Florida Gators
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Clement Wins 400m Hurdle Title; Men Finish 2nd At NCAA Championships
Saturday, June 11, 2005 | Men's Track and Field
Sophomore Kerron Clement (La Porte, Texas) became the first athlete to win 400m hurdle titles in back-to-back seasons in nearly 20 years to lead the No. 3 University of Florida men's track and field team to second on the final day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships Saturday before a crowd of more than 10,000 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.
Clement broke the NCAA meet record and posted the world's top time in 2005 (47.56), while sophomore Mike Morrison (Willingboro, N.J.) earned All-America honors by taking fourth in the high jump, junior Shane Stroup (Highland, Md.) was an All-American after finishing fifth in the 1,500m, senior Kyle Farmer (Columbia, Md.) picked up an All-America honor after finishing seventh in the 200m and the 4x400m relay of freshman Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville, Fla.), sophomore Reggie Witherspoon (Marietta, Ga.), senior Stefan Pastor (Columbia, Md.) and Clement finished fourth.
The meet was close with the Gators leading Arkansas 42-39 with just five events remaining, but the Razorbacks tallied an impressive 17 points in the 200m to Florida's two in building an insurmountable lead of 56-44. Florida's finish marks the first time in school history the Gators have finished second at back-to-back meets and the point total of 49 matches last season's total for the second most in school history. Florida has now finished no worse than second at the last 10 championship meets.
"I'm extremely proud of our group," Florida coach Mike Holloway said. "From top to bottom we saw season bests, personal records, school records, collegiate records - this could go down as the best meet in Florida history. It was a great group and people shouldn't take anything away from them. Arkansas is Arkansas and we knew coming in they were the team to beat, so you have to give them credit."
Clement ran neck and neck with LSU's Bennie Brazell until the ninth hurdle when Brazell surged ahead while Clement stutter-stepped on the final two hurdles. But Clement closed the gap after the 10th hurdle and moved into the lead, crossing the line in a NCAA meet record time of 47.56. He became the first collegian since Kevin Young in 1987-88 to win the 400m hurdle title in back-to-back seasons and just the sixth to ever accomplish the feat in NCAA history. His win also moved the Gators into first place in the meet with 42 points, while Arkansas was second with 39 after 16 events were scored.
"It's amazing - it feels good to win a national title again," Clement said. "I was focus today and my goal was to win and break my own record, which I did. I wasn't really worried when Bennie was in the lead after the 10th hurdle because I knew my speed would kick in after that."
Picking up his third All-America honor of the meet and 10th of his career was Morrison in the high jump as he finished fourth. He was one of only two competitors to clear the first five heights on his first attempt, but Morrison couldn't clear the bar at 2.26m/7-5, which would have been a career best. He did jump 2.23m/7-3.75 in the fifth round, which tied his previous outdoor best at Florida. After picking up an All-America honor in the long jump on Friday by taking fifth, Morrison became the first Gator in school history to earn All-America status in both events at the same meet. Following the event, Florida narrowed the gap to 34-28 after 14 events in the race for the team title.
Stroup came up with late heroics in finishing fifth in the 1,500m. Following his race at East Regionals where he went from last to second in the final 400m, Stroup was 11th out of 12 runners entering the final lap. He again raced past the back of the pack and slowly worked his into the leap group where nudged into fifth place in 3:38.57 - breaking current Florida coach Jeff Pigg's school record, which was set in 1987. Stroup's time was also more than eight seconds faster than his previous best of 3:46.74. The All-America honor was the second of his career. After the event, Arkansas led 39-32 after 15 events.
Farmer closed out his career by earning his third All-America honor of the 2005 meet and ninth of his career by finishing seventh in the 200m with a time of 20.88. Arkansas' Wallace Spearmon finished first in 19.91 with the Razorback's Tyson Gay in third and Omar Brown in eighth as the 17 points in the event for Arkansas clinched the NCAA team title and gave them a 56-44 lead over the Gators after 17 events.
Florida's 4x400m relay closed out the meet on the men's side by clocking a time of 3:01.36 - the third-best time in school history. LSU won the event with a collegiate record time of 2:59.91. The relay became the seventh in school history to earn All-America honors and the third straight.
Florida's finish marks the fourth straight season the Gators have finished in the top 10 and the 12th overall in school history.
Top 10 Men's Standings
1. Arkansas 60; 2. Florida 49; 3. LSU 36; 4. BYU 34; 4. Florida State 34; 6. USC 33; 7. Stanford 28; 8. Texas 25; 9. Oregon 23; 9. Auburn 23; 9. Arizona 23.
NCAA Champions
110m hurdles - Josh Walker
400m hurdles - Kerron Clement
All-Americans
100m - Kyle Farmer
200m - Kyle Farmer
110m hurdles - Josh Walker
400m hurdles - Kerron Clement
1,500m - Shane Stroup
Long ump - Mike Morrison
High jump - Mike Morrison
4x100m - Richard Adu-Bobie, Mike Morrison, Kyle Farmer, Kerron Clement
4x400m - Bernard Middleton, Sekou Clarke, Reggie Witherspoon, Stefan Pastor, Kerron Clement
