By: By Hunter McKay
Outdoor Meet 2: Kennesaw State at Florida Relays
Date: Thursday, Friday and Saturday March 30-April 1
Location: James G. Pressly Stadium (University of Florida) | Gainesville, Florida
Links: Live Results | Meet Schedule | Live Video Friday| Live Video Saturday
Social Media: Twitter | Facebook
Live Results
After some solid performances in a trio of meets to open the outdoor season last weekend, the Kennesaw State track and field team's will be traveling to Gainesville, Florida to compete in the Florida Relays at James G. Pressly Stadium hosted by the University of Florida
James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track:
Since 1959, James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track has served as the outdoor home of the Gator track and field program. Recognized as one of the finest collegiate track and field facilities in the nation, the complex provides permanent grandstand seating for 4,000 in addition to increased bleacher seating for special events.
Named after former Gator head coach Percy Beard (1937-63), a world record-holder and Olympian in the high hurdles and a member of the prestigious USA Track & Field Hall of Fame, James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track is a 400-meter facility. The surface, originally installed in 1985, is patterned after the facility at the Los Angeles Coliseum, site of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. In 1993, the nine-lane Olympic-certified track under-went complete resurfacing and stripping as part of a $550,000 renovation effort. The efforts to keep the facility as one of the finest in the nation, continued during the summer of 2006, when $675,000 was poured into a new Mondo surface, which included installing an additional 30 feet of track space in the southwest corner of the stadium.
The nine-lane track also features multiple jump runways, a steeplechase water jump, three circles for both the shot put and discus, three high jump approaches and nine pole vault boxes. The arrangement allows competitors to take advantage of ideal wind direction to create optimum performance opportunities, while the overall design of the complex provides the spectator with an excellent view of all events from the stadium grandstands.
About the Florida Relays:
The Florida Relays first began 76 years ago in 1939, thanks to the vision and creativeness of the Gators' legendary head track and field coach Percy Beard. Since that first meet, the Pepsi Florida Relays have grown in epic proportions from the small regional competitions on April Fools' Day that featured 209 competitors, to one of the nation's premier track and field meets.
Since its inception, the Florida Relays has grown in both stature and size. Previously regarded nationally as the first major event of the collegiate outdoor track and field season, the Relays once swelled from a one-day inaugural event featuring slightly more than 200 athletes to a four-day extravaganza that attracted more than 3,000 athletes from the high school, collegiate and international ranks.
In 2007, a new era of the Florida Relays began as the meet was been shifted on the track and field calendar to the first weekend in April and the competition took place during the course of two days instead of four. Since 2013, the Pepsi Florida Relays have been expanded to three days.
RESULTS:
Live Results
TWITTER: Follow the Kennesaw State track and field team on Twitter @KSUOwlsTrackFieldXC to receive updates throughout the meet.
THE COMPETITION:
The Owls will compete against: Alabama, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Alabama-Huntsville, Albany, Allen County CC, Appalachian State, Austin Peay (women only), Belmont, Bethune-Cookman, Campbell, Charleston Southern, Charlotte, Columbia, Columbus State (men only), Connecticut, Coppin State (men only), East Carolina, East Tenn. St., Elon (women only), FIU, Flagler, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida College, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Memorial, Florida Southern (men only), Florida State, Florida Tech, Franklin Pierce (men only), Georgetown (men only), Georgia Southern (women only), Georgia State (women only), Georgia Tech, Harvard ,Howard, Iowa, Jacksonville (women only), Kennesaw State, Kentucky, Kingsborough CC, Limestone (men only), LIU Brooklyn, Loyola (Ill.), Marshall (women only), Maryland, Maryland-Eastern Shore , Mercer (women only), Miami Milligan (women only), Miss State, Mobile, Morgan State, N. Carolina A&T, North Carolina St., North Florida, North Greenville, Northern Iowa (men only), Nova Southeastern, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Princeton (women only), Saint Leo, Samford, Savannah State, Shorter, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Carolina State (men only), South Florida, Southern Maine (women only), Southern Wesleyan, St. Augustine's, Syracuse, Tampa, Tennessee, Towson (women only), Troy, UAB (women only), UCF (women only), UL-Lafayette, Vanderbilt (women only), Villanova (women only), Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Georgia (women only), Western Kentucky, Winthrop and Youngstown St.
LAST TEAM OUTDOOR MEET
The Kennesaw State men's and women's track teams wrapped up action at the Raleigh Relays, Joe Walker Invitational and the Emory Classic last weekend .The team posted some solid performances at all three meets.
NEXT UP:
The Owls will head to Jacksonville, Florida for the North Florida Invitational on Saturday, April 8.
NEWS AND NOTES:
» Jordan Gray won the heptathlon with a school record 5733 points at the Joe Walker Invitational. The 5733 points rank her number three in the NCAA this outdoor season. She won all four of the heptathlon field events during the two-day meet while posting top 10 program-best marks in all seven events. She had a personal-best and new school-record throw of 37.04m (121'6.50) in the heptathlon javelin to win the event. The redshirt-sophomore set the heptathlon school record winning the shot put with a toss of 12.55m (41' 2.25). The Ball Ground, Georgia native also won the long jump after leaping 5.54m (18'2.25m) and the high jump after clearing 1.71m (5'7.25). Gray collected ASUN Field Athlete of the Week honors for his performance.
» At Raleigh Relays, The women's 4x200 relay team of
Laura-Maria Oja,
Hannah Wood,
Maileka Slayton and
Jocselyn Powell ran a school record time of 1:37.63 to finish third. The women's 4x200 relay team of
Laura-Maria Oja,
Hannah Wood,
Maileka Slayton and
Jocselyn Powell ran a school record time of 1:37.63 to finish third.The women's 4x400 relay team of
Dollitia Thomas,
Jocselyn Powell,
Diaja Oliver and
Crystal Gray ran a time of 3:44.27 to finish third and was third fastest in program history.
» The men's 4x200 relay team of
Nick Grant,
Cameron Bolden,
Sean Blassingame and
Chandler Nichols ran a school record time of 1:25.87.
»
Erica Sergeant won the pole vault after clearing 3.80m (12'5.5). Sergeant's vault was the second-highest in outdoor program history.
»
Fabeon Tucker finished fifth among collegiate athletes at Raleigh Relays in the discus with a toss of 49.00m (160-9). That discus throw by Tucker was the third longest in program history. Tucker finished fifth in the hammer throw with a toss of 56.19m (184'4). He leads the ASUN in both the discus and hammer throw this season.
»
Kidan Kidane ran a time of 35:55.25 in the 10K which was third fastest in program history.
» At the Emory Classic, freshmen
Lexi Froh ran the fourth fastest 3K steeplechase in program history with a time of 11:35.8 in her first ever steeplechase at the Emory Invitational in Atlanta.
»
Saidah Grant won the 1500m at the Emory Classic in Atlanta with a time of 5:04.97.
Keep up with Owls track and field teams by following KSU on Twitter at
@KSUOwlNationand
@KSUTrackFieldXC or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on
Facebook.
#GoKSUOwls
