This Week in Gator Track and Field: SEC Champs
Tuesday, May 9, 2000 | Track and Field
This Week in Gator Track and Field:
The SEC Outdoor Championships...
Thursday-Sunday, May 11-14
Bernie Moore Stadium
-Baton Rouge, La.
Thursday, May 11
| 5:30pm | Decathlon |
Friday, May 12
| Noon | W Hammer FINAL |
| 3:00 pm | M Hammer FINAL |
| 5 pm | M 110m Hurdle Decathlon |
| 7 pm | W 800m Trials |
| 7:15 pm | M 800m Trials |
| 7:35 pm | W 200m Trials |
| 7:50 pm | M 200m Trials |
| 8:20 pm | W 400m Hurdles Trials |
| 8:35 pm | M 400m Hurdles Trials |
| 8:50 pm | W 10,000m FINAL |
| 9:35 pm | M 1500m Decathlon |
| 9:45 pm | M 10,000m FINAL |
Saturday, May 13
• Field Events:
| 5:00 pm | W Long Jump FINAL |
| M Long Jump FINAL | |
| 6:00 pm | W Discus FINAL |
| 7:30 pm | M Shot Put FINAL |
| W High Jump FINAL | |
| W Pole Vault FINAL |
• Running Events:
| 7:00 pm | W 1500m Trials |
| 7:15 pm | M 1500m Trials |
| 7:30 pm | W 100m Hurdle Trials |
| 7:45 pm | M 110m Hurdle Trials |
| 8:00 pm | W 400m Trials |
| 8:20 pm | M 400m Trials |
| 8:40 pm | W 100m Trials |
| 8:55 pm | M 100m Trials |
| 9:10 pm | W 3000m FINAL |
| 9:30 pm | M 3000m Steeple FINAL |
Sunday, May 14
• Field Events:
| 3:00 pm | M Discus FINAL |
| 4:00 pm | W Triple Jump FINAL |
| M Triple Jump FINAL | |
| 5:00 pm | W Javelin FINAL |
| 6:30 pm | M High Jump FINAL |
| 6:30 pm | M Pole Vault FINAL |
| 7:00 pm | W Shot Put FINAL |
| M Javelin FINAL |
• Running Events:
| 6:00 pm | W 4x100m Relay FINAL |
| 6:10 pm | M 4x200m Relay FINAL |
| 6:20 pm | W 1500m FINAL |
| 6:30 pm | M 1500m FINAL |
| 6:40 pm | W 100m Hurdles FINAL |
| 6:50 pm | M 110m Hurdles FINAL |
| 7:00 pm | W 400m FINAL |
| 7:15 pm | M 100m FINAL |
| 7:20 pm | W 800m FINAL |
| 7:25 pm | M 800m FINAL |
| 7:35 pm | W 400m Hurdles FINAL |
| 7:45 pm | M 400m Hurdles FINAL |
| 7:55 pm | W 200m FINAL |
| 8:00 pm | M 200m FINAL |
| 8:05 pm | W 5000m FINAL |
| 8:25 pm | M 5000m FINAL |
| 8:45 pm | W 4x400m Relay FINAL |
| 9:00 pm | M 4x400m Relay FINAL |
The SEC Outdoor Championships--
Florida's track and field squads head to Baton Rouge, La., for the 2000 SEC Outdoor Championships this week. Action begins with the Decathlon and Heptathlon on Thursday and continues through Sunday at Bernie Moore Stadium on the LSU campus.
This year's site holds some special memories for Florida men's Head Coach Doug Brown. At Bernie Moore Stadium in 1991, Brown won the last of his four SEC track and field titles as head coach of the University of Tennessee. The championships have never been back to LSU during the eight seasons now past and since then no men's team has come within 10 points of beating Arkansas outdoors since the Razorbacks entered the conference starting in 1992.
While the Razorback's streak began following this meet in 1991, another ended. LSU's women won their fifth straight title on their home turf that year, only to lose it to Florida's own Gators in 1992.
Tom Jones' women will be looking for their fourth outdoor title (seventh overall) and first since the 1998 outdoor season this year. Jones has delivered two outdoor championships and one indoor title since he began coaching in Gainesville in 1993.
Doug Brown's men are also shooting for the fourth outdoor title in UF history (eighth overall), which would be the first for Florida since the 1987 campaign and the first under Brown.
• FOR THE MEN...
Last year, the Gators finished second overall in the standings to Arkansas and took home event wins in the 4x100m Relay, the 200m dash and the high jump.
As for returning champions, David Furman has won two outdoor high jump titles in his career including the 1999 championship in Athens, Ga. Daymon Carroll was a member of last year's 4x100m relay team which ran a 38.75 to set a new Florida record. Maurice Lewis won the indoor long jump in 1999 and Adrain Mann was a part of the 1998 indoor 4x400 team.
This is a relatively new team for Florida. Of the 30 men on the Gator roster heading into the championships, 14 have competed at the SEC outdoor championships before; 16 will make their first appearance at this national-caliber meet.
• FOR THE WOMEN...
Last year, the Gators finished second in the team standings to South Carolina with Hazel Clark the only champion, winning the 1500m title.
Tamieka Grizzle (Bronx, N.Y.) and Jernae Wright (Union City, Calif.) are the only two former individual champions on the squad for the Lady Gators. Grizzle won the 800m indoors this year and is one of the favorites to repeat outdoors. Wright won the indoor long jump title as a freshman in 1997. Cara Evans (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Grizzle teamed up as part of the 1999 championship indoor Distance Medley Relay as well.
Whereas the men have a majority of newcomers to the championships, the women bring an experienced group into the fray with 20 athletes carrying outdoor SEC championship experience along with 10 rookies.
• WHO TO WATCH...
Emily Carlsten- A two-time SEC Athlete of the Week during the Outdoor season - the only male or female to earn the honor more than once - Carlsten (Warwick, R.I.) won the Penn Relays' javelin title two weeks ago and was second in the SEC's last year in the event as well as third in the shot put and fourth in the discus (for a total of 19 team points). So far this year she has finished no lower than second in any javelin competition, and that has happened only once, at the Mt. SAC Relays. She is ranked sixth in the nation with a throw of 173-3 and has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Tamieka Grizzle- The 2000 indoor SEC 800m Champion was second in this competition last year and led the 4x400m relay to a second place finish. She is ranked third in the nation in the 800m with a personal best time of 2:04.48, trailing USC's Brigita Langerhole (2:02.81) and Kansas State's Korene Hinds (2:03.78). Since 1991, a Gator woman has won the outdoor 800m title four times, twice by Hazel Clark in 1997 and '98. Including the indoor championships, Florida has won 10 of the last 19 half-mile crowns.
Laura Hawkins- The SEC indoor champion, Hawkins will be looking to erase any memory of last year's SECs when she no-heighted. During the 2000 outdoor season, she has won all four competitions she has competed in and cleared no lower than 12-3.5 with her best a Florida outdoor record 12-10. She got over 12-11.75 to win the indoor SEC title in Fayetteville . She is provisionally qualified for the outdoor national championships and is in 13th place on the Trackwire list.
Yolanda Brown-Moore- How well will this 11-time All-American bounces back from an injury plagued outdoor season remains to be seen. She competed for the first time in almost a month at the Penn Relays with the 4x400m relay team and took off on a 52.6 split. She was second in this meet last year in the 400m and took second again indoors earlier this year.
Bernard Williams- Since beginning the outdoor season with two wins at the Florida relays in the 100m, Williams has finished no lower than second place in any 100m dash he has competed in, be it preliminaries or finals; a streak of eight straight races. He extended it at the Penn Relays by taking home the title after running the prelims' fastest time. He is automatically qualified for the NCAAs in the 100m dash with a 10.08 from the USTCA Team Championships.
David Furman- The defending SEC outdoor high jump champion, Furman has an outdoor best of 7-3.5 (ranked sixth) but also has a mark of 7-6.5 in 2000 from an indoor season that saw him earn All-America honors with a fourth place finish in at the NCAAs. Furman also won the SEC outdoor High Jump championship his freshman year in 1997.
Stephen Jones- One of the fastest hurdlers Florida has had in the last 10 years and one of only nine Gators in school history to run a sub 14-second 110m hurdle time, Jones ran a wind-aided 13.66 at the USTCA Championships which was preceded by an allowable auto-qualifying 13.71 in the preliminaries. At the Penn Relays, he was second behind Terrence Trammell, one of only two collegians Jones has lost two this year. The other is Clemson's Todd Mathews.
Geno White- When he arrived on campus, Sprint Coach Mike Holloway commented that White was the most versatile runner the Gators have had since Dennis Mitchell. White has done his best to live up to the standard. He qualified in both the 200m and 400m for the NCAA Indoor Championships along with taking stints with the 4x400m and Distance Medley Relay squad. In the outdoor season, he is provisionally qualified for the NCAA 400m along with pulling double duty with the 4x100 and 4x400m teams..
•SEC CHAMPIONS- CONTINUING THE TRADITION...
149 times in the history of the Florida men's track and field program, the Gators have come out at the top of an event's standings at the end of the Outdoor Championships... On the track, the 100m dash, the 400m, the 400m hurdles and the 800m have all had five champions to lead the way for individuals. For the field events, Gators have held the SEC trophy for the pole vault 20 times, including four from Mike Holloway from 1988 to 1992 and four from Earl Poucher from 1953 to 1956.
• OUTDOOR RANKINGS...
Both Florida's squads enter the SEC Championships among the nation's top 25. According to the May 2 Trackwire 25 rankings, the men stand in eighth place with an expected 28 points at the NCAA Championships... Florida's women are in 18th overall with a projected 14-point-total.
• OLYMPIC TRIALS QUALIFIERS...
Counting all performances from January 1, 1999, Florida has nine current student athletes who have met at least the qualifying standard for the USATF Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif., this July. For the men, David Furman (Camden, S.C.) has reached the funded standard for the Trials in the high jump with his indoor leap of 7-6.5. Maurice Lewis (Jacksonville, Fla.) has met the long jump entry standard, but needs to add four inches to his season best of 26-3 to meet the funded standard. Tamieka Grizzle (Bronx, N.Y.) and Emily Carlsten (Warwick, R.I.) reached the qualifying standard in the 800m and javelin, respectively at the SEC Quad in Auburn, Ala., on April 1 bringing the Gators' total count to four who have reached qualifiers this year. There are also five more who reached the standard in 1999. Bernard Williams and Daymon Carroll both qualified in the 100m and Aaron Armstrong is clear in the 200m. For the women, Yolanda Brown-Moore (400m) and Amber Robinson (200m) have both made the standards as well.
• USTCA TEAM POWER RANKINGS...
Florida's men won the Indoor US Track Coaches Association national team power rankings competition with a point total of 306.06... They are currently in third during the outdoor season with 361.61 points, trailing Tennessee and Texas A&M... Florida's women finished second indoors after winning the contest in 1999. They're in fourth place currently (351.24), trailing UCLA, Nebraska and BYU... Complete rankings are available at http://tower.isu.edu/Power/.
• ATHLETES OF THE WEEK...
David Furman broke his own school record in the high jump with a clearance of 7-6.5 in the season-opening Florida Intercollegiates, grabbing the early national lead in the event. For his accomplishments, he was named Trackwire's National Athlete of the Week and the SEC Athlete of the Week during the third week of January.
Emily Carlsten became the second Gator to earn an honor on April 12 when she was named SEC Athlete of the Week for her three victory performance in the javelin, discus and shot put at the SEC Tri-Meet. She was honored again on May 3 for her win at the Penn Relays
• FIRSTS FOR FLORIDA...
With his 8:51.20 run on 4/15, Chris Duncan (Phoenix, Ariz.) became the first Gator to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 3000m steeplechase since Randy Hollinger did so in 1997... Stephen Jones (Barbados) became the first 110m hurdle qualifier for Florida outdoors since 1998 with his 13.89 run at the Florida Relays. His 13.66 wind aided run at the USTCA Team Championships was the fastest run by a Gator in more than three years ... Geno White's (Arlington, Texas) provisional time of 45.98 at the Relays was the first time the junior transfer has opened an outdoor season under 46 seconds... Mike Hissam's (Savannah, Ga.) 17-4.5 pole vault marked the first time someone from the men's team had qualified for the NCAAs since 1998... Cara Evans' (Tallahassee, Fla.) season-opening win in the 400m hurdles not only was her first career individual outdoor victory; but it was also the first time she had reached an NCAA qualifier in an individual event - all in her first-ever competition in the long hurdles in her career.
• INJURY REPORT...
Amber Robinson and Faith Rein (both indoor All-Americans this year) remain out, Robinson with a right hamstring strain and Rein with a right quadricep pull. For the men, Aaron Armstrong is back to competition strength after sitting out the past two weeks with a pulled right hamstring. Ali Abiola is doubtful for the championships with a pulled right hamstring.
• SETTING A NEW PV STANDARD...
Florida pole vaulter Laura Hawkins (Bushnell, Fla.) didn't just break her own school record in the vault while winning the SEC indoor title, she demolished it by nearly six inches with a final clearance of 12-11.75. Her previous career best was 12-6, a mark she had set at the Virginia Tech Invitational in 1999. Her season's best the morning of the championships had been 12-1.75. Hawkins also bested the SEC meet record of 12-2.75 set by Kylene Nixon (USC) in 1998 at the O'Connell Center... At the SEC Tri-Meet on 4/8, she broke her own school outdoor record of 12-3.5 with a 12-10 clearance.
• AN 800M TRADITION...
When half-miler Tamieka Grizzle (Bronx, N.Y.) won the SEC indoor 800m on March 12, she added one more year to Florida's domination of the event at the conference level. A Gator has won the indoor title at that distance for five straight years after Hazel Clark stood on top of the award stand in 1996, 97, 98 and 99. Grizzle maintained the championship in 2000 with an indoor personal best of 2:05.95.
• PASSING THE STICK...
The ladies' 4x400m squad of Faith Rein (Alexandria, Va.), Amber Robinson (Lanham, Md.), Cara Evans (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Yolanda Brown-Moore (Gainesville, Fla.) won the first-ever indoor SEC title for the Gators in February... Florida has had an All-American Indoor 4x400m team in 10 of the last 11 years, including the national champion 1992 squad... Outdoors, Florida has earned seven 1600m relay All-America awards in its history, including each of the last four years. Currently, the Gators have qualified their 4x400m team with the 20th-best time in the nation at 3:38.89
• VAULT PERFORMANCES FLYING HIGH...
With Laura Hawkins (Bushnell, Fla.) improving on her own Florida record in the vault, others have followed under the direction of new volunteer assistant coach Christiaan Leeuwenburgh. Sophomore Megan Westfall (Tallahassee, Fla.) added eight inches to her indoor personal best at the Nike Fast Times Meet, improving her qualifying mark to 12-8. She improved her outdoor mark by full foot at the Knoxville Invitational with a 12-6 clearance. Six vaulters at least equaled their personal bests with five setting new PRs during the indoor season.
They're not the only ones flying over the bar, though. Mike Hissam (Savannah, Ga.), working under Assistant Coach Steve Thomas, became the first Gator to qualify for the national championships in the pole vault (17-4.5) for the men since Steve Hill did so in 1998. Rob Little (Slade, Ky.) also set a new PR in the vault at the Knoxville Inv., with a 17-1 clearance, the first time he has gone over 17 feet in his career.
• VAUNTED JAVELIN CREW...
Emily Carlsten and Kelly Carvallis are putting together some big javelin numbers in their second year under Assistant Coach John Frazier. Carlsten has been named SEC Athlete of the Week twice this outdoor season and won the Penn Relays javelin title two weeks ago. Carvallis, a senior, qualified for the NCAAs for the first time in her career in the javelin this year in her first competition of the season.
• QUITE A CROP OF NEWCOMERS...
T&F News ranked the men's 1999 recruiting class (meaning athletes will begin competition this season) fourth in the nation and the women's fifth-best. What have they done so far? For the men, the four recruits from Barton County Community College have been the big hitters. Aaron Armstrong, the 1999 NJCAA 200m outdoor national champion, indoor runner-up and the 200m junior college record holder, automatically qualified for the NCAAs in the 200m and had the top preliminary time at the SEC Championships before pulling up with a hamstring strain; Geno White, the 1999 NJCAA Outdoor 400m champion and indoor runner-up ran the opening leg of the All-American 4x400m team at the indoor championships; Bernard Williams, the 1999 Pan-Am gold medalist in the 100m and NJCAA 100m national champion, added the Penn Relays title to his list of accomplishments two weeks ago; and Stephen Jones, the fourth of the "Barton Boys," as they're called, joined the team in January after transferring from Barton County (as the other three did a year before). The 1999 NJCAA 55m hurdle champion was an upset All-American in the 60m hurdles, coming from the 16th qualifying position to a sixth-place finish. He is currently ranked eighth in the nation in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.71
For the women, Yolanda Thompson (Alexandria, Va.) provisionally qualified for the national championships in both the long jump and the triple jump while scoring in both events at the indoor conference championships.
• FIRST-CLASS COACH...
Women's distance coach J.J. Clark has been named the head coach of the U.S. women's team for the outdoor 2001 World Championships. He will be assisted by Beth Alford-Sullivan (Penn State), Chandra Cheeseborough (Tennessee State), Ramona Pagel (Kent State) and John Rembao (Texas).
• THE FACTS ABOUT FLORIDA...
For the men, the sprint crew is considered one of the top assemblies in the collegiate ranks today. Newcomer Aaron Armstrong had the 10th fastest time in the world in the 200m in 1999, a 20.08 that set a national junior college world record. Newcomer Bernard Williams made headlines last summer at the Pan-American Games, winning the 100m gold medal in a time of 10.08 (21st fastest time in the world)... In terms of U.S. Rankings based on wins, Track & Field News ranked Williams sixth in the nation (top amateur) in the 100m with Capel in eighth.
For the women, senior Yolanda Brown-Moore led off the World University Games 4x400m relay to the gold while sophomore Amber Robinson helped the 4x100m team at the Pan-Am Junior games to a junior world record in the 400m relay. Robinson was also the USATF Junior National 200m champion with a personal best run of 23.21 which propelled her to fourth all-time on the Florida performance list.
• GATORZONE.COM:
Looking for information on the Gator track and field teams? Chances are, whatever you're looking for is on Gatorzone.com. Meet notes, team rosters and bios, complete results from home and away competitions are all part of the site.
-- 2000 Outdoor NCAA National Qualifiers...
- Men:(11)
Automatic Qualifiers (3)
| 100 | Bernard Williams | 10.08w | 4th |
| 100 | Daymon Carroll | 10.17w | 10th |
| 110HH | Stephen Jones | 13.71w | 8th |
Provisional Qualifiers (8)
| LJ | Maurice Lewis | 25-6.25 | 16th |
| HJ | David Furman | 7-3.25 | 7th |
| PV | Mike Hissam | 17-4.5 | t-23rd |
| 200m | Bernard Williams | 20.58 | t-11th |
| 400m | Geno White | 45.76 | 10th |
| 3000mSt | Chris Duncan | 8:51.20 | 26th |
| 4x100 | 39.24 | 5th | |
| 4x400 | 3:06.60 | 11th |
-Women: (12)
Automatic Qualifiers (2)
| JAV | Emily Carlsten | 173-3 | 6th |
| 800m | Tamieka Grizzle | 2:04.48 | 3rd |
Provisional Qualifiers (10)
| HJ | Kathy Kilar | 5-10.5 | t-22nd |
| JAV | Kelly Carvallis | 154-9 | 26th |
| PV | Laura Hawkins | 12-10 | 14th |
| PV | Megan Westfall | 12-6 | 24th |
| SP | Emily Carlsten | 50-0 | 23rd |
| TJ | Yolanda Thompson | 41-4.5 | 40th |
| 400m | Y. Brown-Moore | 53.15 | 16th |
| 400HH | Cara Evans | 58.63 | 19th |
| 4x100m | 44.61 | 7th | |
| 4x400m | 3:35.23 | 9th |
-- 2000 US Olympic Trials Qualifiers...
Men:
Funded (A Standard)
| HJ | David Furman | 7-6.5 (indoor) |
Qualified (B Standard)
| LJ | Maurice Lewis | 26-3 (indoor) |
| 100m | Bernard Williams | 10.08 |
| 100m | Daymon Carroll | 10.17 |
| 200m | Aaron Armstrong | 20.08 (1999) |
Women:
Qualified (B Standard)
| 800m | Tamieka Grizzle | 2:04.48 |
| JAV | Emily Carlsten | 173-3 |
| 400m | Yo. Brown-Moore | 52.34 (1999) |
| 200m | Amber Robinson | 23.21 (1999) |
