MORE FROM MARK MALONEY: FLORIDA'S SEC DAY TWO NOTEBOOK
Four Southeastern Conference individual championships, four NCAA automatic-qualifying marks/times and two school records Saturday highlighted Florida's performance on the second day of the 2011 SEC Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Arkansas at its Randal Tyson Track Center.
The No. 1 Gator men lead the overall competition headed into the final day with 41 total team points, while No. 5 Arkansas is second with 39 points and No. 2 LSU is third with 30 points. The No. 21 Florida women currently are in seventh place in the team race with 16 points. No. 6 Tennessee leads the women's side with 36 points, while No. 2 LSU is second with 29 points and No. 4 Arkansas is third with 25 points.
Florida athletes claimed four SEC individual titles on Saturday as junior Dumisani Hlaselo (South Africa) won the men's 3,000m run, junior Gray Horn (Waynesfield, Ohio) captured the first men's heptathlon title in school history, junior Fidela James (Jacksonville, Fla.) won the women's weight throw and senior Kemal Mesic (Sarajevo, Bosnia) claimed the men's shot put title for the second consecutive year.
“I'm very excited about today,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “We talked a lot about matching the passion and intensity of this competition and I thought we did that. I am very, very proud of everybody across the board and I'm really, really excited about tomorrow.”
Florida qualified a total of 13 athletes (9 men, 4 women) for the finals in their respective events. The final day of the SEC Indoor Championships begins Sunday at 11 a.m. ET. Live results will be available at www.flashresults.com.
“It's going to be a great competition – it always is,” Holloway said. “Arkansas had a great competition today. Tomorrow we're going to see who's fit and who wants it the most.”
Mesic captured the SEC men's indoor shot put title for the second consecutive season, becoming the first person to claim consecutive titles in that event since Jeff Chakouian of Kentucky won four in a row from 2001-04. Mesic accomplished the feat with a school-record and NCAA automatic-qualifying throw of 19.53m/64-1. He bested the previous UF school record of 19.44m/63-9.50, set by Wes Stockbarger in 2007. Mesic was in third place the competition heading into his fifth throw, before he came up with the winning toss on his fifth attempt.
“It was really interesting right up through the last throw,” Mesic said. “I was third up until the fifth throw. It was a battle out there. The Auburn guys threw great and I had a great fifth throw. It was a University record and my PR – it was a great day for me.”
Horn claimed the first SEC heptathlon title in UF history on Saturday with a school-record total of 5,816. It was a personal-best score for Horn, who broke Mike Morrison's school record of 5,792, set in 2008. Horn broke his previous personal-best tally of 5,747, set at the Texas A&M Challenge earlier this season.
Horn opened the second day of the heptathlon competition with a personal-best time of 8.00 in the 60-meter hurdles, besting his previous PR of 8.04 in that event. He followed that up with a phenomenal pole vault competition, placing fourth overall with a personal-best mark of 4.80m/15-9. That shattered his previous personal-best pole vault mark of 4.60m/15-1. Horn then capped the day by running a time of 2:49.28 in the men's 1,000-meter run.
Horn will compete in the men's 60-meter hurdles final on Sunday, after placing sixth overall in the prelims in 8.05 Saturday.
“It was good to come out here and support the Gators as best I could,” Horn said. “I wanted to give us a good kick-start because that really means a lot to me to help get our team going in the right direction, and do what we do best. I really want to get top-five in the hurdles tomorrow because if I run what I did today, I can be up there and get some real points for us.”
Hlaselo claimed Florida's first SEC indoor men's 3,000-meter title since Dan Middleman accomplished the feat in 1993. Hlaselo ran the third-fastest time in school history at 8:00.43 to capture the event, after qualifying for the finals in the men's mile earlier in the day.
James captured the SEC Championship in the women's weight throw with a personal-best toss of 19.83m/65-0.75. She became Florida's first SEC women's weight throw champion since Shawniese Williams claimed the event in 2008.
Florida garnered seven total team points in the men's long jump. Junior jumper Will Claye (Phoenix, Ariz.) placed third in the men's long jump with an NCAA automatic-qualifying leap of 7.94m/26-0.75, which was just shy of his personal best. Junior Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) was eighth overall in the long jump with a season-best mark of 7.62m/25-0.
Sophomore sprinter Tony McQuay (Riviera Beach, Fla.) ran the top time in the preliminaries of the men's 200-meter dash with a personal-best and NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 20.65 to advance to Sunday's 3:35 p.m. ET final. That time goes down as the fifth-fastest in UF school history and automatically qualifies McQuay for the NCAA Indoor Championships in his second event this season.
McQuay also qualified for the finals of the men's 400-meter dash, placing fourth overall in the preliminaries in a time of 46.17. The men's 400m finals take place at 2:35 p.m. ET Sunday.
Hurdlers Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Jarius Cooper (Palm Coast, Fla.) and Horn all advanced to the finals of the event to be contested at 1:35 p.m. ET Sunday. Lovett had the top time in the prelims at 7.79, while Cooper was fourth in a personal-best time of 7.93 and Horn was sixth in 8.05.
Sprinters Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.) and Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.) each advanced to the finals of the men's 60-meter dash. Demps won his heat in a time of 6.64, while Wilks qualified on time, finishing eighth in the prelims in 6.76.
Sophomore middle distance runner John Mitchell (Plant City, Fla.) placed second overall in the preliminaries of the men's 800-meter run in a time of 1:50.88. That was just shy of his personal-best time of 1:50.03, charted two weeks ago at the FloTrack Husky Classic.
Florida qualified three runners to the finals of the women's mile. Freshman distance runner Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.), the SEC's top female miler, had the top time in the preliminaries at 4:52.69. Sophomore Mandy Perkins (Ormond Beach, Fla.) was fourth in a personal-best time of 4:55.33, while freshman Stephanie Strasser (Fernandina Beach, Fla.) was 10th in 4:59.20. The finals of that event will be contested Sunday at 2:25 p.m. ET.
Sophomore jumper Alexis Muniz (Coconut Creek, Fla.) scored two team points for the Gators in the women's high jump, placing sixth with a leap of 1.68m/5-6, which was just shy of her personal-best mark.
Freshman sprinter Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.) advanced to the finals of the women's 400-meter run, placing seventh in 53.66. The finals of that event take place at 2:45 p.m. ET Sunday.
The final day of the SEC Indoor Championships begins at 11 a.m. ET Sunday from the Randal Tyson Track Center. Live results will be available through www.flashresults.com.
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.
SEC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (FEB. 25-27, 2011 :: FAYETTEVILLE, ARK.)
Women's Weight Throw – 11 a.m. ET (AUTO: 21.00m/68-10)
1. Fidela James – 19.83m/65-0.75 (10 points)
17. Ashley Miller – 14.97m/49-1.50
Men's Pole Vault – 1 p.m. ET (AUTO: 5.50m/18-0.50)
12. Eric Foran – 4.87m/15-11.75
13. Max Lang – 4.87m/15-11.75
Men's Long Jump – 2 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7.90m/25-11)
3. Will Claye – 7.94m/26-0.75 (A) (6 points)
8. Christian Taylor – 7.62m/25-0 (1 point)
Women's Long Jump – 2 p.m. ET (AUTO: 6.38m/20-11.25)
10. Daniela Griffin – 5.69m/18-8
13. Lorraine Graham – 5.61m/18-5
Men's 60m Hurdles (prelim) – 2:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7.70)
1. Eddie Lovett – 7.79 Q
4. Jarius Cooper – 7.93 Q
6. Gray Horn – 8.05 q
10. William Wynne – 8.20
Women's 60m Hurdles (prelim) – 2:50 p.m. ET (AUTO: 8.14)
11. Ugonna Ndu – 8.57
16. Lorraine Graham – 8.77
Men's Heptathlon – 3:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 5,675)
1. Gray Horn – 5,816 (A) (SR) (10 points)
Men's Heptathlon 60m Hurdles (AUTO: 7.70)
1. Gray Horn – 8.00 (982 points)
Men's Heptathlon Pole Vault (AUTO: 5.50m/18-0.50)
4. Gray Horn – 4.80m/15-9 (849 points)
Men's Heptathlon 1,000m (Not an NCAA Championship Event)
7. Gray Horn – 2:49.28 (773 points)
Men's 60m (prelim) – 3:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 6.60)
2. Jeff Demps – 6.64 Q
8. Terrell Wilks – 6.76 q
Women's 60m (prelim) – 3:50 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7.26)
13. Darshay Davis – 7.59
22. Lauren Smith – 7.79
Men's Mile (prelim) – 4:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 3:59.00)
5. Dumisani Hlaselo – 4:09.21 Q
11. Derek Wehunt – 4:11.26
15. Michael Anderson – 4:16.47
Women's Mile (prelim) – 4:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 4:37.00)
1. Cory McGee – 4:52.69 Q
4. Mandy Perkins – 4:55.33 q
10. Stephanie Strasser – 4:59.20 q
11. Shelby Hayes – 5:00.34
Men's 400m (prelim) – 4:50 p.m. ET (AUTO: 46.15)
4. Tony McQuay – 46.17 q
T13. Jovon Toppin – 47.82
Women's 400m (prelim) – 5:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 52.60)
7. Ebony Eutsey – 53.66 q
10. Lanie Whittaker – 54.50
Men's Shot Put – 5:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 19.30m/63-4)
1. Kemal Mesic – 19.53m/64-1 (A) (SR) (10 points)
5. Stipe Zunic – 17.39m/ 57-0.75 (4 points)
Women's High Jump – 5:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 1.85m/6-0.75)
T6. Alexis Muniz – 1.68m/5-6 (2 points)
--. Brittany Harrell – NH
Men's 800m (prelim) – 5:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 1:48.00)
2. John Mitchell – 1:50.88 Q
10. Sean Obinwa – 1:52.77
11. Daniel Wehunt – 1:53.07
Women's 800m (prelim) – 5:50 p.m. ET (AUTO: 2:05.00)
17. Ashley Usery – 2:15.57
Men's 200m (prelim) – 6:20 p.m. ET (AUTO: 20.83)
1. Tony McQuay – 20.65 (A) Q
13. Leonardo Seymore – 21.30
Women's 200m (prelim) – 6:45 p.m. ET (AUTO: 23.20)
13. Darshay Davis – 24.21
16. Danielle Williams – 24.32
24. Ugonna Ndu – 24.70
27. Michelle Stegall – 25.26
Men's 3,000m – 7:15 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7:54.50)
1. Dumisani Hlaselo – 8:00.43 (10 points)
Women's 3,000m – 7:35 p.m. ET (AUTO: 9:13.00)
7. Cory McGee – 9:36.25 (2 points)
11. Callie Cooper – 9:41.91
12. Genevieve LaCaze – 9:52.87
Florida NCAA Automatic-Qualifiers on Saturday (4)
· Will Claye – Men's Long Jump – 7.94m/26-0.75 (A)
· Gray Horn – Men's Heptathlon – 5,816 (A) (SR)
· Tony McQuay – Men's 200m – 20.65 (A)
· Kemal Mesic – Men's Shot Put – 19.53m/64-1 (A) (SR)
Florida SEC Champions on Saturday (4)
· Dumisani Hlaselo – Men's 3,000m (8:00.34)
· Gray Horn – Men's Heptathlon (5,816) (A) (SR)
· Fidela James – Women's Weight Throw (19.83m/65-0.75)
· Kemal Mesic – Men's Shot Put (19.53m/64-1) (A) (SR)
Florida School Records on Saturday (2)
· Gray Horn – Men's Heptathlon (5,816) (A) (SR)
· Kemal Mesic – Men's Shot Put (19.53m/64-1) (A) (SR)
Florida Qualifiers for Finals on Sunday (13 – 9/4)
· Jarius Cooper – Men's 60m Hurdles (7.93)
· Jeff Demps – Men's 60m (6.64)
· Ebony Eutsey – Women's 400m (53.66)
· Dumisani Hlaselo – Men's Mile (4:09.21)
· Gray Horn – Men's 60m Hurdles (8.05)
· Eddie Lovett – Men's 60m Hurdles (7.79)
· Cory McGee – Women's Mile (4:52.69)
· Tony McQuay – Men's 400m (46.17)
· Tony McQuay – Men's 200m (20.65) (A)
· John Mitchell – Men's 800m (1:50.88)
· Mandy Perkins – Women's Mile (4:55.33)
· Stephanie Strasser – Women's Mile (4:59.20)
· Terrell Wilks – Men's 60m (6.76)
MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS (THROUGH DAY 2)
1. Florida – 41
2. Arkansas – 39
3. LSU – 30
T4. Auburn – 22.33
T4. Georgia – 22.33
6. Tennessee – 16.33
7. Alabama – 12
8. South Carolina – 7
9. Ole Miss – 3
10. Kentucky – 2
WOMEN'S TEAM STANDINGS (THROUGH DAY 2)
1. Tennessee – 36
2. LSU – 29
3. Arkansas – 25
4. Kentucky – 24
5. Georgia – 21
6. Alabama – 17
7. Florida – 16
8. Auburn – 13
9. Ole Miss – 10
10. Mississippi State – 4
