GAINESVILLE, Fla. - North Florida track and field opened its indoor season and secured several top-five ranks, including a pair of program records, at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational on Friday afternoon.
Smilla Kolbe started the indoor season off strong by taking down the indoor 1-mile program record in her first race. On the men's side was a similar result, as
William Owens made his collegiate debut breaking the indoor 200m record.
Aidan O'Gorman and
Robert Pedroza finished in the top-two spots, alongside
Ilias El Khattabi to round off the top five in the men's 1-mile race. All of the Osprey runners in the men's 1-mile placed among the top 25 overall.
In the women's 800m,
Ella Chandler finished third overall to keep UNF securing top placements in the season opener.
Seth Martinez rounded out the meet clinching a top-five spot in the men's 300m.
FINISH LINE
Men's Events
- O'Gorman and Pedroza took the top two spots overall in the 1-mile.
- El Khattabi grabbed a top-five finish in the 1-mile.
- Ladarius Tellis finished in the top three overall in the 1000m.
- Rashad Hemissi marked his spring season debut finishing first in his heat and 12th overall in the 400m dash.
- Owens finished in third place with a program record in the 200m dash to open up his Osprey career.
- Seth Martinez placed fourth in the 3000m, alongside Paul Lespasio and Aaron Schimke placing in the top 10.
Women's Events
PIGG'S POINTS
"On the women's side, I thought Smilla [Kolbe] did a great job in the mile. Our school record was a very good mark that Claudia Jalon set back in 2018 at just under 4:40, so she did a great job as we expect from her. Last year, she ran 4:49, which was her lifetime best, and then this year, she ran 12 seconds faster. Ella Chandler had a nice opener in the 800m as well. Last year, she was 2:16 when she opened the season, and now she's 2:11. It was much better and she looked really good. Gabby Johnson did a great job in the 400m and the 4x400m as well, so that was exciting to see. All the women's high jumpers did a good job clearing the bar on their first meet. Having Drea [Thompson] on our team, who transferred in, had a nice opener. High jump is going to be a strong event for us, so it was a good start. Celine [D'Anna] looked really good in the open with a lifetime best and then came back and ran the 4x400m, so happy to see her running well. It was a very good opener for both teams and it was a good meet with all the big Florida teams competing; Florida State, FAU, FIU, as well as Georgia Southern and Troy.
On the men's side, William [Owens] looked good running in the indoor 200m for the first time and breaking the school record. Last year, Camden [Springer] had the record and he was ranked top five in the conference, and this time, it was two-tenths faster. It was a heck of an opener, so really proud of him. The guys looked good in the men's mile with Aidan [O'Gorman] coming off his redshirt year and Robert [Pedroza] looking smooth. We had a number of guys who ran really well in that mile, so it was good to see that. In the 3000m, Seth [Martinez] ran a good race and it's hard to get on an indoor track for a distance man. Coming off a really good XC season and the defending outdoor 10k champion, the 3000m is a really short event for him and he did a great job with that. Tyshon [Bolden], as a newcomer, did a great job in the high jump for us. I thought the two freshmen in the 400m did a nice job. Kicking off your college career in a big meet like this, I think Rashad [Hemissi] and Matthew [Groves] put together good performances. It was real good start and we'll just keep getting better. We'll head to Gainesville next week and do it again."
-- head coach Jeff Pigg
UP NEXT
The Ospreys will head back to Gainsville, Fla., for the RADD Sports College Invitational from Jan. 24-25.
OSPREY RESULTS
Women's Long Jump
Aleks Futschek - 17th - 5.20m
Rafaela Marchini - 26th - 4.88m
Bella Palmetto - 34th - 4.59m
Men's Long Jump
Tyshone Bolden - 23rd - 6.23m
Women's High Jump
Nicole Shepherd - 4th - 1.65m
Drea Thompson - 6th - 1.55m
Renske Drenten - 6th - 1.55m
Women's Triple Jump
Rafaela Marchini - 10th - 10.87m
Mariama Kamara - 11th - 10.77m
Bella Palmetto - 14th - 10.73m
Women's 1000m
Ana Markovina - 12th - 3:00.32
Men's 1000m
Ladarius Tellis - 3rd- 2:28.45
Women's 1-mile
Smilla Kolbe - 2nd - 4:37.34
Annika Buser - 22nd - 5:13.84
Melissa Bentayeb - 27th - 5:20.78
Jada Williams - 30th - 5:24.37
Men's 1-mile
Aidan O'Gorman - 1st - 4:06.24
Robert Pedroza - 2nd - 4:08.20
Ilias El Khattabi - 5th - 4:10.84
Gavin O'Brien - 9th - 4:14.04
Onix Ortiz - 10th - 4:14.11
Aiden Arnold - 11th - 4:15.59
Ryan Douihech - 14th - 4:17.28
Andrew Mahorner - 15th - 4:17.33
Ben Tary - 16th - 4:17.39
Christian Ruocco - 25th - 4:22.20
Men's 60mH
Troy Williams - 24th - 9.01
Women's 60mH
Serenity Miller - 29th - 9.87
Camrynn Batt - 30th - 9.95
Jordan Youngman - 31st - 10.19
Women's 60m
Camryn Batt - 27th - 7.85
Gabby Johnson - 32nd - 7.94
Kaitlyn Godwin - 51st - 8.18
Serenity Miller - 54th - 8.29
Jordan Youngman - 62nd - 8.65
Men's 60m
William Owens - 24th - 6.96
Jonathan Bailey - 26th - 6.99
Women's 400m
Gabby Johnson - 6th - 57.31
Celine D'Anna - 9th - 58.14
Melissa Epting - 14th - 59.48
Navia Casa - 19th - 1:01.45
Emily Heyden - 23rd - 1:02.12
Women's 800m
Ella Chandler - 3rd - 2:11.97
Women's 200m
Celine D'Anna - 18th - 25.68
Camryn Batt - 24th - 26.08
Kaitlyn Godwin - 33rd - 26.72
Melissa Epting - 36th - 27.05
Navia Casa - 38th - 27.21
Serenity Miller - 42nd - 27.62
Jordan Youngman - 44th - 28.05
Men's 200m
William Owens - 3rd - 21.55
Jonathan Bailey - 26th - 22.76
Women's 3000m
Cohen Kooker - 9th - 10:15.41
Isa Leen - 11th - 10:16.21
Laci Watford - 26th - 10:35.68
Brooke Yates - 31st - 10:48.41
Madeline Castillo - 36th - 10:55.30
Men's 3000m
Seth Martinez - 4th - 8:17.68
Paul Lespasio - 8th - 8:26.77
Aaron Schimke - 10th - 8:30.84
Sebastian Hernandez - 14th - 8:34.69
Shamar Henry - 17th - 8:37.30
Alejandro Romagosa - 28th - 8:50.12
William Montanye - 31st - 8:52.79
Kameron Wallizada - 34th - 8:55.81
Grant Doherty - 48th - 9:18.31
Women's 4x400m Relay
D'Anna, Johnson, Godwin, Epting, Casa - 7th - 3:55.00
Casa, Batt, Heyden, Youngman, Miller - 18th - 4:09.51
