No. 7/13 T&F's Phillips Named SEC Male Runner of the Week
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 | Track and Field
After posting two NCAA automatic-qualifying marks and turning in what currently stands as the nation's third-best time in the 800m at the Iowa State Classic, indoor junior Carlos Phillips (Winter Park, Fla.) was named Southeastern Conference Male Runner of the Week on Tuesday in an announcement by the league office.
Phillips recorded the first NCAA automatic standard of his career with a personal-best time of 1:47.89, which was good for third place. The mark not only ranked third in the NCAA and topped the SEC charts as of Monday afternoon, but also moved him into fourth place on the all-time UF indoor chart behind U.S. Olympian Mark Everett, Scott Peters and Haitian Olympian Moise Joseph. Phillips also joined the aforementioned trio as the only athletes in school history to break the 1:48 barrier indoors after lowering his PR by more than two seconds.
Returning to the track just hours later, Phillips earned his second NCAA automatic mark of the day when he manned the second leg of the Gators' winning 4x400m relay. The quartet of junior R.J. Anderson (Big Pine Key, Fla.), Phillips, senior Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville, Fla.) and sophomore Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.) solidified their names in third place on Florida's all-time indoor chart, clocking in at a time of 3:06.48 that punched their tickets to the NCAA Indoor Championships and, as of Monday afternoon, rated as the fastest in the world during the 2008 indoor season.
Phillips' selection marks the second SEC Male Runner of the Week nod for the Gators this season, adding to the award that freshman Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.) picked up on Jan. 22. Five UF athletes have now combined to collect a half-dozen weekly honors from the league this season, with four of them coming from the men's side and a pair coming via the Gator women.
Florida will be idle until it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., for the SEC Indoor Championships, which are scheduled to take place from Feb. 29-March 2. The Gator men have posted a top-three finish at the SEC Indoors in each of the last five years, while the UF women will be seeking a return to the top three for the first time since winning the crown in 2004.
Florida's 2008 SEC Track & Field Athletes of the Week
Beau Burroughs – Male Field Athlete of the Week, Jan. 22
Terrell Wilks – Male Runner and Freshman of the Week, Jan. 22
Mariam Kevkhishvili – Female Field Athlete of the Week, Jan. 29
Liene Karsuma – Female Freshman of the Week, Feb. 5
Carlos Phillips – Male Runner of the Week, Feb. 19
- UF -
