GAINESVILLE, Fla. - A stacked collegiate field and a selection of elite
professionals will be on hand this weekend at Percy Beard Track when the
No. 4 (men)/15 (women) University of Florida track & field team hosts
the 64th annual Pepsi Florida Relays from April 4-5. Typically one of
the largest meets in the early stages of the spring, the Pepsi Florida
Relays draws more than 3,000 high school and collegiate athletes from
across the nation.
A sampling of the 40-plus college teams that will be in attendance
includes: Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, UCF,
Maryland, Mississippi, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman. The field will
also feature a contingent of elite professionals, including 2005 400m
hurdles world champion Bershawn Jackson and Xavier Carter, who finished
the 2007 season ranked third in the world in the men’s 200m.
With two weeks of the outdoor season under their belts, the Gators have
piled up an impressive 27 NCAA regional-qualifying marks as a team, with
18 coming on the men’s side and nine on the women’s. Junior Willie
Perry (Lenoir, N.C.) leads the way for the UF men on the track with the
nation’s best time in the men’s 200m (20.76), and the fifth-fastest
time in the NCAA in the 100m (10.39), while classmate Adam Montague
(Townsville, Australia) currently stands fourth on the NCAA descending
order list for the javelin with a top toss of 71.57m/234-10.
Senior Lakecia Ealey (Albany, Ga.) has paced the Florida women in the
early portion of the outdoor campaign, as she ranks fifth in the country
in both the 100m (11.50) and 200m (23.56), while freshman Rebecca Lowe
(Vancluse, Australia) has held onto the nation’s top spot in the
5,000m for the second week in a row with a mark of 16:19.97 from the
season-opening Snowbird Invitational.
Live results from the Pepsi Florida Relays will be available via
www.GatorZone.com. More information on the meet, including schedule,
history, records and directions, can be found at
www.GatorZone.com/trackfield