Quintet of Lady Gators advance to NCAA track and field championships

The Florida women’s track and field program has five of its student-athletes advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships after the second day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminaries.

Claire Bryant (Long Jump), Anthaya Charlton (Long Jump), Gracelyn Leiseth (Shot Put), Alida van Daalen (Shot Put) and Parker Valby (10,000m) have secured spots in Eugene, Oregon, with place finishes of twelfth or higher in each of their events.

Flomena Asekol (1,500m) and Grace Stark (100m H) both claimed auto-qualifying spots in their respective events and will compete in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Bryant tallied a mark of 6.53m/21’5.25″, placing her first at the NCAA East Preliminaries for the third time in her career while Charlton jumped a distance of 6.44m/21’1.5″, placing her second.

Van Daalen and Leiseth were the second Gator duo to finish back-to-back, with van Daalen recording a mark of 18.01m/59’1.25″ and Leiseth’s at 17.70m/58’1″ — her fifth personal record. Valby recorded an NCAA East Preliminaries record time of 32:43.91.

The preliminaries continue on Friday and Saturday with the men’s events.