GAINESVILLE, Fla – Florida Gators Track and Field competed in day one of the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational on Friday, ending the day with strong marks in multiple field events.
Among those marks was a 6.82m leap from
Anthaya Charlton, which took the world and collegiate lead among outdoor marks for the 2025 season. Charlton, who held the indoor long jump world lead for much of the 2025 indoor season with her 6.98m jump, found her way once again to the top of the globe's performance list, and earned the No. 3 spot in program history in the process.
She now trails only NCAA Champions Jasmine Moore and Yanis David in program history, and surpassed reigning indoor Long Jump world champion
Claire Bryant on the Gator leaderboard with today's showing.
Highlights
Throws
The Gators saw personal bests in both the men's and women's Javelin throw competitions.
Leikel Cabrera Gay, who has already impressed with the current NCAA No. 4 mark, again improved his personal best with today's 77.84m [255' 4"] performance. The improvement marks his third new personal best in three meets with the Gators. He retains the No. 5 spot in program history, and the No. 4 mark in NCAA.
In the women's Javelin,
Evelyn Vanzwieten took a big step forward with a personal best of 48.23m [158' 3"], improving on her previous top mark by nearly ten feet. Her career performance landed her ninth on the program's all-time performance list.
In the women's Shot put Invite,
Gracelyn Leiseth improved on her season best, delivering a 17.42m [57' 2"] mark.
Jumps
To complement Charlton's outdoor long jump debut, fellow 2024 outdoor USTFCCCA All-American
Malcolm Clemons made an outdoor season debut of his own. He delivered a 7.30m mark in his return to competition.
Sprints/Hurdles
Jarrell Jimenez improved his personal best in the 400m Hurdles, winning his heat with a 52.36 time.
Mid-distance/Distance
The Gators swarmed the 1500m heats on Friday, racing 15 athletes across both the men's and women's fields. Four athletes –
Ashley Fitzgerald,
Evan Fleming,
Breanna Stuart and
Liina Winborn – posted personal bests in the event.
Looking Ahead
The Tom Jones Memorial Invitational will resume tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.
The meet is free to attend, and will be broadcasted on SEC Network +
Tom Jones Memorial Invitational Results – Florida Gators Entrants
Friday, April 18