Finish Line: Florida Track and Field Blog
Friday, February 13, 2009 | Track and Field
February 13, 2009 - 6:17 p.m. - Results are in from today's lone event at the Iowa State Classic. Freshman Fidela James finished 12th in the women's weight throw with a toss of 55-1.50/16.80m.
February 13, 2009 - 2:49 p.m. - Freshman Gray Horn turned in a season best in finishing 10th in the men's long jump with a leap of 23-0.50/7.02m.
February 13, 2009 - 2:17 p.m. - Here's what's happened so far for the Gators at the Tyson Invitational. In the women's 60-meter dash preliminaries, freshman Alishea Usery notched an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 7.44. She and fellow freshman Madison McNary (7.55) both advance to the finals of the event. In the prelims of the men's 60m dash, football player Deonte Thompson advanced to the event's final in a time of 6.81.
February 13, 2009 - 11:06 a.m. - Good morning! It's a big day for Florida track and field as the majority of the team is at the Tyson Invitational and the throwers are at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. We will have full updated information here throughout the weekend. For live results from the Tyson Invitational Click here.
February 10, 2009 - 12:11 p.m. - It will be a busy week here on Finish Line as the Gators prepare to go to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, this weekend. Coach Mike Holloway just spoke at his weekly press conference. Here are some of the highlights:
February 3, 2009 - 3:45 p.m. - It has just been announced by the SEC that Gray Horn and Mariam Kevkhishvili have earned weekly honors. Horn was named the Male Freshman of the Week, while Kevkhishvili was named the Female Field Athlete of the Week. Here is the complete list:
February 3, 2009 - 3:07 p.m. - Just a reminder that the Southeastern Conference announces its Athlete of the Week selections on Tuesday afternoon, so we hope to have some good news for you on here as far as that is concerned. If any Gators are chosen, it will be announced on Finish Line the second we receive the conference e-mail. There are six awards given each week: A male and female runner of the week, a male and female field athlete of the week and a male and female freshman of the week.
February 3, 2009 - 2:04 p.m. - Kind of a slow week as far as news is concerned for the Florida track and field team, as the Gators don't compete this weekend, which will give them plenty of time to prepare for the Tyson Invitational and Iowa State Classic in two weeks. Due to the team's break from competition, Coach Mike Holloway did not speak at the All-Sports Press Conference as he usually does on Tuesday mornings, but we hope to have some comments from him on here later this week.
January 28, 2009 - 5:51 p.m. - Reigning SEC Female Freshman of the Week Genevieve LaCaze spoke to members of the media this afternoon and here are the highlights of her interview.
On notching an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark in her first collegiate meet
"I'm really excited. It's been a little hard to comprehend as far as the times because we don't do miles in Australia - we do 1,500s and 3Ks there. But the coaches have assured me that my times are well up there and to get a provisional time is very exciting and certainly something that I was aiming for."
On what her goals for this weekend's meet are ...
"I would really just like to improve from the last meet, even if it's just by a second or two, especially now that I have a time to judge it by. I just want to go out and run hard. It's a good opportunity to get more experience indoors since I've never run indoors before."
January 28, 2009 - 5:38 p.m. - Here are the complete USATFCCCA Week 1 Polls for those of you interested.
Men
1. Arkansas
2. Arizona State
3. Florida
4. Oregon
5. Texas A&M
6. Florida State
7. Texas Tech 8. BYU
9. Texas
10. LSU
11. Louisville
12. Georgia
13. Northern Iowa
14. South Carolina
15. Michigan
16. Kentucky
17. Baylor
18. Kansas State
19. Nebraska
20. Boise State
21. Georgetown
22. Arizona
23. Missouri
24. Oklahoma State
25. Stanford
Women
1. Texas A&M
2. Tennessee
3. Michigan
4. LSU
5. Florida State
6. Texas
7. Virginia Tech
8. Arizona State
9. Minnesota
10. Oregon
11. Texas Tech
12. South Carolina
13. Arizona
14. Arkansas
15. Florida
16. Stanford
17. North Carolina
18. Penn State
19. Nebraska
20. UTEP
21. Louisville
22. Auburn
23. Baylor
24. Miami (Fla.)
25. Kentucky
January 28, 2009 - 3:43 p.m. - We've just gotten the new USTFCCCA rankings by e-mail. The Gator men have moved up one spot to No. 3 in the nation, while Florida's women check in at No. 15.
January 28, 2009 - 10:54 a.m. - We've gotten word from Texas A&M's sports information department that they plan to do live video streaming of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge this weekend. We will have link available for you both on the blog and hopefully on our front page as well, so that you can access those on Friday and Saturday.
January 28, 2009 - 10:02 a.m. - Good morning! Here's a preview of some of the things we will have for you on Finish Line today. The new USTFCCCA team rankings come out sometime today, so it will be interesting to see where the Gators rank nationally after their first two weeks of competition. Also, we hope to have some comments from SEC Freshman of the Week Genevieve LaCaze, who will be meeting with some members of the media this afternoon.
January 27, 2009 - 8:47 p.m. - Here is the link to the full video archive of Mike Holloway's participating in the all-sports press conference.
January 27, 2009 - 7:35 p.m. - Here are some of head coach Mike Holloway's comments from today's All-Sports Press Conference.
On the team's showing at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational this past weekend …
“My goal is for us always to get a little bit better each week as we climb towards what we call the championship season – the SECs and the NCAAs – and I thought we took great strides towards that this weekend. We are by no means satisfied at what went on this weekend, but we are very pleased with the progress that a lot of our athletes showed. For us, being home is a very good thing. I thought, as a whole, the group did a very good job of coming out, staying focused, putting our best foot forward and getting better. I shared that with them after the meet. We had a lot of PRs, had a lot of seasonal bests and more NCAA qualifiers, so I was very pleased with the way the weekend went.”
On his thoughts on the upcoming SEC/Big 12 Showdown …
“The SEC/Big 12 Showdown is something that's very new. Coach [Pat] Henry at Texas A&M called me last summer and we talked about it. I think it's a great idea. We're talking about two conferences with a lot of pride and a lot of tradition. On the SEC side, you have us, LSU and Ole Miss – three very storied programs – and on the Big 12 side, you have Texas, host Texas A&M and Missouri. I think across the board it is going to be a great competition. I think it's going to be a situation where you see some great marks come out and it's a chance for us to see the venue where the NCAA Championships are going to be held this year. It's a new facility, it's supposed to be state-of-the art and our goal is going to be to go in there, get focused and take care of the Gators – not worry about how nice the building is or what the other schools in the Big 12 and the SEC do. We're going to go in this weekend and take care of the Gators like we always do.”
On the team's distance runners …
“Coach [Todd] Morgan continues to do a great job with all of our distance runners. Gen[evieve LaCaze] had a big PR, right in front of her was Kaitlin Shiver who had a big PR and Justin Taylor in the men's mile had like a five-second PR. I think as a group on the whole, they're doing a great job, but like we tell each of our runners everyday, just come to practice, work hard, listen to your coaches, execute the race plan that we put forth for you and you're going to be fine. One of our big things is that we feel like practice makes permanent. We don't talk about perfect because that doesn't exist in my mind, so what you see on the weekends is a result of what they do everyday in practice.”
On who he is expecting to step up for the team this weekend …
“Anybody who puts a Gator uniform on. We don't target one or two people who have to get better; we all have to get better. That means the athletes, the coaches, the trainers, anybody who steps on that plane this weekend is expected to step up their game and get better, me included.”
On how the young women's sprint corps is doing …
“We're doing well. It's a process and a problem that you have with young sprinters is that when they're in high school, they go to the meet and they win just because they're better than everybody else. But, when you walk into a building and see 10 to 12 people with the same ability level that you have, it tends to be a little bit intimidating. That's what the SEC is all about. They're starting to realize that if they go out there and do their best, they'll be fine. That's all we expect them to do is just to keep putting their best foot forward and, by the end of the season, we're going to be fine as far as everyone is concerned.”
On how much it helps to compete at the site of the both the SEC and NCAA Championships during the regular season …
“It helps a lot. I think when you go in and can familiarize yourself with a facility and run the facility, it helps. They're both very different because Kentucky is an oversized track and Texas A&M is a 200-meter banked track. Running on the banked track is like nothing you've ever done, so going in there and being able to run on those exact banks is going to help us a lot down the road. It's very important for us that we get on that and get a good feel for it. It will be very important for us to go out during our pre-meet on Friday and really walk the facility and run certain angles to see what we are going to experience Saturday during the competition itself.”
January 27, 2009 - 6:33 p.m. - The full release about the SEC weekly honors earned by Mariam Kevkhishvili and Genevieve LaCaze is now available on the site.
January 27, 2009 - 2:01 p.m. - We've just gotten word that the Gators have received two weekly awards from the Southeastern Conference. Mariam Kevkhishvili was named the SEC Female Field Athlete of the Week, while Genevieve LaCaze was named the SEC Female Freshman of the Week. We will have a complete release available on GatorZone.com later today.
January 27, 2009 - 12:05 p.m. - Just returned from Coach Holloway's press conference this morning. A reminder that we'll have video and quotes up here later, but just a few points that he touched on from this morning to share with you now.
Those are the highlights ... we'll have more later.
January 27, 2009 - 10:01 a.m. - Here's a little about the city we're traveling to this weekend: College Station, located in central Texas, is within 200 miles of three major metropolitan areas - Houston (95.1 miles), San Antonio (169 miles) and Dallas (197 miles). Two other cities - Austin (107.7 miles) and Fort Worth (173 miles) also are within that range. College Station itself did not incorporate as a city until the 1930s, but rather was a part of the Bryan, Texas, area. The Houston and Texas Central Railway built in the 1800s stopped just short of Bryan, thus letting students traveling to the school off at the “college station.” When a post office for the university was opened in 1877 near the tracks it took the name of College Station. It is also currently the home of the George Bush, Sr., Presidential Library.
January 27, 2009 - 9:22 a.m. - Good morning! There should be some exciting things for you guys on here today. We will have full coverage of the Mike Holloway appearance at the All-Sports Press Conference with a full video archive and selected quotes. Also, Tuesday afternoons are when Southeastern Conference Athletes of the Week are announced, so hopefully the Gators will garner at least one of those awards after their strong performances this weekend. Each week, the SEC office announces six weekly awards for track and field with nominations submitted by each team's Sports Information Director. The honors are: Male and Female Runner of the Week, Male and Female Field Athlete of the Week and Male and Female Freshman of the Week. Stay tuned, it should be an exciting day on Finish Line.
January 26, 2009 - 7:23 p.m. - Monday afternoons are when each school is required to submit its top times each week. With that in mind and a fresh performance list in hand, here are some of Florida's athletes among the conference's top performers.
Women
January 26, 2009 - 7:07 p.m. - This weekend's meet will have an interesting twist to it as it will be a rare scored regular-season event. It won't be scored by team, though, like an SEC or NCAA Championship meet. It will instead be scored by conference. Staying true to its name - the SEC/Big 12 Showdown - points will be awarded on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis (similar to championshp scoring) - and the winning conference will be declared at the end.
January 26, 2009 - 5:42 p.m. - A reminder that head coach Mike Holloway will be speaking at the All-Sports Media Day tomorrow morning. We will have complete video coverage and a transcript of select quotes available on here tomorrow afternoon.
January 26, 2009 - 5:32 p.m. - An e-mail just came through from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association with a reminder that the first weekly team rankings will come out on Wednesday afternoon. We will, of course, update you here the minute we hear something. Wednesday's rankings will mark the first update to the national team rankings since the 2009 preseason indoor rankings, which rated the Florida men No. 4 and the women No. 13.
January 26, 2009 - 2:04 p.m. - The teams participating in this weekend's SEC/Big 12 Showdown in College Station, Texas, are Texas A&M, Texas and Missouri from the Big 12 Conference, and LSU, Ole Miss and the Gators from the Southeastern Conference. Texas A&M has posted a document on its Web site with meet information and a tentative schedule. Click here to access meet information (PDF Format).
January 26, 2009 - 1:44 p.m. - Thanks to freshman Genevieve LaCaze and sophomore Kaitlin Shiver, there was some movement on Florida's all-time top-10 list in the indoor women's mile. Shiver moved into eighth-place all-time with a time of 4:45.79 (converted), while LaCaze is 10th all-time in 4:46.60 (converted).
Here is the new Florida indoor top-10 in the women's mile:
1. Becki Wells - 4:33.04 (3-8-97)
2. Kim Fisher - 4:41.99 (1-21-99)
3. Manny Westphal - 4:42.03 (3-13-93)
4. Erin Merten - 4:44.30 (1-26-02)
5. Shelly Steely - 4:44.57 (2-23-85)
T6. Joan Hammeren - 4:45.45 (3-13-87)
T6. Laura Matson - 4:45.45 (2-28-88)
8. Kaitlin Shiver - 4:45.79 (1-24-09)
9. Norma Vega - 4:46.16 (2-28-02)
10. Genevieve LaCaze - 4:46.60 (1-24-09)
January 26, 2009 - 1:32 p.m. - Senior Carlos Phillips had an outstanding weekend, picking up two victories for the Gators. He won the men's mile in a time of 1:49.26 (converted) and also ran the second leg of Florida's winning 4x400-meter relay.
Here's what Phillips had to say to GatorZone.com following Saturday's meet: "It was exciting. I was just trying to come out and open up with a great time in the 800 and I was able to do that today."
Beyond what he brings to the team as far as his times and results, head coach Mike Holloway says there is one main reason why he puts Phillips on the squad's relay team. "I love to have Carlos in a relay because he will never do anything to let his team down. He puts his heart and soul into everything that he does."
January 26, 2009 - 1:09 p.m. - Junior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili had another stellar performance this past weekend, notching her second consecutive NCAA automatic-qualifying mark in the women's shot put. She increased her Southeastern Conference-leading and NCAA Division I-leading mark in the event to 56-0/17.07m. She remains the only female shot putter in the nation to have automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Winning the women's shot put at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, made Kevkhishvili 2-for-2 at winning events so far this season. For her career, she has picked up 12 event victories. She is the only athlete in the country so far this season to have thrown better than 17 meters in the women's shot put.
