Florida Gators
SEC Outdoor Championships
Morrison Wins High Jump, T & F In Third At SEC Championships
Sunday, May 15, 2005 | Men's Track and Field
Sophomore Mike Morrison (Willingboro, N.J.) won his third straight conference title in the high jump to lead the No. 2 Florida men's track and field team to third after the third day of competition at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships Saturday at Vanderbilt Track.
The men enter the final day in third place with 40 points with Tennessee leading with 48 and Arkansas in second with 44.
The Gators also qualified eight of 13 athletes to finals, which will take place on the last day of competition on Sunday. Morrison led the way for the men in winning the third SEC title of his career and third straight conference title in the high jump dating to the 2004 SEC outdoor meet, while also picking up six more points in the long jump by taking third. Senior Steve Zieminski (Sarasota, Fla.) picked up eight points for the Gators with a second-place finish in the 3,000m steeplechase with junior Daniel Parker (Orlando, Fla.) adding a fourth-place finish in the same event. Freshman Wes Stockbarger (Port Charlotte, Fla.) also scored for the Gators with a fourth-place finish in the discus with junior Alex Harris (Tampa, Fla.) adding a seventh-place finish in the long jump and freshman Enoch Nadler (Keystone Heights, Fla.) was the Gators' third scorer in the steeplechase with an eighth-place finish.
"Mike Morrison did a great job of getting through the weather today and I'm very proud of his effort," Florida men's coach Mike Holloway said. "I couldn't be more proud of the guys in the steeplechase - they came through in a big way. We also qualified a lot of guys into finals tomorrow and I think everyone competed hard and gave it their best shot. I'm excited to come out tomorrow and fight for a championship."
Morrison added 10 points to Florida's scoring by taking the high jump with a stadium record and the fourth-best mark in school history. The competition was nearly complete when weather caused nearly a four-hour delay. Morrison looked to be safe when he cleared 2.17m/7-1.50 on his first try, but Kentucky's Michael Mason made the mark on his second attempt leaving just two competitors. Mason then cleared 2.20m/7-2.50 and Morrison followed on his second attempt. After missing 2.23m/7-3.75 on his first try, Morrison negotiated the height on his second before Mason missed on all three chances. Morrison became the first Gator since Ron Jourdan in 1970 to win both the indoor and outdoor conference titles in the high jump in the same season and the first since Jourdan in 1969-70 to win the outdoor title in back-to-back seasons.
"It was a little tough with the weather, but you've just got to keep your composure," Morrison said. "I'm from New Jersey and we're used to jumping in weather like this and dealing with rain delays, so that helped out a lot. I'm happy to pull through for the team and get us 10 points."
Zieminski finished solidly in second with a regional time of 8:55.14 to notch eight points. Parker was close behind after clocking an 8:58.83, which also was a regional time. Nadler crossed the line in eighth by shaving more than eight seconds off his career best to finish in 9:10.63.
Morrison posted a regional mark of 7.59m/24-11 to finish third in the long jump in his quest to become the first athlete since 1957 to win both the high jump and long jump at the SEC outdoor meet. Harris finished seventh with a regional mark of 7.47m/24-6.25.
Stockbarger initiated the scoring for the Gators on the third day as he finished fourth in the discus to score five points and bring Florida's total to eight points. He posted a regional mark of 52.94m/173-8 on his fourth toss to secure his position.
Senior Josh Walker (Stone Mountain, Ga.), the defending SEC champion in the 110m hurdles, won his heat in the event to move on to Sunday's final. He beat out sophomore teammate Kerron Clement (La Porte, Texas) to post a time of 13.75 to Clement's 13.95. Walker's clocking was the third best of the day and Clement's was seventh.
Senior Kyle Farmer (Columbia, Md.) captured first in his heat of the 100m to advance to his second final on Sunday after qualifying in the 200m Friday night. Farmer clocked a regional time of 10.38 to win the second heat. Freshman Richard Adu-Bobie (Orleans, Canada) also advanced to the final with a regional mark of 10.47.
Junior Sekou Clarke (Kingston, Jamaica) and sophomore Reggie Witherspoon (Marietta, Ga.) both advanced to the finals of the 400m. Clarke posted the third-fastest time of the day in 46.17, while Witherspoon was second in the heat in 46.32.
Junior Shane Stroup (Highland Park, Md.) and Zieminski will look to help the Gator cause on the final day after advancing in the 1,500m. Zieminski clocked a 3:48.95 to finish fourth in his heat with the seventh-best time of the day, while Stroup posted the ninth-fastest time in 3:50.12.
The SEC Championships conclude Sunday with events set to begin at noon. Live results can be found at www.vucommodores.com
Men's Team Scores
1. Tennessee 48; 2. Arkansas 44; 3. Florida 40; 4. Auburn 32; 5. Mississippi State 24; 6. Georgia 22; 6. Alabama 22; 8. LSU 19; 9. Kentucky 9; 10. Mississippi 8; 11. South Carolina 5.
SEC Champions (1):
High jump: Mike Morrison
Advancing to finals (8):
100m: Richard Adu-Bobie, Kyle Farmer
400m: Sekou Clarke, Reggie Witherspoon
1,500m: Shane Stroup, Steve Zieminski
110m hurdles: Kerron Clement, Josh Walker
