UF TF: Florida Sends Seven to Finals on the Opening Day of the SEC Outdoor Championships

Zach Godbold scores the first points of the meet for Florida

BATON ROUGE, La – On the first day of the SEC Outdoor Championships, the Florida Gators had success advancing seven athletes to Saturday’s finals.

Sterling Lester began the day for the Gators in the heptathlon, made up of the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin, and 800m. Lester competed in the first four events of the heptathlon on day one, finishing top-4 in each one. She secured second place (3603 points) in the overall standings going into day two of the heptathlon competition tomorrow.

Zach Godbold earned the first point of the competition for the Florida men, placing eighth in the men’s javelin competition (60.03m/196’11”). This is the second consecutive year that Godbold has scored the first points of the SEC Outdoor Championships for the Gators.

Heading into day two, the Gators advance 3 runners from prelims to finals on the men’s side. Sam Austin advanced in the 800m, and both Robert Gregory and Jacory Patterson advanced in the 200m.

On the women’s side Florida sees 4 runners advancing to finals. Both Imogen Barrett and Gabrielle Wilkinson won their 800m heats and advanced to the finals on Sunday. In the 200m, Talitha Diggs advanced to the finals. In the final prelim of the day, Vanessa Watson ran the third fastest time in school history and eighth fastest in the world this year in the 400m hurdles to advance to the finals of the event.

Tomorrow the Gators begin day two of the SEC Outdoor Championships at 12:45 p.m. ET, with Sterling Lester starting the fifth of seven events in the heptathlon competition. The first running event begins at 6:00 p.m. ET when Caleb Foster competes in the men’s 110m hurdles prelims. Day two closes out with the women’s 3000m steeplechase.

SEC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET

Thursday’s Finals Recap

Heptathlon

Women- Sterling Lester competed in the heptathlon, comprised of the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin, and 800m. On day one of the competition, Lester took part in the first four events. She led off the competition with the 100m hurdles, placing second with a time of 13.56. In the second heptathlon event, Lester cleared 1.71m/5’7.25″ in the high jump, finishing third. In the shot put, Lester threw 11.81m/38’9″, placing fourth in her third event. Fourth up for Lester was the 200m, where she finished first (23.33), over half a second faster than the runner-up Beatrice Juskeviciute from Vanderbilt. At the end of day one of the heptathlon competition, Lester is second overall in the competition with 3603 points.

Hammer Throw

Women- Imani Washington finished seventeenth (55.30m/181’5″) in the women’s hammer throw in her first career SEC Championship meet.

Javelin

Men- In his season debut, Zach Godbold placed eighth (60.03m/196’11”) in the men’s javelin, earning the Gators first point of the competition. Redshirt Freshman Devin Willis finished tenth (56.69m/186’3″) in his first career SEC Championship.

10000m

Men- Ethan Geiger finished sixteenth in the 10K with a time of 31.43.01.

Thursday’s Prelims Recap

200m

Men- Both Robert Gregory and Jacory Patterson automatically qualified for the finals, finishing first in their respective heats. Gregory placed third overall in the prelims with a time of 20.31 and Patterson secured fifth (20.45).

Women- Talitha Diggs qualified for the finals of the women’s 200m competition on Saturday with a time of 22.68. She finished eighth overall in the prelims. Kynnedy Flannel placed thirteenth (23.09) and Jayla Hollis finished eighteenth (23.23). Hollis’ time was a new outdoor personal best in the 200m. Ramiah Elliott (23.34) and Jasmine Montgomery (23.41) finished twenty-first and twenty-third, respectively.

400m Hurdles

Men- Collin Sieffert finished twelfth in the 400m hurdles prelims (50.99); his time was a season-best.

Women- Vanessa Watson (55.64) won her heat by over a second, automatically qualifying for the women’s 400m hurdles finals. She finished second overall in the prelims, running the third fastest time in school history, fourth fastest in the country this year, and the eighth fastest in the world this year.

800m

Men- Sam Austin automatically qualified for the men’s 800m finals, finishing first in his heat and fifth overall (1:49.43) in prelims. Ryan Maseman (1:49.79) and Caden Monk (1:50.00) finished thirteenth and fourteenth respectively in qualifying. In his first SEC Outdoor Championship with the Gators, Adrian Bichara (1:50.13) placed sixteenth. Both Monk and Bichara ran new personal bests. Deshay Fernandes finished twenty-fourth (1:51.01), Hugh Brittenham finished twenty-sixth (1:51.94), and Chase Ruskin finished twenty-ninth (1:53.90).

Women- The 800m duo of Imogen Barrett and Gabrielle Wilkinson advanced to the women’s 800m finals on Saturday. Barrett earned third (2:05.01) and Wilkinson placed fourth (2:05.31), both winning their heats to automatically qualify for the finals. Jess Edwards ran a new personal best (2:08.99), finishing fifteenth.

HOLLOWAY’S WORDS

On the first day of the competition…

“We had a very good day. Very proud of Sterling Lester for setting a new first day personal best in the heptathlon. We had good performances in the men’s and women’s 800m and 200m events, qualifying athletes to those finals. I am particularly proud of Vanessa Watson and her new personal best in the 400m hurdles, a time that ranks in the top-5 of the country and number three in school history. Also very proud of Zach Godbold and his eighth place finish in the javelin in his first competition of the year. Looking forward to more exciting races tomorrow and Saturday as we have lots of great events coming up.”

SEC Outdoor Championships Results (All events are finals unless otherwise noted)

Event

Place, Gators (Time/Distance), Notes

Heptathlon (W) Overall through Day 1

100m Hurdles

High Jump

Shot Put

200m

2. Sterling Lester (3603) with 3 events remaining on day 2

(13.56) 2nd in the event, 2nd overall after event 1

(1.71m/5’7.25″) 3rd in the event, 1st overall after event 2

(11.81m/38’9″) 4th in the event, 2nd overall after event 3

(23.33) 1st in the event, 2nd overall after event 4

Hammer Throw (W)

17. Imani Washington (55.30m/181’5″)

Javelin (M)

8. Zach Godbold (60.03m/196’11”) Season Debut

10. Devin Willis (56.69m/186’3″)

10000m (M)

16. Ethan Geiger (31:43.01)

200m (M) Prelims

3. Robert Gregory (20.31) Automatically Qualified for the Finals

5. Jacory Patterson (20.45) Automatically Qualified for the Finals

200m (W) Prelims

8. Talitha Diggs (22.68) Qualified for the Finals

13. Kynnedy Flannel (23.09)

18. Jayla Hollis (23.23) Outdoor Personal Best

21. Ramiah Elliott (23.34)

23. Jasmine Montgomery (23.41)

400m Hurdles (M) Prelims

12. Collin Sieffert (50.99) Season Best

400m Hurdles (W) Prelims

2. Vanessa Watson (55.64) Automatically Qualified for the Finals, Personal Best, 3rd All-Time in School History, 4th Fastest Time in the Nation this Year, 8th Fastest Time in the World this Year

800m (M) Prelims

5. Sam Austin (1:49.43) Automatically Qualified for the Finals

13. Ryan Maseman (1:49.79)

14. Caden Monk (1:50.00) Personal Best

16. Adrian Bichara (1:50.13) Personal Best

24. Deshay Fernandes (1:51.01)

26. Hugh Brittenham (1:51.94) Outdoor Personal Best

29. Chase Ruskin (1:53.90) Season Best

800m (W) Prelims

3. Imogen Barrett (2:05.01) Automatically Qualified for the Finals

4. Gabrielle Wilkinson (2:05.31) Automatically Qualified for the Finals

15. Jess Edwards (2:08.99) Personal Best