GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA, April 04-05 — Mike Holloway revealed the latest Gator hurdle prodigies at the Florida Relays, with junior Demaris Waters and frosh Habiba Harris both looking like NCAA contenders.
Waters, a transfer from San José State, came to Gainesville with a 13.44 PR. Here, after a windy 13.26 heat, he slashed that down to 13.21 to tie the world lead and move to =No. 10 among U.S. collegians all-time. He topped former Texas A&M All-America Connor Schulman’s 13.38.
Harris, the Jamaican U20 champ last year, improved her best from 12.95 to 12.85 in the heats. In the final, she held off the challenge of Texas A&M’s Jaiya Covington to win, 12.69–12.82, with the wind blowing just a notch too strong at 2.1. “I knew we’d get there, I guess I got there a little bit faster than I anticipated,” she told SportsMax.
Another revelation came in the javelin, where Georgia frosh Manuela Rotundo threw a Uruguayan Record 210-6 (64.17), missing the Collegiate Record by just an inch. Teammate Lianna Davidson threw 204-3 (62.27) for the No. 4 college throw ever.
In the long hurdles, Georgia frosh Michelle Smith blasted a 54.56 to move to No. 4 all-time among world Juniors. Baylor’s Alexis Brown made a bid to join the 7-meter club in the long jump, landing at 22-11¾ exactly, albeit with a 2.8 wind. Still, under all conditions, she is now the No. 5 collegian ever.
A solid men’s 800 saw Georgetown’s Tinoda Matsatsa clock 1:45.04 to edge Penn State’s Handal Roban (1:45.16). Texas A&M came from behind to win the 4×4 in 3:02.15, thanks to Auhmad Robinson’s 44.59 anchor, as Florida clocked 3:02.72 and Georgia 3:02.79.
The men’s hammer produced a good contest as two Minnesota athletes by way of Greece joined the all-time collegiate top 10. Kostas Záltos won with his round 2 heave of 255-7 (77.91), surviving a 254-0 (77.43) throw by teammate Angelos Mantzouránis in the next round. Zaltos is now =No. 7, Mantzouranis No. 10 on the ATL.
In the Olympic development events, Canada ruled the men’s sprints, with Jerome Blake (10.00w) taking the 100 and Andre De Grasse the 200 (20.32). The two were also part of a 4×1 squad that ran 38.09 to top the 38.16 by the U.S. Red team that included Christian Coleman, Kyree King, Erriyon Knighton and Robert Gregory. Knighton had PRed by 0.78 in the 400.
FLORIDA RELAYS MEN’S…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at Track & Field News…