Track and Field Earns Six Regional Honors
Friday, June 4, 2010 | Track and Field
The University of Florida track and field team and coaching staff have earned six regional awards from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for their outstanding efforts during the 2010 outdoor track and field season, as voted on by the nation's coaches, the New Orleans-based organization announced Friday morning.
Seventy-two total awards were announced, comprised of one award per category, per gender for each of the nine regions. The organization recognizes a track athlete of the year, a field athlete of the year, a head coach of the year and an assistant coach of the year on both the men's and women's sides. Each regional winner is then eligible for the national ballot in his/her respective category.
The awards Florida received this season are as follows:
- USTFCCCA South Region Men's Head Coach of the Year (Mike Holloway)
- USTFCCCA South Region Women's Head Coach of the Year (Mike Holloway)
- USTFCCCA South Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year (Dick Booth)
- USTFCCCA South Region Women's Assistant coach of the Year (Steve Lemke)
- USTFCCCA South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year (Christian Taylor)
- USTFCCCA South Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year (Mariam Kevkhishvili)
Head coach Mike Holloway was named both the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Head Coach of the Year and the USTFCCCA South Region Women's Head Coach of the Year, having led the Gators to stellar seasons so far. The men's team, currently ranked No. 2 nationally, has spent six weeks in the No. 1 spot outdoors and captured the school's first Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championship since 1987 on May 16 in Knoxville, Tenn. The women's team ranks No. 7 nationally and placed second at the SEC Outdoor Championships. Individually, the Gators won nine SEC titles (four men, five women) outdoors this year. Holloway has also coached sprinter Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.) to the fastest time in the world this season in the 400m at 44.81 and sprinter Jeff Demps (Lutz, Fla.) to the nation's fastest wind-legal 100m time this season at 10.06, as well as nation-leading 4x100m (38.81) and 4x400m relays (3:00.31)
Senior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) was named the USTFCCCA South Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year after also winning the SEC Women's Field Athlete of the Year honor this season. Kevkhishvili, who is putting the finishing touches on one of the most decorated careers in Florida school history, is a four-time NCAA Champion and a seven-time All-American. She currently leads the nation in the women's shot put with a mark of 18.46m/60-6.75. Kevkhishvili's best mark of the season is nearly a meter-and-a-half better than second-place Faith Sherrill of Indiana (17.03m).
Kevkhishvili is undefeated this season, going a perfect 12-for-12 (6-of-6 indoors and 6-of-6 outdoors) against all competition. She looks to become just the second woman in NCAA history to win five total shot put titles in her career and is defending the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championship in the women's shot put. Kevkhishvili has gone undefeated against all collegiate competition (indoors and outdoors) for the past two seasons.
Sophomore jumper Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year after also winning the SEC Men's Field Athlete of the Year honor this season. Taylor, who has qualified for the upcoming NCAA Championships in both the men's long jump, men's triple jump and as the third leg of the men's 4x400-meter relay team, was the second-highest scorer at the SEC Outdoor Championships with 20.5 points. He won the men's triple jump, placed second in a highly competitive long jump competition and ran the third leg of the winning 4x400-meter relay team.
Taylor leads the nation this season in the men's triple jump with a wind-legal mark of 16.68m/54-8.75. He also would have recorded a new school record (breaking his own school record) in the triple jump at the NCAA Preliminary Rounds with a mark of 16.95m/55-7.50, but the leap was heavily wind-aided (+2.2). He also is second in the NCAA this season in the men's long jump with a leap of 8.19m/26-10.50, as well as the top-seeded long jumper in the NCAA Championship field. Additionally, he ran on Florida's world-leading 4x400m relay team at the Pepsi Florida Relays that ran 3:00.31.
Associate head coach Steve Lemke was named USTFCCCA South Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with an impressive women's throws group. He has been responsible for Kevkhishvili's development and, with her lead, the Gators posted a 1-2-6 finish in the women's shot put at the 2010 SEC Outdoor Championships, as sophomore Keely Medeiros (Luziana, Brazil) placed second and sophomore Fidela James (Jacksonville, Fla.) was sixth. He also directed javelin thrower Evelien Dekkers (Etten-Leur, Netherlands) to her third consecutive SEC Outdoor Championship and first-team Academic All-District honors for the second year in a row. His women's athletes scored 42 points for the Gators at the 2010 SEC Outdoor Championships.
Assistant coach Dick Booth, a veteran coach now in his first year with the Gators, was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the men's jumps group. Booth has been responsible for the development of Taylor, and his impressive 20.5-point performance at the 2010 SEC Outdoor Championships. He also has mentored freshman Omar Craddock (Kileen, Texas), who is the third-seeded triple jumper in the NCAA Championships. Craddock, who won the triple jump at the prestigious Penn Relays, placed second at the SEC Outdoor Championship. Booth's athletes, including high jumpers Frankie Hammond (Hollywood, Fla.) and Bryan Turner (Gainesville, Fla.), scored a combined 33 points in helping the Florida men to their first SEC Outdoor Championship since 1987.
The University of Florida track and field team returns to action June 9-12, when it travels to Eugene, Ore., to participate in the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/trackfield or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField.
2010 USTFCCCA OUTDOOR ATHLETE AND COACH OF YEAR AWARDS
Men's Regional Track Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Thomas Murdaugh, Ohio State
Mid-Atlantic Region: Casimir Loxsom, Penn State
Midwest Region: Ronnie Ash, Oklahoma
Mountain Region: David McNeill, Northern Arizona
Northeast Region: Brian Gagnon, Connecticut
South Region: Ben Cheruiyot, Auburn
South Central Region: Curtis Mitchell, Texas A&M
Southeast Region: Sam Chelanga, Liberty
West Region: Andrew Wheating, Oregon
Men's Field Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Derek Drouin, Indiana
Mid-Atlantic Region: Blake Eaton, Penn State
Midwest Region: Mason Finley, Kansas
Mountain Region: Julian Wruck, Texas Tech
Northeast Region: Craig Kinsley, Brown
South Region: Christian Taylor, Florida
South Central Region: Adonson Shallow, Southeastern Louisiana
Southeast Region: Marcel Lomnicky, Virginia Tech
West Region: Ashton Eaton, Oregon
Men's Head Coach of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Joe Piane, Notre Dame
Mid-Atlantic Region: Mike Mulqueen, Rutgers
Midwest Region: Gary Pepin, Nebraska
Mountain Region: Joe Franklin, New Mexico
Northeast Region: Nathan Taylor, Cornell
South Region: Mike Holloway, Florida
South Central Region: Pat Henry, Texas A&M
Southeast Region: Robert Olesen, Charlotte
West Region: Vin Lananna, Oregon
Men's Assistant Coach of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Adam Beltran, Notre Dame
Mid-Atlantic Region: John Gondak, Penn State
Midwest Region: Matt Kane, Oklahoma
Mountain Region: Dion Miller, Texas Tech
Northeast Region: James Garnham, Buffalo
South Region: Dick Booth, Florida
South Central Region: Jim VanHootegem, Texas A&M
Southeast Region: Greg Jack, Virginia Tech
West Region: David Dumble, Arizona State
Women's Track Athlete of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Molly Beckwith, Indiana
Mid-Atlantic Region: Fawn Dorr, Penn State
Midwest Region: Lisa Koll, Iowa State
Mountain Region: Blessing Okagbare, UTEP
Northeast Region: Trisha-Ann Hawthorne, Connecticut
South Region: Phoebe Wright, Tennessee
South Central Region: Jessica Beard, Texas A&M
Southeast Region: Queen Harrison, Virginia Tech
West Region: Keshia Baker, Oregon
Women's Field Athlete of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Kylie Hutson, Indiana State
Mid-Atlantic Region: Kiani Profit, Maryland
Midwest Region: Karen Shump, Oklahoma
Mountain Region: Sara Neubauer, Air Force
Northeast Region: Danielle Grunloh, Brown
South Region: Mariam Kevkhishvili, Florida
South Central Region: Neidra Covington, TCU
Southeast Region: April Sinkler, Clemson
West Region: Brianne Theisen, Oregon
Women's Head Coach of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Bill Lawson, Kent State
Mid-Atlantic Region: Beth Alford-Sullivan, Penn State
Midwest Region: Corey Ihmels, Iowa State
Mountain Region: Bob Kitchens, UTEP
Northeast Region: Bill Morgan, Connecticut
South Region: Mike Holloway, Florida
South Central Region: Pat Henry, Texas A&M
Southeast Region: Lawrence Johnson, Clemson
West Region: Fred Harvey, Arizona
Women's Assistant Coach of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Nate Davis, Wisconsin
Mid-Atlantic Region: Chris Johnson, Penn State
Midwest Region: Brian Blutreich, Oklahoma
Mountain Region: Scott Irving, Air Force
Northeast Region: Clive Terrelonge, Connecticut
South Region: Steve Lemke, Florida
South Central Region: Vince Anderson, Texas A&M
Southeast Region: Charles Foster, Virginia Tech
West Region: Robert Johnson, Oregon
END OF REPORT
