Florida Gators
SEC Championships
W T&F Tacks On Three More Titles To Earn Runner-Up Finish At SEC Outdoors, M T&F Finishes Fourth
Monday, May 19, 2008 | Track and Field
The No. 13 University of Florida women used three individual titles on Sunday, giving them a total of five for the meet, to earn 129 points and a runner-up finish at the SEC Outdoor Championships, marking their best showing in five years. The third-ranked UF men battled to a fourth-place finish with 80 points over the course of the weekend.
The Gators' five individual titles on the women's side marked their most since capturing the same amount at the 1997 edition of the meet, while Florida's 129 points were its most since piling 159 points en route to winning the 2003 league championship. UF's tally also tied for the fourth-best in school history and exceeded its output from last year's SEC Outdoor Championships by 47 points, earning the Orange and Blue its highest finish since the 2003 title.
“The women did a phenomenal job this weekend,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “They came in here with the goal of winning the meet, and even though we were beaten by a better team, they performed admirably. This sport is about how you compete on the day of the meet, and the women were able to put together a number of great performances this weekend, which led to a great overall result.”
Sophomore Shara Proctor (The Valley, Anguilla) delivered the first big blow for the Gators on the day, winning the program's first triple jump title in 16 years with a school and facility-record leap of 13.66m/44-9.75 on her sixth and final leap to bolster UF's score by 10 points. The performance broke Leah Kirklin's school record by nine inches, and capture Florida's first league crown in the event since Kirklin won the second of her back-to-back championships in 1992. Proctor's win is also just the third SEC triple jump title in school history, as she is now the only Gator other than Kirklin to attain the highest spot on the medal stand. Her winning leap was nearly two feet further than the next-best competitor in the event, and was one of only three that would have won the competition.
“Shara was just awesome today,” Florida jumps coach Rana Reider said. “She considers herself more of a long jumper than a triple jumper, so for her to come out and win that like was very exciting. The field was loaded with talent from top to bottom, and the win just shows how far she's come since the beginning of the season. She had some really big fouls today, and if she can get one of those on the board, I think she can go even further at regionals.”
Senior Natalie Knight (Snellville, Ga.) was next to enter the winner's circle for UF, winning the Gators' first-ever championship in the 200m with a career-best time of 22.84. Not only was the effort a PR for Knight, but it also tied Kisha Jett's 12-year old school record and gave UF at least one SEC champion in each running event from the 100m to the 10,000m except for the 3,000m steeplechase. Knight is also the first UF athlete to win the program's first conference title in any event since 2002, when Candice Scott garnered the first of her three-straight hammer throw championships.
“With all of the All-Americans and decorated sprinters that have come out of this program over the years, for Natalie to be the first SEC 200m champion is a tremendous honor,” Holloway said. “Winning the conference title has been a goal of hers all season, and now she has her sights set on scoring high at the national meet. She's a hard worker with great passion, and it's exciting to watch when she's putting everything together.”
After winning the 10,000m on the first day of competition, freshman Rebecca Lowe (Vancluse, Australia) closed the meet in style with another victory in the 5K, becoming just the ninth athlete in SEC history, and the second Gator, to win both events in the same year. She is also just the fifth athlete in school history to earn conference crowns in two different events in the same year, and the first since Scott brought home the shot put and hammer throw titles in 2003. Senior Lindsay Sundell (Ft. Salonga, N.Y.) clocked in with a season-best time of 16:38.92 to finish ninth and earn her second NCAA regional mark of the year in the event.
“The win today is a testament to Rebecca's work ethic, as well as her training with (UF distance coach) Jeff Pigg,” Holloway said. “He thought she could contend in both the 5K and the 10K, and she obviously gave a fantastic effort in both races. She's a very talented athlete, and she did a great job for the team this weekend.”
The Gator women registered eight points in the 4x100m relay to kick off the day's running events, as the senior quartet of Abigail David (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), Lakecia Ealey (Albany, Ga.), Dominique McLeggan (Weston, Fla.) and Knight turned in a time of 43.76, the fourth-fastest in school history, to collect runner-up honors.
McLeggan was the first of the quartet to compete in an individual event on Sunday, taking seventh in the 400m with a time of 54.32. Ealey and Knight were up next, combining to score seven points in the 100m with fifth and sixth-place finishes, respectively. Ealey was the first of the tandem to cross the line, recording a time of 11.41, while Knight came through just one one-hundredth of a second later with a personal-best time of 11.42, good for sixth in school history.
Senior Lorain McKenzie (Clarendon, Jamaica) added another five points to team total with a fourth-place finish in the women's 800m, checking in at a career-best 2:05.52. The performance was her best since last year's SEC outdoor meet, and improved her standing on the all-time UF chart to ninth place.
McLeggan, Ealey, David and fellow senior Zan Joseph (Boynton Beach, Fla.) closed out the meet with a fifth-place showing in the 4x400m relay. The quartet crossed the line in 3:36.73 to give UF two different squads with NCAA regional-qualifying marks in the event this season.
Freshman Kaitlin Shiver (Satellite Beach, Fla.) finished 11th in the first 1,500m final of her career, clocking in at 4:35.30, while sophomore Evelien Dekkers (Etten-Leur, The Netherlands) took 10th in the discus (46.46m/152-5).
Redshirt freshman Doug Nelson (Tampa, Fla.) made his conference-championships debut on Sunday afternoon with a fifth-place showing in the men's javelin. His toss of 65.33m/214-4 came on his third attempt, marking the second-best throw of his career and earning four points for the UF men. The Gators added another seven points in the men's pole vault courtesy of junior Justin Semeyn (Tampa, Fla.) and redshirt freshman Eric Foran (Ft. Lauderdale), as the duo finished fourth and seventh, respectively. Semeyn cleared a height of 5.05m/16-6.75 to score at the SEC Championships for the third year in a row, while Foran made his debut at the outdoor league meet with a clearance of 4.95m/16-2.75.
Junior Eugene Martin (Gainesville, Fla.) followed up his SEC indoor championship in the high jump with a runner-up finish at the outdoor meet on Sunday, successfully negotiating a bar of 2.10m/6-10.75 to earn his second NCAA regional-qualifying mark of the year. Senior Wes Stockbarger (Port Charlotte, Fla.) also registered eight points with a second-place finish on the evening with a toss of 18.46m/60-6.75 in the shot put, while junior Beau Burroughs (Tampa, Fla.) posted an eighth-place finish with a heave of 17.67m/57-11.75.
UF grabbed four points in the 110m hurdles as junior Kallinka Pitt (Largo, Fla.) exploded for a career-best time 13.68 – a tenth of a second better than his previous PR – to finish fifth. The effort would have moved Pitt into fifth place on Florida's all-time chart, but the wind reading of +2.4 denied him that honor, though the mark is legal for NCAA regional qualifying.
Sophomore Jeremy Hall (Jacksonville, Fla.) and freshman Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.) also posted career bests in the 100m, finishing third and seventh, respectively, to earn a combined eight points for the team. Hall's time of 10.17 moved him into a tie for fifth on Florida's all-time list, while his performance on Sunday marked the first time he entered the scoring column at the SEC outdoor meet. Wilks stopped the watches at a personal-best 10.26 to earn sole possession of ninth place on the UF chart and become the first Gator freshman to score in the 100m at the SEC Outdoor Championships since 2006.
Sophomore Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.) ran to a third-place finish in the men's 400m with a season-best time of 45.83, picking up six team points, while junior Carlos Phillips (Winter Park, Fla.) took fifth in the 800m with a career-best time of 1:48.40 to chip in four points. Senior Eric Alberter (Belleville, Ill.) finished ninth in the 800m with a time of 1:52.90.
The Gator men concluded the meet in style with the running of the 4x400m relay, as the team of senior Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville, Fla.), Smith, freshman LaMarr Davis (Knightdale, N.C.) and Alberter raced to a second-place finish in a season-best time of 3:04.75. The meet-closing race didn't disappoint, as UF provided an exciting ending with a late charge that saw the Orange and Blue cross the line less than two tenths of a second behind champion Kentucky.
“Coming into the meet, the men hoped to be higher than fourth, but some injuries prevented them from doing that,” Holloway said. “It was a good weekend overall, and we saw several of the men give great efforts. The 4x400m relay is definitely setting itself up for a solid postseason, and they've set some high goals for themselves heading into the national meet. The bottom line, though, is that, as a team, we have to get stronger, deeper and tougher as we prepare for regionals in about two weeks.”
Florida will be idle until the NCAA East Regional gets underway in Tallahassee, Fla., on May 30.
Women's Team Standings
1. LSU 157.50; 2. Florida 129; 3. Arkansas 88.50; 4. Tennessee 85; 5. Kentucky 84.50; 6. Mississippi 73; 7. Auburn 66; 8. South Carolina 34.50; 9. Alabama 34; 10. Georgia 32; 11. Mississippi State 28; 12. Vanderbilt 7
Men's Team Standings
1. Arkansas 131.50; 2. LSU 122; 3. Tennessee 97.50; 4. Florida 80; 5. Auburn 78.20; 6. Kentucky 72; 7. South Carolina 57; 8. Mississippi State 56.20; 9. Alabama 46.20; 10. Georgia 43.40; 11. Mississippi 35
Florida's 2008 SEC Champions
Evelien Dekkers – Women's Javelin (51.67m/169-6)*
Natalie Knight – Women's 200m (22.84)
Rebecca Lowe – Women's 5,000m (16:22.33); Women's 10,000m (34:13.07)
Shara Proctor – Women's Triple Jump (13.66m/44-9.75)
* - Hutsell-Rosen Track record
- UF -
