Florida Track and Field Notebook - Jan. 22
Thursday, January 22, 2009 | Track and Field
When the Florida track and field teams compete in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Saturday, it will be a little more meaningful than just your ordinary track meet. The second-annual Tom Jones Memorial Invitational will serve to honor longtime Gator women's track and field coach Tom Jones, who died in 2007 after a courageous battle with cancer.
“The meet is in memory of Tom Jones, who was the coach here for many years,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “He was a friend and mentor to a lot of people, myself included, and we're excited about the meet this weekend.”
Jones oversaw the Florida women's program for nearly half of its existence, serving as head coach for 15 of the program's 35 seasons. Hired prior to the 1992 cross country campaign, Jones guided 71 athletes to 245 All-America honors on the track, while his teams posted a combined 15 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Under Jones, UF turned in its highest NCAA finishes of second in 2003, 2004 and 2005, all at the indoor championships.
Jones' influence is so far reaching that it seems each of the teams coming to this weekend's meet at the O'Connell Center also bring with them a memory of Jones.
Florida State head coach Bob Braman, who will lead his Seminoles into the meet this weekend, was coached by Jones in his senior year of high school.
“Tom Jones was my high school coach my senior year at Tampa Chamberlain, so my memories of him are many,” Braman said. “I was Tom's PE assistant and helped run his class while he was trying to find ways to win those famous dual meets. What people don't know about Tom is that he was a very good distance coach as well. He was just as passionate about cross country when it was in-season as he was about track.”
When it came to Jones, many considered him just as much of teacher to fellow coaches as he was to his own athletes.
“Coach Jones was always a very positive person,” UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. “He gave me encouragement at every meet and always told me I was doing a good job with my athletes.”
Braman agreed.
“Tom was a wonderful mentor for me throughout my career and I learned a lot from him,” Braman said. “I believe that Tom helped me learn to respect the sport, take it seriously and be as good as I was capable of being.”
Jones' athletes were evidence of that philosophy during his tenure as Florida's head coach. Jones led his squads to six Southeastern Conference titles (1997 indoor & outdoor, 1998 outdoor, 2002 indoor, 2003 outdoor, 2004 indoor), while helping his athletes claim 77 SEC individual or relay titles. He was named NCAA Women's National Indoor Coach of the Year in 1997 and 2002, and the NCAA Outdoor Coach of the Year in 1997.
There will be a public address announcement honoring Jones prior to the start of the running events at Saturday's meet in the O'Connell Center.
The University of Florida is home of the 2009 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. For all of the latest information on Gator Track and Field, log on to www.GatorZone.com.
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