Florida Gators
NCAA East Regional Champ.
Morrison Guides Men's T&F At NCAA East Regionals With Long Jump Title
Saturday, May 27, 2006 | Men's Track and Field
Before an intense thunderstorm caused an hour and a half in delays, junior All-American Mike Morrison (Willingboro, N.J.) captured his second individual regional title of his career by winning the long jump crown to lead the No. 10 University of Florida men's track and field team on Friday evening at the NCAA East Regional Championships at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.
The men stand in third place entering the final day of competition with 16 points as Virginia Tech leads the race for the team title with 33 points.
In addition to Morrison, sophomore Wes Stockbarger (Port Charlotte, Fla.) finished fifth in the discus to secure at spot at nationals, while senior Alex Harris (Tampa, Fla.) was seventh in the long jump to score two points for the Gators. UF had three athletes in four events and one relay advance to finals on Saturday, led by senior All-American Shane Stroup (Highland, Md.) in the 1,500m, senior All-American Sekou Clarke (Kingston, Jamaica) in the 400m, freshman Willie Perry (Lenoir, N.C.) in the 100m and 200m and the 4x100m relay of Perry, Morrison, Clarke and sophomore All-American Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville, Fla.).
“We had a pretty good day overall, but we've got to get refocused for tomorrow,” Florida men's coach Mike Holloway said. “I don't think we brought our A-game today and we were a little unprepared, but we're going to address that and we'll be better tomorrow. We had a lot of guys that did well – Mike Morrison, Sekou Clarke, Willie Perry, Shane Stroup – and the big key is qualifying guys to nationals. That's our goal – we want guys finishing in the top five and our relays in the top three. We want as many bullets as we can get to make nationals.”
Morrison needed just one jump to claim the first NCAA regional crown of his career. Though still nursing injuries, Morrison gutted out a leap of 7.79m/25-6.75 on his first attempt – a mark that held up through both prelims and finals as Morrison passed on all but one of his five other jumps in winning by three centimeters over South Carolina's Greig Cryer. He became the first Gator to win the long jump in the four-year history of the regional format and the title is his second regional crown following a win in the high jump at the 2005 regional meet.
"I feel pretty good, but there are still some lingering injuries I'm dealing with,” Morrison said. “I'm fortunate to have a training staff that's able to get me ready for game day. I came out wanting to take as few jumps as possible and that happened. The regional meet has always been tough on me, so this year we worked on staying focused and not getting too hyped up. I just hope this carries over to NCAAs.”
Morrison's first-place finish was an improvement from 2005 when he took sixth and from 2004 when he finished third. It also gives him 37 points scored at regional meets in his career.
Harris also competed in the long jump and gave the Gators a pair of points by taking seventh with a leap of 7.50m/24-7.25 on his third attempt. The occasion marked the second time he scored in the event at the regional meet following a fourth-place showing in 2004. Through two scored events, the Gators were in second place with 12 points as Virginia Tech led the field after recording 21 points in the hammer throw.
Later in the day, Stockbarger matched his fifth-place finish from 2005 by recording a mark of 56.35m/184-10 in rainy conditions. Stockbarger posted his best mark on his third throw with the discus event haulted midway through finals due to a thunderstorm for nearly an hour and a half. Following the event, the Gators were in third place with 16 points as Virginia Tech continued to lead with 33 followed by North Carolina (18).
The 4x100m relay opened the running events for the Gators by automatically qualifying for Saturday's final by winning their heat in 40.15. The time was the third-fastest for the Gators this season and UF will attempt to qualify for NCAAs for the fourth straight year on Saturday at 5:10 p.m.
Stroup won his heat to move on to Saturday's 5:30 p.m. final. In typical Stroup fashion, a late charge was made as he went from last to second with 500m remaining before taking the lead with 300m left in the race before crossing the finish line in 3:49.54.
Perry clocked a time of 10.35 to finish second in his heat and qualify fifth for Saturday's 6:30 p.m. final. The time tied for the second-fastest wind-legal race of his career.
Clarke moved on to Saturday's 400m final at 7:10 p.m. He won his heat with a time of 46.00 – the second fastest on the track during the evening and the third best of his career.
Action from Irwin Belk Track concludes with a bevy of final events on Saturday. The top-five finishers in each event automatically qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, held June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif. Live results can be found online at www.ncataggies.com.
Team Scores
1. Virginia Tech, 33; 2. North Carolina, 18; 3. Florida, 16; 4. Iona, 14; 5. Florida State, 12; 6. Manhattan, 10; 7. Clemson, 9; 8. Georgetown, 8; 8. Georgia, 8; 8. Pittsburgh, 8; 8. South Carolina, 8; 8. Liberty, 8.
NCAA East Regional Champions
Mike Morrison – Long jump
Advancing To Finals (5):
Sekou Clarke – 400m
Willie Perry – 100m, 200m
Shane Stroup – 1,500m
Willie Perry, Mike Morrison, Sekou Clarke, Bernard Middleton – 4x100m
