GAINESVILLE – The state of Florida isn\'t necessary known for indoor track, but Saturday\'s Florida Intercollegiate Track Meet brought some of the finest indoor marks of the year thus far. The Stephen O'Connell Center played host to a record breaking day for two Gator throwers, many provisional marks, and the comeback stories of FSU\'s Lacy Janson, UF\'s Daniel Parker and Kamille Bratten. The meet was the season opener for most Florida schools.
Florida\'s Kim Barnett is intense while preparing and competing in the throwing events. Her screams can be heard around the track whether she\'s competing indoors or outdoors. Her throw of 74 feet and 6.50 inches established the new standard in collegiate track for the weight throw. Barnett put on an automatic throw in the shot put as well, and her teammates LaQuanda Cotten (weight throw) and Candice Scott (shot put) accomplished the same. Scott's throw in the shot put, 55-3.75, set the O\'Connell Center record.
Coach Larry Judge is equally focused. While he watches, motivates, and yells at his athletes, it almost appears as if he\'s the one who\'s about to complete. His athletes seem to mirror the attitude he potrays to them: that of complete concentration on the sport. After they finished a long day of competition, it was impossible to get a word with them. The crew headed straight to the weight room for more work.
While Barnett and her Florida throwing teammates have already been on a terror this winter, Florida State pole vaulter Lacy Janson made her first appearance in many months. Last year\'s NCAA indoor champ cleared 12-8 for second overall. Janson competed unattached, gearing up for the Olympics; she may, however, return in a Seminole jersey for an outdoor campaign.
Rafeef Curry took second in the triple jump for the Seminoles with a provisional jump of 51-11.75.
Former Boone High standout and current sophomore at UF, Daniel Parker returned to the distance scene by finishing second in the 3000. It has been a long and patient road for Parker, whose hip had been giving him trouble this summer and fall and forced a redshirt cross country season. \"It kept nagging him when he was just running 50 miles a week, and finally we took a little different approach. We gave him some time off, and then we didn\'t get him fit until it was too late for cross country,\" said UF distance coach Jeff Pigg. His 8:23.95 performance trailed only Darin Shearer, who competed unattached wearing a Run Florida jersey.
Former Boyd Anderson star and current Florida senior Moise Joseph was right behind Parker in the 3000 meters--that\'s not a misprint! The middle distance guru used this meet to work on his strength. The Florida coaches thought this would be a little more enjoyable workout than a 5x1 mile. \"Our goal is to make him as strong as possible,\" said Pigg who mainly works with Joseph during the cross country season.
Florida\'s Kamille Bratten also made a return after being out the past year. She was sidelined with plantar fasciitis since competing in one race last season. Bratten, who finished in 2:09.68, was in the hunt for the win from the start, but could not overtake Tamar King-Foster for the win. \"I felt great about my opener because I\'ve been out for over a year. I came in thinking I had good training and I went out there to win. I always have to keep that winning mentality,\" said the Bradenton native who\'s now a senior at UF.
Joseph\'s vacancy in the 800 left an opening for another Florida middle distance runner to shine. Sophomore Shane Stroup led throughout the race, but two runners from the Nike Oregon Product took the pace up a few gears to drop Stroup during the final lap. Stroup took third in 1:51.17.
The 800 races featured some feisty racing and the women\'s mile was no different. South Florida\'s Bente General, an individual NCAA cross country qualifier, led from the start. General carried the workload throughout, but UNF\'s Romy Krueger ran comfortably tucked in behind the whole race until the final turn to overtake General in 4:58.36. \"It went really well for me actually because I won,\" said Kruegger after her win. Kruegger was the NCAA Divison II runner-up in the indoor mile last season.
The middle distance races entertained the crowd, but many of the best performances were in the sprints, hurdles, and field events. Tiandra Ponteen (54.24) and Novlene Williams (53.10) were members of Florida\'s victorious 4x400 team and put up provisional marks in the 400 meter dash. Andrea Bliss in the 55m hurdles met the provisional mark with her time of 7.65 seconds. Florida\'s Josh Walker nearly qualified automatically for Fayetteville by winning the finals on the 55 meter hurdles in 7.20 seconds. The Florida men had three more provisional qualifiers in Kerron Clement (55m hurdles), Antonio Emperator (weight throw), and Mike Morrison (long jump).
The Florida men\'s and women\'s sprinting crews stole much of the show on the track Saturday, but many top Florida distance collegians took the weekend off. Steve Zieminski was in attendance, but in khaki shorts and sandals. Vicky Gill, Joep Tigchelaar, and most members of FSU\'s distance squad put their season debuts on hold. FSU heads to Clemson and Florida will play host to three more meets including next weekend\'s SEC Invitational.