Thrower, Hurdler Win NCAA Titles, Men 2nd, Women 5th

Saturday, June 12

Austin, TX

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

NCAA Outdoor Championships

Thrower, Hurdler Win NCAA Titles, Men 2nd, Women 5th

Sunday, June 13, 2004 | Track and Field

For the second consecutive season, Candice Scott won the NCAA title in the hammer throw, this year with a mark of 68.83m/225-10. For the men, freshman Kerron Clement claimed his first national title with a win in the 400m hurdles. Overall, Florida's men finished second with 49 points, while the women, who scored all their points on the final day of competition, finished fifth with 29 points.

The Gator men's team's second place finish capped off the best season in school history, during which no team indoor or outdoor finished worse than second place at a championship meet. In addition to Saturday's finish, the Gators won the SEC Indoor title, were the NCAA Indoor runners-up, finished second at the SEC Outdoor meet and won the NCAA East Region title.

"I'm euphoric right now. This is a very special group of guys, and it takes a special group of guys to buy into what the coaching staff asked them to do, and that's what these guys did," said Florida men's coach Mike Holloway. "We came here trying to be national champions, but we have no shame in where we finished. There's nobody that put the Gator uniform on this weekend that didn't go out and give it their best, and I'm really proud of the whole group."

Scott was in fourth place after the three preliminary throws, sitting behind Jessica Cosby of UCLA, Georgia's Jenny Dahlgren and teammate Jukina Dickerson. Scott took over the lead, however, on her fourth throw with a toss of 67.53m/221-6, and bettered that mark with her final throw of 68.83m/225-10. Dickerson added a fourth-place finish with her mark of 66.07m/216-09, which came on her first toss, earning her sixth All-America honor in the process.

"This win is special, but a little different than last year's, because this is an Olympic year and I'll be competing there, too," said Scott. "For me, this meet was preparation for the Olympics. This win is going to help a lot with my confidence and shows that I can still throw in the big meets."

Scott's title is also the fourth NCAA championship in her career.

"It was a really good comeback for these athletes. We're used to having the hammer on the first day, so to have it the last day was an adjustment," said UF women's head coach Tom Jones. "I was very, very proud of our quarter milers - they came through big time. It was a very, very good day. We thought we could score 30 points, and we missed that by one. We've been through a lot, and it's a nice reward to finish the outdoor season in fifth place. "

Clement, who was voted the Southeastern Conference's Indoor Freshman Runner of the Year, took over the lead in the race from LSU's Bennie Brazell after the 10^th hurdle to win in 49.05. Clement is now the SEC, NCAA East Region and NCAA Outdoor Champion in the event. In addition, 2002 NCAA 400m hurdle champion Rickey Harris finished third in 49.82 and Dwight Ruff finished sixth in 50.39 to tally 19 points for the Gators.

"I am definitely pleased with my performance tonight. It was a bit slow, but I'm still a national champion, so I'm happy with that. This is really great because I've been working hard all year and had a long season. It's nice to know hard work pays off."

Steve Zieminski added four points for the Gators in the men's 3,000m steeplechase with his fifth-place time of 8:53.84, and Daniel Parker finished 10^th in 9:04.25. Moise Joseph finished ninth in the 800m run, crossing the finish line in 1:49.91.

In the final event of the night, the men's 4x400m relay team of Sekou Clarke, Harris, Clement and Mike Morrison combined to finish sixth in 3:04.71.

The Gator women scored five more points in the shot put with Kim Barrett's fourth-place mark of 17.18m/56-04.50. She earned her sixth All-America honor with that finish.

On the track, Novlene Williams finished fourth in the 400m dash, crossing the finish line in 51.02, which is .01 seconds off the school record time of 51.01 set in 1992 by Anita Howard. SEC Freshman Indoor Runner of the Year Tiandra Ponteen finished right behind Williams in a personal-best time of 51.41. Combined, the pair scored nine points for the Gators to move Florida into fourth place after the event.

Notes

Scott's winning throw of 68.83m/225-10 was a Mike A. Myers Stadium record.

This is the first time that the Florida men have won three individual titles at the NCAA Outdoor meet. The Gators accomplished the feat in 1989 during the indoor season, winning titles in the 55m hurdles, 400m dash and 4x400m relay.

UF National Champions

Kerron Clement - 400m hurdles

Candice Scott - hammer throw

UF All-Americans

Men (6): Sekou Clarke - 4x400m relay, 6th (3:04.71); Kerron Clement - 400m hurdles, 1^st (49.05), 4x400m relay, 6th (3:04.71); Rickey Harris - 400m hurdles, 3^rd (49.82), 4x400m relay, 6th (3:04.71); Mike Morrison - 4x400m relay, 6th (3:04.71); Dwight Ruff - 400m hurdles, 6^th (50.39); Steve Zieminski - 3,000m steeplechase, 5^th (8:53.84)

Women (5): Kim Barrett - shot put, 4^th place (17.18m/56-04.50); Jukina Dickerson - hammer throw, 4^th (66.07m/216-09); Tiandra Ponteen - 400m dash, 5^th (51.41); Candice Scott - hammer throw, 1^st (68.83m/225-10); Novlene Williams - 400m dash, 4^th (51.02)

Final 2004 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Team Standings
Women – 21 Events Scored		Men – 21 Events Scored
1) UCLA	69	1) Arkansas	65.50
2) LSU	68	2) Florida	49
3) Nebraska	58	3) LSU	31
4) Texas	42	4) TCU	30
5) Florida	29	4) Southern Methodist	30
6) Stanford	27	4) Ohio State	30
7) South Carolina	24	7) Baylor	27
7) Georgia	24	8) Texas Tech	26.50
7) Tennessee	24	9) Oregon	26
10) Miami	22	10) Wisconsin	22
10) Arkansas	22	10) Arizona State	22
12) Southern California	18	12) Arizona	21
13) Texas A&M	17	13) Tennessee	20
14) North Carolina	16	13) Nebraska	20
15) Georgia Tech	14	15) Minnesota	18
15) Brigham Young	14	15) Boise State	18
15) Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo	14	17) UCLA	17
18) Auburn	13	17) Stanford	17
18) Washington	13	19) Indiana	16
20) Arizona State	12	20) Rice	15
21) Penn State	11	20) Mississippi State	15
22) Mississippi State	10	20) Florida State	15
22) Alabama	10	23) Auburn	13
22) Northern Arizona	10	23) Texas	13
22) Providence	10	25) North Carolina State	12
22) Akron	10	26) Eastern Michigan	11
27) San Diego State	9	26) Georgia	11
28) Georgetown	8	26) Brigham Young	11
28) Princeton	8	29) Manhattan	10
28) Toledo	8	30) Middle Tennessee State	9
28) Florida State	8	31) Kansas State	8
32) Michigan State	7	31) South Carolina	8
32) Ohio State	7	31) Virginia Tech	8
34) Wyoming	6	31) Houston	8
34) South Florida	6	31) Colorado	8
34) Oregon	6	31) Pennsylvania	8
34) Clemson	6	31) Georgetown	8
34) Villanova	6	38) Dartmouth	7
34) Notre Dame	6	38) Texas A&M	7
34) Baylor	6	40) South Florida	6
41) Kansas State	5	40) Louisiana-Lafayette	6
41) Wake Forest	5	40) Kentucky	6
41) Norfolk State	5	40) Missouri	6
41) Iona	5	44) Texas State	5
41) Jacksonville	5	44) Memphis	5
41) Idaho	5	44) Western Kentucky	5
41) Michigan	5	44) Washington State	5
48) Southern Methodist	4	44) New Mexico	5
48) California	4	49) Air Force	4.50
48) Texas Tech	4	50) Cincinnati	4
48) Air Force	4	50) George Mason	4
48) Boise State	4	50) Michigan	4
48) Wisconsin	4	50) Texas-El Paso	4
48) Vanderbilt	4	54) Boston University	3
48) Duke	4	54) St. Francis-PA	3
56) Western Illinois	3	54) Hampton	3
56) South Carolina State	3	54) Illinois	3
56) Kentucky	3	54) Purdue	3
56) Colorado State	3	54) Miami-Ohio	3
56) Oklahoma	3	60) Oral Roberts	2
56) Colorado	3	60) Long Beach State	2
56) Iowa	3	60) Texas-San Antonio	2
56) Connecticut	3	60) Iona	2
56) Nevada-Reno	3	60) Mississippi	2
65) Illinois	2	60) Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo	2
65) Boston College	2	60) Montana	2
65) TCU	2	60) California	2
65) Fresno State	2	68) Clemson	1
65) Nevada-Las Vegas	2	68) Southern California	1
65) Rice	2	68) Columbia	1
65) Purdue	2	68) Colorado State	1
65) Texas Southern	2	72) Cal State-Fullerton	0.50
65) Arizona	2
65) Texas State	2
65) Texas-San Antonio	2
76) Virginia	1
76) Missouri	1
76) Butler	1
76) Cal State-Northridge	1
76) Virginia Tech	1