8.36--which is a 0.02-second PR!
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) January 19, 2018
It also improves her No. 6-ranked time on the All-Time Top 10 pic.twitter.com/n73Bj9VkuX
The Gators conclude their two-day stint at the Clemson Invitational Saturday afternoon.
HEARING OUT COACH HOLLOWAY
Head coach Mike Holloway on Grant Holloway's school record and tying the third-fastest time in collegiate history…
"Phenomenal performance. He beat a guy (Jarret Eaton) that was a World Indoor Championships finalist (in 2016). We're really pleased with that, but we have to remember we still have work to do. That's not the end goal. Although we're very pleased, we're by no means satisfied."
Coach Holloway on Amanda Froeynes becoming the No. 2-ranked pentathlete in program history…
"We thought we had something special when we recruited her. As she progressed through the fall, we thought she could do some great things. Today was scratching the surface of that. We left a lot of points out there. But very pleased with her and how she performed today. That was big for her to go into her first pentathlon as a college freshman and do that."
Coach Holloway on the performances of KeAndre Bates, Lloydricia Cameron and Brandee' Johnson…
"Collegiate PR for Brandee'. Lloydricia, we've got to get her some competition; she won by five feet today. But for her to come out and execute when she really didn't have anyone pressuring her was big. KeAndre is KeAndre, building slowly and trying to figure things out. He and Coach (Nic) Petersen are starting to get that done."
Coach Holloway on some of Friday's other notable performances…
"Very pleased with Taylor Manson in her first 400 as a freshman. That's an indoor PR. Very pleased with Taylor Sharpe; we're in a good spot there. And even though things didn't go well overall for Nikki Stephens, I thought she had a good effort in her first collegiate pentathlon as well. She had a little snafu in the hurdles, but other than that I thought she had a good competition."
A WORD FROM THE RECORD BREAKER
Grant Holloway on breaking the school record and tying the third-fastest time in collegiate history…
"It was good. Going out to the race, I felt good. It was kind of expected of me. I just had to execute. It means a lot to me. But, at the same time, we have to stay hungry for more. We can't be satisfied with just 7.49. We're trying to get collegiate records and world records. And I'm still growing. I'm only 20 years old. The sky is the limit, so I'm just going to keep pushing. Back to work on Monday."
