UF football recruit causes buzz in 100

About 25 yards away from the 64th annual Florida Relays, Florida coach Urban Meyer was running his football team through yet another spring practice.

But if the national championship coach went home with a big smile on his face Friday, it probably wasn't because of the blocking schemes or the 7-on-7 drills or anything else that went on in the practice field.

The best news for Meyer may have come from Percy Beard Track, where one of his star running back recruits, Jeff Demps, ran an incredibly fast 10.17 in the 100 meters.

“The word trickled through our practice field,” Meyer said. “I know how to coach guys who run 10.17. If I don't, I'll figure that out real fast.”

Demps finished the race 0.26 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, Monsignor Pace's Derrick Hopkins. The South Lake High School senior already came in with the fastest time in the state, and now he holds the third-fastest high school time in the world. Former LSU sprinter Xavier Carter ran a 10.15 in the men's division 45 minutes later.

As soon as he smoked the competition, Demps turned his ear to the stadium booth, and when he heard his time, the 5-foot-10, 180-pounder screamed and flexed his muscles in celebration.

“I knew this was going to be a good meet, and I knew I was going to do something big,” said Demps, still out of breath and surrounded by a mob of reporters. “I was just concentrating on maintaining my focus and keeping my technique up.”

Scout.com lists Demps as a four-star running back ranked No. 36 at his position. Demps signed his letter of intent with the Gators on Feb. 6 and said he expects to stay as a running back when fall practices begin.

“I was so happy when I signed,” said Demps, who runs a 4.35 in the 40-yard dash. “My family loves this place.”

Forty-plus colleges along with several high schools and individual athletes from all over the state made up a slate of more than 3,000 runners competing in track-and-field events stretched out from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the UF track — which got to near-capacity by the afternoon.

For area high school athletes, the event proved to be a huge talent disparity compared to most other meets during the season.

One example was Buchholz star runner Phillip Wise, who is normally ahead of the pack in the distance events but found himself in ninth at the 1,600m with a time of 4:23.75.

“It was insane. It takes you to a whole new level,” said Wise, who's trying to get to state in the mile for the first time in his senior year. “It was definitely a reality check today.”

Schoolmates Wilamena Hopkins and Simone Durden also made their mark at the Relays. Hopkins finished sixth in the discus with a throw of 34.55m (113.35 feet), and Durden finished seventh at the high jump with a top jump of 1.55m (5.09 feet).

The Gainesville girls rode the momentum of taking first in the Alachua County Championships by taking fourth in the 4x200m relay — an event not normally done in high-school meets — as Latera Davis, Marla Collins, Jenae Todd and Kyeria McDavid ran a time of 1:41.79.

“Considering this is the first time we ran the event this year, I think we did fairly well,” said Gainesville coach Larry Holsey, whose team finished third at the event last year. “We ran against some good teams, but I wasn't surprised (with the finish) — all four have strong capabilities.”

Bradford junior Jennifer Smyth was the area's top finisher, taking third in the long jump at 5.59m (18.34 feet).

Gainesville sophomore Walter Holsey, who won three titles at the Alachua County Championships, placed 22nd out of 36 runners in the highly competitive 110m hurdles. But Holsey feels he would've done a lot better if he hadn't been placed in such a slow heat — which he won easily.

“It's hard when there's slower people running with you,” Holsey said. “I knew I had to push myself, but I just didn't know how to gauge my speed.”

The Florida Relays conclude today, from 10 a.m. until the last race, the college 4x400, at 9:45 p.m. High school athletes will compete in 10 events and, as it was today, there will be no preliminaries and team scores will not be recorded.

For complete results, check out Gatorzone.com