Multiple athletes broke into Florida’s program top-10 lists, and Beth Morley cracked an NCAA Top-10 list in her NCAA Indoor debut
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Gators started their 2025 Indoor Track and Field season in dominant fashion, seeing five top-three finishes and five new marks to UF’s program indoor top-10 lists.
In Gainesville, Bethan Morley made an impression in her Gators Track and Field debut, stamping her name into the pages of the NCAA record books by running the 10th fastest 1000m time in Collegiate history. The performance would set the tone for the day, and foreshadow the dominant performances for the rest of the day.
HIGHLIGHTS
Throws
Jonathan Witte and Jacob Lemmon dominated in the weight throw, finishing 1-2 respectively while posting the third and sixth-best marks in program history. The tandem of new Gators took their respective first and second placements on each their first throws of the day and would not relinquish them.
Jumps
Malcolm Clemons picked up right where he left off to begin 2025. The 2024 Olympian put up the second-best long jump mark in the field in the season opener and the best performance among collegiate competition. His 7.72m final leap was a comfortable 20 centimeters longer than the next closest collegian.
Sprints/Hurdles
Wanya McCoy was in a league of his own on Friday, winning his first-round heat, semifinal, and the final of the men’s 60m. His 6.53-second semifinal effort set a new personal best, and netted him third-place on Florida’s program all-time leaderboard, trailing only Gator legends Jeff Demps (6.52) and Grant Holloway (6.50). Demps and Holloway each set their respective personal bests during the final of the NCAA Indoor Championship meet, and McCoy’s season-opening effort has him in great position to vie for that crown himself.
Freshman Skyye Lee made the most of her first collegiate meet, winning her first-round heat and qualifying for the 60m Hurdles final. She appeared unfazed in three very competitive races and finished sixth in the 60m Hurdles final.
Demaris Waters also reached a 60m Hurdles final on the men’s side, qualifying on time to reach the semifinals and finals. His 7.73 time in the semifinal places him sixth on Florida’s Top-10 list.
Malique Smith-Band also posted multiple strong performances, placing second in the first round and winning his semifinal heat en route to a 6.72-second, sixth place finish in the final. Freshmen Vance Nilsson and Jaden Wiley each advanced to the semifinals in the 60m Hurdles and 60m respectively
Distance
The Gators’ distance crew competed in Gainesville on Friday at the Jimmy Carnes College Track and Field Meet in the Alachua County Sports and Entertainment center in Celebration Pointe. The aforementioned Morley posted the day’s most impressive performance, Gavin Nelson and Jonathan Pitchford finished 1-2 in the Men’s 1000m and three women set personal records in the 3000m
RESULTS – Complete results
Final results from day one of the Corky Classic can be found here.<https://live.pttiming.com/?mid=7601>
Final Results from the Jimmy Carnes College Track and Field Meet can be found here<http://live.halfmiletiming.com/meets/712/events>.
NEXT UP
The Gators are back in action on Saturday for day two of the Corky Classic. Live stats can be found here<https://live.pttiming.com/?mid=7601>. The day’s events will again be available to stream on ESPN+. Saturday’s broadcast can be found here.<https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/a9801802-c560-4b70-a7a3-cc999da82be5#bucketId=1>
RESULTS – Florida Gators performances
Corky Classic
Event
Participants – Place in heat//Time or Mark (overall)
Notes
Weight Throw
Jonathan Witte – 1st//21.78m
Jacob Lemmon – 2nd//21.30m
UF No. 3
UF No. 6
W Long Jump (A)
Alyssa Banales – 6th//6.18m
M Long Jump (A)
Malcolm Clemons – 2nd//7.72m
No. 1 among collegians at meet
W 60m Hurdles – Prelim
Skyye Lee – 1st//8.43 (9th)
Qualified for Semifinals – Win
M 60m Hurdles – Prelim
Joshua Brockman – 8th//11.13 (57th)
Regan Lawrence – 5th//8.13 (28th)
Vance Nilsson – 1st//7.99 (15th)
Joey Stravato – 4th//8.15 (30th)
Demaris Waters – 2nd//7.92 (11th)
PR
Qualified for Semifinals – Win
Qualified for Semifinals – Time
W 60m – Prelim
Gabrielle Matthews – 1st//7.33 (6th)
Qualified for Semifinals – Win
M 60m – Prelim
Garrett Fox – 6th//7.04 (61st)
Trenton Howard – 4th//6.87 (42nd)
Wanya McCoy – 1st//6.58 (3rd)
Nathaniel Smith – 7th//7.06 (66th)
Malique Smith Band – 2nd//6.73 (13th)
Jaden Wiley – 2nd//6.74 (16th)
PR
Qualified for Semifinals – Win
Qualified by time
Qualified by time
W Long Jump (B)
India Alix – 2nd//6.05m
Kendall Brown – 14th//5.63m
PR
M Long Jump (B)
Jordan McCants – 21st//6.26m
W 60m Hurdles – Semifinal
Skyye Lee – 2nd//8.32 (6th)
Qualified for Final – Time, PR
M 60m Hurdles – Semifinal
Vance Nilsson – 5th//7.96 (16th)
Demaris Waters – 3rd//7.73 (5th)
PR
Qualified for Final – Time, UF No. 6
W 60m – Semifinal
Gabrielle Matthews – 4th//7.26 (7th)
Qualified for Final – Time, PR, UF No. 6
M 60m – Semifinal
Wanya McCoy – 1st//6.53 (1st)
Malique Smith Band – 1st//6.70 (6th)
Jaden Wiley – 7th//6.75 (17th)
Qualified for Final – Win, PR, UF No. 3
Qualified for Final – Win, PR
W 60m Hurdles – Final
Skyye Lee – 7th//8.44
M 60m Hurdles – Final
Demaris Waters – 6th//8.27
W 60m – Final
Gabrielle Matthews – 3rd//7.28
M 60m – Final
Wanya McCoy – 1st//6.54
Malique Smith Band – 6th//6.72
Jimmy Carnes College Track and Field Meet
Event
Participants – Placement//Time
Notes
W 1000m
Bethan Morley – 1st//2:41.20
Sayla Donnelly – 2nd //2:47.51
Christiana Coleman – 7th //2:54.73
Tia Wilson – DNF
NCAA all-time No. 10
M 1000m
Gavin Nelson – 1st//2:24.09
Jonathan Pitchford – 2nd//2:27.93
Eoin McNally – DNF
W Mile
Caroline Wells – 5th//4:45.17
Reagan Gilmore – 7th// 4:51.96
Ava Wyant – 8th//5:00.17
Lindsey Khiel – 13th//5:02.97
Avery Fronrath – 26th//5:18.38
M Mile
Ethan Geiger – 8th//4:13.58
Jonathan Leon – 7th//4:11.33
Alejandro Pena – 6th//4:10.91
Graham Myers – 3rd//4:08.50
Josh Ruiz – 12th//4:15.84
Alec Miller – 19th//4:18.20
W 400m
Bethan Morley – 10th//58.15
Sayla Donnelly – 8th//58.01
Ava Wyant – 20th//1:01.81
Lindsey Kiehl – 16th//1:00.19
Christiana Coleman – DNF
W 800m
Tia Wilson – 2nd//2:11.56
M 800m
Alec Miller – 7th//1:55.83
W 3000m
Liina Winborn – 3rd//9:48.27
Kate Drummond – 6th//9:55.54
Annie Loehle – 24th//10:33.50
Tia Wilson – DNF
Reagan Gilmore – DNF
Caroline Wells – DNF
PR
PR
PR
M 3000m
Matthew Stratton – 5th//8:20.03
Emerson Miller – 6th//8:23.46
Aiden Villasuso – 12th//8:31.86
Ethan Geiger – DNF
Alejandro Pena – DNF
Josh Ruiz – DNF
