With the Texas and Florida Relays starting mid week we already have results starting to roll in – and it finally seems like the season is getting under way!

In Texas we got some nice runs in the prelims of the men’s 4×1 with Florida State (39.51), Texas AM (39.60), LSU (39.67) and Baylor (39.77) turning in quality times. We should see something a bit faster as they push each other in the final. The final of the women’s 100 should also be an early season barn burner as Samantha Henry, LSU (11.21.+1.6), Tiffany Townsend, Baylor (11.24, +2.2) and Jessica Young, TCU (11.24, +1.3) showed great early season speed as Henry took over the world lead with her performance.

Meanwhile in Florida the hurdlers looked to be in mid season form as Damu Cherry (12.69, +1.0), and David Oliver (13.19, +1.0) sped to world leaders in the 100 meter and 110 meter hurdle events. In the men’s race Eric Mitchum (13.31) was only .02 off the previous world lead, and sprinter Dwight Thomas (13.49) turned in a nice performance in an off event for him.

The men’s 400 was also a high quality affair as Jaamal Torrence (45.31), Calvin Smith (45.32) and Christian Taylor (45.34) gave the fans an exciting lap of the track in very good early season times. Smith and Taylor both run for Florida and took over the #1 and #2 positions on the collegiate list in this event. And field event fans may remember that Taylor won the NCAA Indoor title in the triple jump with an American Junior Record with his 55′ 8.50″ (16.98m)jump to win that competition. This kid is a STUD! Florida made headlines in the recruiting season by landing 10.01 speedster Jeff Demps, but Taylor may end up being the biggest prize landed by the Gators!

Oh, by the way, Smith and Taylor make up half of the Gator’s 4×4 squad – Baylor may want to take notice. They teamed up today with Terrill Wilks and Jeremy Hall to win the 4×2 in a nice 1:21.68 (20.42 avg per leg).

Nice start to the weekend. It should only get better from here.