Track and Field Earns Three Regional Honors from USTFCCCA
Thursday, March 12, 2009 | Track and Field
Florida track and field athletes Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.), along with assistant coach Brian O'Neal each have earned United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association regional indoor honors, the New Orleans-based organization announced Thursday.
Kevkhishvili has been named the South Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year, while Taylor has been named the South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year. O'Neal earned the distinction of South Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with Taylor and the squad's male hurdlers.
Each year, the USTFCCCA selects the top men's and women's track athlete, field athlete, assistant coach and head coach for the nine regions in Division I indoor track and field. A total of 72 athletes and coaches across the country were honored with these awards in 2009.
Kekvhishvili, the Southeastern Conference Female Field Athlete of the Year, is the defending 2008 NCAA Indoor Shot Put Champion and enters this weekend's meet with the top mark in the nation this season, a toss of 58-10.25/17.94m, recorded at the 2009 SEC Indoor Championships. Kevkhishvili won the 2009 SEC Indoor Shot Put Title and is undefeated this season, going a perfect 5-for-5 in the meets in which she has competed.
Kevkhishvili's mark of 58-10.25/17.94m is a new Florida school record and also set the SEC Indoor Meet Record two weeks ago in Lexington, Ky. She has recorded an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark in each of her five competitions so far this season and is one of only three women in the nation to have thrown better than 17 meters in the shot put this year.
Taylor, the Southeastern Conference Male Field Athlete of the Year, won the Cliff Harper Trophy at the SEC Indoor Championships, awarded to the high-points scorer. He finished with 22.5 points and became the first freshman in school history to have won that award.
Taylor was a part of three of Florida's five SEC individual championships at the league meet, winning the men's long jump, the men's triple jump and was a part of the winning 4x400m relay team that set a new E.J. Nutter Fieldhouse record. He became the first SEC athlete since 2004 to win both the men's indoor long jump and the men's indoor triple jump in the same year.
Taylor leads the SEC in the long jump (26-3.75/8.02m) and is second in the triple jump (52-10.25/16.11m), and has notched NCAA automatic-qualifying marks in both events. He also ranks second in the nation in the long jump.
O'Neal is in his first season as an assistant coach for the Gators after nearly 15 seasons working on the staff at Ole Miss. He has been responsible for the development of Taylor during the 2009 campaign and also has mentored hurdlers Dennis Martin and Kallinka Pitt, both of whom notched NCAA provisional-qualifying marks with Martin advancing to the NCAA Indoor Championships in a time of 7.76.
Florida returns to action on Friday when it commences its participation in the two-day NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Texas A&M University at its Gilliam Indoor Stadium. Complete results and a recap will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
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.
USTFCCCA Women's Track Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region – Gwen Jorgensen, Wisconsin
Mid-Atlantic Region – Bridget Franek, Penn State
Midwest Region – Heather Dorniden, Minnesota
Mountain Region – Jenny Barringer, Colorado
Northeast Region – Lucy Van Dalen, Stony Brook
South Region – Murielle Ahoure, Miami
South Central Region – Samantha Henry, LSU
Southeast Region – Francene McCorory, Hampton
West Region – Lauren Centrowitz, Stanford
USTFCCCA Men's Track Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region – Shane Knoll, Michigan State
Mid-Atlantic Region – Ryan Foster, Penn State
Midwest Region – German Fernandez, Oklahoma State
Mountain Region – Gil Roberts, Texas Tech
Northeast Region – David McCarthy, Providence
South Region – Torrin Lawrence, Georgia
South Central Region – Dorien Ulrey, Arkansas
Southeast Region – Jacoby Ford, Clemson
West Region – Galen Rupp, Oregon
USTFCCCA Women's Field Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region – Bettie Wade, Michigan
Mid-Atlantic Region – Gayle Hunter, Penn State
Midwest Region – Alicia Rue, Minnesota
Mountain Region – Amy Menlove, BYU
Northeast Region – Jeomi Maduka, Cornell
South Region – Mariam Kevkhishvili, Florida
South Central Region – Destinee Hooker, Texas
Southeast Region – Liane Weber, Clemson
West Region – Sarah Stevens, Arizona State
USTFCCCA Men's Field Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region – Jeff Coover, Indiana
Mid-Atlantic Region – Adam Bergo, Rutgers
Midwest Region – Chris Rohr, Missouri
Mountain Region – Nick Frawley, Air Force
Northeast Region – Nasim Siddeq, Albany
South Region – Christian Taylor, Florida
South Central Region – Walter Henning, LSU
Southeast Region – Yavgeniy Olhovsky, Virginia Tech
West Region – Ashton Eaton, Oregon
USTFCCCA Women's Assistant Coaches of the Year
Great Lakes Region – Jeff Martin, Indiana State
Mid-Atlantic Region – Chris Johnson, Penn State
Midwest Region – Kris Grimes, Nebraska
Mountain Region – Cliff Felkins, Texas Tech
Northeast Region – Clive Terrelonge, Connecticut
South Region – Pauline Davis-Thompson, Tennessee
South Central Region – Vince Anderson, Texas A&M
Southeast Region – Timothy Vaught, UNC-Charlotte
West Region – Jason Dunn, Stanford
USTFCCCA Men's Assistant Coaches of the Year
Great Lakes Region – Mark Croghan, Kent State
Mid-Atlantic Region – John Gondak, Penn State
Midwest Region – Jeremy Fischer, Oklahoma
Mountain Region – Dion Miller, Texas Tech
Northeast Region – Robert Johnson, Cornell
South Region – Brian O'Neal, Florida
South Central Region – Michael Ford, Baylor
Southeast Region – Jake Jacoby, Louisville
West Region – Jason Dunn, Stanford
USTFCCCA Women's Head Coaches of the Year
Great Lakes Region – James Henry, Michigan
Mid-Atlantic Region – Joe Compagni – Monmouth
Midwest Region – Matt Bingle, Minnesota
Mountain Region – Craig Poole, BYU
Northeast Region – Bill Morgan, Connecticut
South Region – J.J. Clark, Tennessee
South Central Region – Pat Henry, LSU
Southeast Region – Maurice Pierce, Hampton
West Region – Edrick Floreal, Stanford
USTFCCCA Men's Head Coaches of the Year
Great Lakes Region – Bill Lawson, Kent State
Mid-Atlantic Region – Beth Alford-Sullivan, Penn State
Midwest Region – Steve Plasencia, Minnesota
Mountain Region – Mark Robison, BYU
Northeast Region – Greg Roy, Connecticut
South Region – Bob Braman, Florida State
South Central Region – Chris Bucknam, Arkansas
Southeast Region – Bob Olesen, UNC-Charlotte
West Region – Dan Steele, Oregon
END OF REPORT
