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The Florida Gators track and field teams began their 2013 indoor season on a fast note.
Really, really fast.
The men's and women's teams combined to claimed six event victories and seventeen top finishes at the Crimson Tide Indoor Opener yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama. The meet, which was held at the Birmingham CrossPlex, was filled with top teams and top athletes from throughout the south.
In the field events, the Gators claimed two victories with Ciarra Brewer claiming the women's long jump and Marquis Dendy claiming the men's title with distances of 6.09 meters and 7.75 meters respectively. Brewer's jump was a personal best, while Dendy's jump was the second best in the NCAA this year.
As for the events on the track, Hugh Graham Jr. got things going for the Gators with a third-place finish in the 60 meter dash with a time of 6.71 seconds. The Gators were led by Jeff Demps the past couple of years in this event, but Graham Jr. appears to be more than capable of taking the reigns from Demps.
In the women's 800 meters, Cory McGee set an indoor personal best with a time of 2:09.1 seconds in route to winning the event. Sarah Davis and Harsha Torke both came in sixth-place in the women's and men's mile runs with times of 4:59.41 and 4:21.91seconds respectively.
As always, hurdler Eddie Lovett dominated the 60 meter hurdles with a winning time of 7.80 seconds. That time was a bit slower than his qualifying time of 7.76 seconds which was the third fastest time in the NCAA this year. In Section B of the men's 60 meter hurdles, freshman Moriel Pitt won the event with a finals time of 7.98 seconds in his first meet as a Gator.
Not a bad start to his career at all.
In the final event of the evening, the men's 4X400 relay, the Gators' "A" team of Najee Glass, Graham Jr., Dedric Dukes and Arman Hall cruised to victory with a time of 3:07.59 seconds. The "B" team finished sixth overall with a time of 3:18.54 seconds.
Up next for the Gators is their only home meet of the 2013 indoor season. The Gator Invitational will be on Thursday, January 17th and all the festivities will be taking place at the Stephen O'Connell Center.