T&F's Morrison and Foran Capture SEC Weekly Honors
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 | Track and Field
Wins and personal bests in each of their signature events last weekend propelled University of Florida sophomore Mike Morrison (Chesapeake, Va.) and redshirt freshman Eric Foran (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) to Southeastern Conference weekly honors on Tuesday, as the pair was named the league's Male Field Athlete and Male Freshman of the Week, respectively, by the conference office.
The two honors bestowed upon the Gators on Tuesday improved the program's league-leading total of SEC weekly awards to 13 since the beginning of the 2008 indoor season, while UF's seven outdoor weekly honors are one more than the team earned over the course of the entire indoor season. Morrison and Foran also became the 10th and 11th UF athletes, respectively, to be recognized by the league this year.
Morrison broke UF's 28-year old school record in the decathlon at the multi-events portion of last weekend's Mt. SAC Relays in Azusa, Calif., pacing the field with a score of 7,803 points. In addition to topping his career best by nearly 500 points, the total also ranks second in the NCAA this year and automatically qualifies Morrison for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June. He bested or matched his PR in five of the 10 events in the decathlon over the course of the two-day schedule, while also earning an NCAA regional-qualifying mark of 7.40m/24-3.50 in the long jump.
Foran was in action a day after Morrison wrapped up his competition, recording a personal-best and regional-qualifying clearance of 5.25m/17-2.75 to win the pole vault at the Azusa Invitational. The mark, which was a foot higher than the next-best competitor at the meet, currently ranks ninth in the NCAA this season, and stands as the 10th-best outdoor vault in Florida history. Foran's first-place finish also represented the first event win of his collegiate career.
The Gators will be back in action this weekend, as one part of the team will head north for the Penn Relays and another group will get a preview of the competition site for the NCAA Outdoor Championships when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Relays. Live results will be available via www.GatorZone.com.
Florida's 2008 SEC Outdoor Athletes of the Week
Rebecca Lowe – Female Runner of the Week, March 25
Adam Montague – Male Field Athlete of the Week, March 25
Willie Perry – Male Runner of the Week, April 1
Shara Proctor – Female Field Athlete of the Week, April 1
Terrell Wilks – Male Freshman of the Week, April 1
Eric Foran – Male Freshman of the Week, April 22
Mike Morrison – Male Field Athlete of the Week, April 22
Florida's 2008 SEC Indoor 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 -
