Gators Head to Lexington Looking For SEC Title
Thursday, February 26, 2009 | Track and Field
The University of Florida track and field team begins its 2009 indoor championship season this weekend when it travels to Lexington, Ky., to participate in the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships hosted by the University of Kentucky at its E.J. Nutter Fieldhouse.
Activities begin at 4:30 p.m. on Friday with the multi-events starting first and then continue at both 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Live statistics for the event will be available through UKAthletics.com with complete coverage on www.GatorZone.com.
Florida is looking to claim its first SEC indoor title since 2004, when both the Gator men and women captured the league crown, in a meet also contested at Nutter Fieldhouse. Last season, both the men's and women's squads finished fourth at the league indoor championships, held in Fayetteville, Ark. Both Florida teams have each won five SEC titles in program history.
“This is an exciting time,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “This is what we've worked to get to all season long – the SECs this weekend and then NCAAs in two weeks. Now we just have to go out there and perform.”
The Gators have familiarity with the Nutter Fieldhouse, having already competed on the school's 290-meter track at the Kentucky Invitational Jan. 16-17.
“I think it helps a little bit in terms of the familiarity, as far as we know where the warm-up facilities are, we've run on the track, we know how where things are in the facility,” Holloway said. “But, more importantly, it's a track meet and we need to go out there and put our best foot forward.”
Junior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia), the nation's second-leading female shot putter with a mark of 56-10.75/17.34m, enters the meet looking to secure the league's indoor shot put crown. Kevkhishvili has won each of the four shot put competitions in which she has participated this season. She also has recorded an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark in each of those four meets. She is one of only two women in the nation to have recorded a throw of better than 17 meters.
Freshman jumper Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) is the nation's top-ranked male in the long jump. The reigning SEC Male Field Athlete of the Week, Taylor won the event at the Tyson Invitational with an NCAA automatic-qualifying jump of 26-3.75/8.02m. Taylor's jump was the second-best in the long jump in school history, checking in just shy of the Florida school record of 26-8.25/8.13m. He is the only man in the league to have eclipsed the eight-meter mark with his leap in that event.
Freshman heptathlete Gray Horn (Wapakoneta, Ohio) begins his quest for the SEC heptathlon title on Friday. He recorded the third-best heptathlon score in school history at the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 30-31 with a final tally of 5,384. He currently ranks second in the SEC and 19th in the nation in the men's heptathlon.
Junior jumper Shara Proctor (The Valley, Anguilla) leads the SEC in both the long jump and triple jump and will compete in both events at this weekend's league championships.
E.J. Nutter Fieldhouse is an $8.5 million climate-controlled structure on the UK campus that is used for winter conditioning and indoor track and field meets. The facility features an artificial turf football playing field of 108,000 square feet, surrounded by a six-lane 290-meter track. The facility also has played host to the SEC Indoor Championships in 1996, 2001, 2004 and 2007.
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.
2009 SEC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Lexington, Ky.)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27
Men's Heptathlon - 5:15 p.m. EST (AUTO: 5,650; PROV: 5,300)
- Gray Horn
- Ryan Troy
Men's Heptathlon 60m Dash – 5:15 p.m. EST (AUTO: 6.63; PROV: 6.74)
- Gray Horn
- Ryan Troy
Men's Heptathlon Long Jump – 5:55 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.85; PROV: 7.50)
- Gray Horn
- Ryan Troy
Men's Heptathlon Shot Put – 7 p.m. EST (AUTO: 19.30; PROV: 17.75)
- Gray Horn
- Ryan Troy
Men's Heptathlon High Jump – 8:05 p.m. EST (AUTO: 2.24; PROV: 2.14)
- Gray Horn
- Ryan Troy
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28
Women's Weight Throw – 10 a.m. EST (AUTO: 21.00; PROV: 18.75)
- Fidela James
Men's High Jump – 11 a.m. EST (AUTO: 2.24; PROV: 2.14)
- Frankie Hammond
Men's Long Jump – 11 a.m. EST (AUTO: 7.85; PROV: 7.50)
- Christian Taylor
Women's Pole Vault – 12 p.m. EST (AUTO: 4.20; PROV: 3.95)
- Alex Black
- Daisy Glasser
- Lauren Menke
- Natalie Moser
Men's Shot Put – 2 p.m. EST (AUTO: 19.30; PROV: 17.75)
- Beau Burroughs
- Kemal Mesic
Men's 60m Hurdles (Prelims) – 2:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.70; PROV: 7.91)
- Jarius Cooper
- Dennis Martin
- Kallinka Pitt
- William Wynne
Men's Heptathlon 60m Hurdles (Prelims) – 2:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.70; PROV: 7.91)
- Gray Horn
- Ryan Troy
Women's 60m Hurdles (Prelims) – 2:50 p.m. EST (AUTO: 8.14; PROV: 8.43)
- Paige Morton
Men's 60m Dash (Prelims) – 3:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 6.63; PROV: 6.74)
- Jeremy Hall
- Terrell Wilks
Women's 60m Dash (Prelims) – 3:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.26; PROV: 7.44)
- Madison McNary
- Alishea Usery
Men's Heptathlon Pole Vault – 3:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 5.50; PROV: 5.20)
· Gray Horn
· Ryan Troy
Women's Long Jump – 3:45 p.m. EST (AUTO: 6.35; PROV: 6.10)
- Shara Proctor
Men's Mile (Prelims) – 3:50 p.m. EST (AUTO: 3:59.50; PROV: 4:04.00)
- Anthony Morales
- Justin Taylor
Women's Mile (Prelims)– 4:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 4:38.00; PROV: 4:48.50)
- Charlotte Browning
- Genevieve LaCaze
- Hailey Neal
- Kaitlin Shiver
Men's 400m Dash (Prelims) – 4:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 46.15; PROV: 47.25)
- R.J. Anderson
- Calvin Smith
- Preston Wilson
- William Wynne
Women's 400m Dash (Prelims) – 4:50 p.m. EST (AUTO: 52.40; PROV: 54.40)
- Ije Iheoma
- Danielle Williams
Men's 800m Run (Prelims) – 5:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 1:48.00; PROV: 1:50.50)
- Lamarr Davis
- Carlos Phillips
- Ethan Philpot
Men's 200m Dash (Prelims) – 6 p.m. EST (AUTO: 20.83; PROV: 21.23)
- Jeremy Hall
- Calvin Smith
- Christian Taylor
- Deonte Thompson
- Terrell Wilks
Women's 200m Dash (Prelims) – 6:25 p.m. EST (AUTO: 23.20; PROV: 23.90)
- Madison McNary
- Alishea Usery
Women's 3,000m Run – 7:15 p.m. EST (AUTO: 9:15.00; PROV: 9:34.00)
- Genevieve LaCaze
Men's Heptathlon 1,000m Run – TBD (Not an NCAA Event)
- Gray Horn
- Ryan Troy
SUNDAY, MARCH 1
Men's Triple Jump – 11 a.m. EST (AUTO: 16.10; PROV: 15.40)
- Joshua Postell
- Christian Taylor
Men's Pole Vault – 11 a.m. EST (AUTO: 5.50; PROV: 5.20)
- Eric Foran
- Gray Horn
- Justin Semeyn
Men's 60m Hurdles (Finals) – 1:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.70; PROV: 7.91)
- Jarius Cooper
- Dennis Martin
- Kallinka Pitt
- William Wynne
Women's 60m Hurdles (Finals) – 1:40 p.m. EST (AUTO: 8.14; PROV: 8.43)
- Paige Morton
Men's 60m Dash (Finals) – 1:50 p.m. EST (AUTO: 6.63; PROV: 6.74)
- Jeremy Hall
- Terrell Wilks
Women's 60m Dash (Finals) – 1:55 p.m. EST (AUTO: 7.26; PROV: 7.44)
- Madison McNary
- Alishea Usery
Women's Shot Put – 2 p.m. EST (AUTO: 16.90; PROV: 15.20)
- Fidela James
- Mariam Kevkhishvili
- Keely Medeiros
Men's Mile (Finals) – 2:05 p.m. EST (AUTO: 3:59.50; PROV: 4:04.00)
- Anthony Morales
- Justin Taylor
Women's Mile (Finals)– 2:15 p.m. EST (AUTO: 4:38.00; PROV: 4:48.50)
- Charlotte Browning
- Genevieve LaCaze
- Hailey Neal
- Kaitlin Shiver
Men's 400m Dash (Finals) – 2:25 p.m. EST (AUTO: 46.15; PROV: 47.25)
- R.J. Anderson
- Calvin Smith
- Preston Wilson
- William Wynne
Women's Triple Jump – 2:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 13.30; PROV: 12.65)
- Madara Apine
- Michelle Jenije
- Shara Proctor
Women's 400m Dash (Finals) – 2:35 p.m. EST (AUTO: 52.40; PROV: 54.40)
- Ije Iheoma
- Danielle Williams
Men's 5,000m Run – 2:45 p.m. EST (AUTO: 13:47.00; PROV: 14:10.00)
- Sean Blaney
- Jeremy Criscione
Men's 800m Run (Finals) – 3:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 1:48.00; PROV: 1:50.50)
- Lamarr Davis
- Carlos Phillips
- Ethan Philpot
Men's 200m Dash (Finals) – 3:30 p.m. EST (AUTO: 20.83; PROV: 21.23)
- Jeremy Hall
- Calvin Smith
- Christian Taylor
- Deonte Thompson
- Terrell Wilks
Women's 200m Dash (Finals) – 3:40 p.m. EST (AUTO: 23.20; PROV: 23.90)
- Madison McNary
- Alishea Usery
Women's 5,000m Run – 3:50 p.m. EST (AUTO: 16:08.00; PROV: 16:45.00)
- Laura Garrow
Men's DMR – 4:10 p.m. EST (AUTO: 9:34.00; PROV: 9:45.70)
- Florida
Women's DMR – 4:25 p.m. EST (AUTO: 11:09.00; PROV: 11:30.00)
- Florida
Men's 4x400m Relay – 4:40 p.m. EST (AUTO: 3:33.00; PROV: 3:40.00)
- Florida
Women's 4x400m Relay – 4:55 p.m. EST (AUTO: 3:06.50; PROV: 3:10.40)
- Florida
END OF REPORT
