Reviewing the Indoor Championships
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 | Track and Field
GENERAL TEAM NOTES
- The Florida men's track and field team finished second at the NCAA Indoor Championships, marking the team's highest NCAA Indoor finish since the 2005 campaign. It ties for the best NCAA Indoor finish in head coach Mike Holloway's tenure.
- The Gator women tied for 12th place overall at the meet.
- Both Florida programs finished in the top 12 nationally for the second consecutive year.
- In addition to the success of both the men's and women's teams, the Gators captured two NCAA individual indoor titles in the same year for the first time since the 2005 campaign.
- In total, Florida athletes collected 14-All America honors on the weekend, marking the second consecutive year in which the Gators have collected 14 Indoor All-America honors in the same season.
FLORIDA'S NCAA INDOOR ALL-AMERICA HONORS
1. Mariam Kevkhishvili – Women's Shot Put – 58-6.50/17.84m
1. Christian Taylor – Men's Triple Jump - 55-8.50/16.98m
3. Men's 4x400m Relay (C. Taylor, Wynne, R. Anderson, Smith) – 3:07.51
3. Terrell Wilks – Men's 60m – 6.61
5. Kemal Mesic – Men's Shot Put - 62-8/19.10m
6. Shara Proctor – Women's Long Jump – 20-11.25/6.38m
6. Christian Taylor – Men's Long Jump – 25-5.50/7.76m
6. Calvin Smith – Men's 400m – 46.59
7. Dennis Martin – Men's 60m Hurdles Finals – 7.88
7. Carlos Phillips – Men's 800m – 1:50.34
8. Charlotte Browning – Women's Mile – 4:40.25
FLORIDA INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Junior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili became just the fourth woman in NCAA history to win back-to-back indoor shot put titles and the first since Laura Gerraughty of North Carolina did so in 2003 and 2004.
- Set a new Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium facility record en route to winning the women's shot put with a winning throw of 58-6.50/17.84m.
- Finished the 2009 indoor track and field season undefeated. Was a perfect 6-for-6 in the women's shot put in the meets in which she competed, including the SEC and NCAA Indoor Championships.
- Last season, became the first person in school history – men or women – to win a national shot put title. Has now won two consecutive championships in that event.
- Freshman jumper Christian Taylor became the first person in school history to claim a men's triple jump NCAA Indoor Championship, winning the event with a school-record leap of 55-8.50/16.98m.
- Became the first Florida male freshman to win an NCAA Indoor Championship since Rickey Harris captured the 400-meter title in 2001.
- Shattered his previous personal best of 52-10.25/16.11m achieved at the SEC Indoor Championships on March 1. He broke a more than 22-year-old school record in the event, besting Shawn Akridge's record of 53-4/16.26m, set during the 1987 season.
- Set a new Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium facility record in the men's triple jump.
- Sophomore sprinter Terrell Wilks broke Florida's indoor 60-meter dash record in the preliminaries of the event last Friday night. He finished in a time of 6.59, which broke his own school record of 6.60, achieved at the Virginia Tech Qualifier. Finished in the finals with a time of 6.61, giving him three consecutive races with times under 6.62, which was the previous school record heading into this season.
- Sophomore Kemal Mesic, competing in the first NCAA Championships of his career, finished fifth in the men's shot put with a collegiate-best toss of 62-8/19.10m.
- Was the top-finishing underclassman in that event.
- Moved into sole possession of fourth place on the school's all-time top-10 indoor shot put list.
MEN'S FINAL TEAM SCORES
1. Oregon – 54
2. Florida – 36
3. Florida State – 32
4. LSU – 29
T5. Baylor – 25
T5. Nebraska – 25
T5. Arizona State – 35
8. Arkansas – 24
9. Texas A&M – 23
10. Texas – 22.50
WOMEN'S FINAL TEAM SCORES
1. Tennessee – 42
2. Texas A&M – 37
3. BYU – 33
4. Texas – 31
5. Arizona State – 30
6. LSU – 28
7. Penn State – 24
8. Florida State – 23
T9. Texas Tech – 21
T9. Oregon – 21
T12. Florida - 14
END OF REPORT
