Christian Taylor Tops 2010 U.S. Lists
Saturday, January 1, 2011 | Track and Field
Florida All-American jumper Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) tops the Track and Field News U.S. Rankings for the 2010 season in the triple jump to highlight a quartet of Gators who hold five spots on the top-10 lists of a variety of events, as announced by the publication.
Taylor ranks first on the triple jump list and sixth on the long jump list. Fellow jumper Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas), who was a freshman in 2010, impressively ranks ninth on the triple jump list. Sprinter Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.), who completed his eligibility in 2010 as Florida's all-time leader in men's career All-America honors with 18, ranks sixth on the 400m list. Sprinter Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.) is seventh on the U.S. 100m list.
Taylor was the NCAA Champion in both the indoor and outdoor triple jump in 2010, winning the indoor event for the second year in a row. Taylor also was an All-American indoors and outdoor in the long jump, finishing as the NCAA runner-up at the indoor meet. He won the SEC Championship both indoors and outdoors in the triple jump and was part of the school's winning 4x400m relays at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets. He turned in triple jump bests of 17.18m/56-4.50 (indoors) and 17.09m/56-1 (w) (outdoors).
Craddock had a strong freshman year, finishing his rookie campaign ninth in the U.S. in the triple jump. He earned All-America honors in the event both indoors and outdoors and recorded bests of 16.19m/53-1.50 (indoors) and 16.52m/54-2.50 (w) (outdoors). Craddock won the triple jump championship at the prestigious Penn Relays Carnival, and was the SEC triple jump runner-up outdoors.
Smith, who finished his career with 18 All-America honors, held bests of 45.61 (indoors) and 44.81 (outdoors) in the 400m. He won the 200m at the SEC Indoor Championships and was part of the winning 4x400m relay team at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets. He earned All-America honors in the 200m (indoors) 400m (indoors and outdoors) and 4x400m (indoors and outdoors).
Demps was a three-time NCAA Champion during the 2010 season, winning the 60m indoors and the 100m and 4x100m outdoors. He recorded a best time of 9.96 (w) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships en route to the 100m win.
Florida opens its 2011 season on Jan. 15, when it travels to State College, Pa., to participate in the Nittany Lion Challenge hosted by Penn State University.
For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, 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 U.S. List – Triple Jump
1. Christian Taylor
2. Lawrence Willis
3. Kenta Bell
4. Brandon Roulhac
5. Nkosinza Balumbu
6. Zuheir Sharif
7. Tyron Stewart
8. Alphonso Jordan
9. Omar Craddock
10. Josh Como
2010 U.S. List – Long Jump
1. Dwight Phillips
2. Travell Quinley
3. Brian Johnson
4. Marquise Goodwin
5. Jeremy Hicks
6. Christian Taylor
7. Chris Phipps
8. Randall Flimmons
9. Jarod Tobler
10. Reindell Cole
2010 U.S. List – 100m
1. Tyson Gay
2. Mike Rodgers
3. Walter Dix
4. Trell Kimmons
5. Ryan Bailey
6. Ivory Williams
7. Jeff Demps
8. J-Mee Samuels
9. Wallace Spearmon
10. Leroy Dixon
2010 U.S. List – 400m
1. Jeremy Wariner
2. Angelo Taylor
3. LaJerald Betters
4. Greg Nixon
5. Tavaris Tate
6. Calvin Smith
7. Tyson Gay
8. David Neville
9. Jamaal Torrance
10. Josh Scott
