Gators Honored at State Capitol
Thursday, April 15, 2010 | Track and Field
The NCAA Champion University of Florida men's track and field team was honored Thursday with resolutions at the State Capitol for their accomplishments this past winter.
Coach Mike Holloway was on hand for the recognition along with student-athletes Calvin Smith and Christian Taylor.
Florida Senator Steve Oelrich, who was elected to the Senate in 2006 and whose legislative delegation includes Gainesville, put up the resolution to honor the Gators in the Senate Chambers, while Florida Representative Seth McKeel, a Florida alum and Lakeland, Fla., native, sponsored the House resolution.
The Florida men's track and field team claimed the first NCAA Indoor Championship in program history this past March, scoring 57 total team points to claim the meet at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Gators, whose team featured individual NCAA Champions Jeff Demps (60m dash) and Taylor (triple jump), defeated Oregon and Texas A&M by 13 points for the national title. Holloway was named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Men's Head Coach of the Year.
Smith, a 16-time All-American, and Taylor, a two-time NCAA Champion in the indoor men's triple jump, who represented the team in Tallahassee, were part of a nation-leading 14 All-America honors at the meet.
“This was a great experience for us today,” Holloway said. “To actually sit down on the floor and watch the debate of different issues was pretty cool. When you talk about Christian and Calvin, they're a great representation of what our track and field and cross country program is about. In a perfect world, we'd get to come to Tallahassee twice a year for a long time, but right now, the biggest thing for me is to go back and share this experience with my family, children and grandchildren about how things operate in Tallahassee.”
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