Gators Set For NCAA Indoor Championships
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 | Track and Field
Heat Sheets (.pdf): Men | Women
Live Results (courtesy of Flash Results)
Track and Field News Formchart: Men | Women
Official NCAA Indoor Championships Web Site
USTFCCCA Top-25 Rankings (.pdf)
Track and Field Twitter Account (@GZTrackField)
Track and Field YouTube Account
(VIDEO): Mike Holloway Press Conference
(VIDEO): Practice Update with Will Claye and Tony McQuay
The University of Florida track and field teams, including the nation's No. 1 men's squad, are in College Station, Texas, this weekend to participate in the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University. The Gator men are the defending NCAA Indoor Champions, while Florida's women placed fourth at last season's event.
The meet begins at 11 a.m. ET Friday and continues at 1 p.m. ET Saturday. Live results for the meet will be available through www.flashresults.com.
The entire NCAA Indoor Championship meet will be streamed live online through a couple of outlets. On Friday, NCAA.com and AggieAthletics.com will air the portion of the meet from 11 a.m. ET-4:55 p.m. ET, while the remainder of the day beginning at 4:55 p.m. ET will air live on ESPN3.com. On Saturday, NCAA.com and AggieAthletics.com will air a segment of the meet from 1 p.m. ET-5:55 p.m. ET, while the remainder of the day beginning at 6 p.m. ET will air live on ESPN3.com. The 2011 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships will air on a tape-delay basis on Wednesday, March 16 from 2:30-4 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
“We have to go into this weekend and do what we've done all year long,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “We have to focus on the Gators and focus on getting better. People have asked how we can get better after such a great SEC meet two weeks ago, but that is the challenge we have to put forth to our athletes. We can't get complacent. We have to go in there, take care of us and do what we're capable of doing. We need to show the same pride and passion that we have all year long.”
The Florida men are looking to become just the fourth different men's team in NCAA history to have claimed NCAA Indoor Championships in consecutive years. Kansas (1969-70), UTEP (1974-76) and Arkansas (1984-95, 1997-00 and 2005-06) are the only men's teams ever to win NCAA Indoor Championships in back-to-back years. The Gator men are ranked No. 1 in the nation according to the latest USTFCCCA poll and have been top-ranked in six of seven weeks this season.
Florida's men feature a strong contingent of athletes that have qualified 13 slots for this weekend's meet. The Gators feature two defending NCAA individual indoor champions on their 2011 roster in sophomore sprinter Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.), who captured the 2010 NCAA 60-meter title, and junior jumper Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.), who is the two-time defending NCAA indoor champion in the men's triple jump.
“We're not concerned about defending anything this weekend,” Holloway said. “We're very proud of that accomplishment [winning the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championship], but that happened a year ago.”
The Gators feature two NCAA qualifiers on the women's side. Freshman distance runner Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.) is the 2011 Southeastern Conference women's mile champion and the 2011 SEC Indoor Women's Freshman Runner of the Year, with the third-best time in school history at 4:36.53. The women's 4x400-meter relay team ran the seventh-fastest time in school history at 3:34.61 at this past weekend's Alex Wilson Invitational. The quartet of Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.), Lanie Whittaker (Miami, Fla.), Danielle Williams (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Ugonna Ndu (Newark, N.J.) will compete in the NCAA meet this weekend.
“On the women's side, we have Cory McGee in the mile and we have the women's 4x4,” Holloway said. “We've had some injuries this year on the women's side. We have to get people healthy and get ready for a great season outdoors.”
Florida's men are coming off the school's first SEC Indoor Championship since the 2004 season, scoring 148 total team points two weeks ago in Fayetteville, Ark. The Gator women placed fifth at the SEC Indoor Championships. Holloway says that UF's strong showing at the league meet serves as great preparation for the NCAA Championships.
“The SEC is the toughest league in the country,” Holloway said. “Once you get to the national meet, you're going to see a lot of the same athletes that you saw at the conference meet. When you line up at nationals, you're going to see someone right next to you that you saw two weeks ago, so it really prepares you in that sense. The SEC meet is a very intense situation. If you can survive that, you can survive anything.”
Florida features a potent 1-2-3 punch in the men's triple jump that posted a sweep of the event at the 2011 SEC Indoor Championships. Taylor, the three-time USTFCCCA Men's Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, headlines the group, having won each of the past two NCAA Indoor men's triple jump titles and ranking No. 3 all-time in collegiate history in the men's triple jump event. He looks to become just the fourth athlete in NCAA history to have won three consecutive men's indoor triple jump championships. The list includes Mike Conley of Arkansas (1983-85), Erick Walder of Arkansas (1992-94) and Robert Howard of Arkansas (1996-98).
Junior jumper Will Claye (Phoenix, Ariz.), a transfer from Oklahoma, and sophomore jumper Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas) rank second and third, respectively in the nation in the men's triple jump. All three are NCAA automatic-qualifiers and hold the top-three spots in Florida's all-time record book for the men's indoor triple jump. Claye is also an NCAA qualifier in the long jump and will compete in both horizontal jump competitions this weekend.
The two fastest short sprinters in UF school history – Demps and senior Terrell Wilks (New Haven, Conn.) – will both compete in the men's 60-meter dash. Demps broke his own school-record time (6.55) in winning the SEC Indoor Championships, while Wilks holds the second-fastest time in school history (6.59), recorded at the Virginia Tech Qualifier last weekend.
Sophomore sprinter Tony McQuay (Riviera Beach, Fla.) ran the second-fastest time in the world in the men's 400-meter dash at the SEC Indoor Championships with a personal-best time of 45.21. He will attempt the double this weekend, by competing in both the 200m and 400m. McQuay was the 2011 SEC Indoor Champion in the men's 200-meter dash in a time of 20.61.
McQuay also is a member of Florida's 4x400-meter relay team, which posted the third-fastest time in school history at 3:05.51 at the SEC Indoor Championships. That quartet consists of Blake Heriot (Gahanna, Ohio), McQuay, Jovon Toppin (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad) and Taylor.
Junior multi-event athlete Gray Horn (Waynesfield, Ohio) turned in a school-record heptathlon score of 5,816 in winning the school's first-ever SEC heptathlon title two weeks ago. Horn, who has set personal bests in five of his seven events this season, will kick-start Florida's performances this weekend, commencing the first of his seven events at 1 p.m. ET Friday.
Senior thrower Kemal Mesic (Sarajevo, Bosnia) will compete in the men's shot put after winning his second consecutive SEC Indoor Championship in the event two weeks ago. In the process, Mesic set a new UF school record with a personal-best toss of 19.53m/64-1, which currently ranks fifth in the nation this season.
Junior distance runner Dumisani Hlaselo (South Africa) won the Cliff Harper Trophy at the 2011 SEC Indoor Championships, which is awarded to the league's high-points scorer. He scored 21.25 total team points after winning the men's mile and winning the men's 3,000m, as well as anchoring the school's fourth-place distance medley relay team. Hlaselo holds UF's school record in the mile at 3:56.84.
Freshman hurdler Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.) captured the SEC Indoor Championship in the men's 60-meter hurdles two weeks ago with the second-fastest time in school history at 7.73. Lovett was named the SEC Men's Freshman Runner of the Year for his accomplishments.
Complete results and a recap of this weekend's action will be available at www.GatorZone.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 information, follow the team's Twitter account @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField.
NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (MARCH 11-12, 2011 :: COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS)
FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2011
Men's Heptathlon – 1 p.m. ET (AUTO: 5,675)
· Gray Horn (Career Best: 5,816)
Heptathlon 60m (AUTO: 6.60)
· Gray Horn (Career Best: 6.98)
Heptathlon Long Jump (AUTO: 7.90m/25-11)
· Gray Horn (Career Best: 7.35m/24-1.50)
Heptathlon Shot Put (AUTO: 19.30m/63-4)
· Gray Horn (Career Best: 13.41m/44-0)
Heptathlon High Jump (AUTO: 2.24m/7-4.25)
· Gray Horn (Career Best: 2.02m/6-7.50)
Women's Mile (prelim) – 5 p.m. ET (AUTO: 4:37.00)
· Cory McGee (Career Best: 4:36.53)
Men's Mile (prelim) – 5:15 p.m. ET (AUTO: 3:59.00)
· Dumisani Hlaselo (Career Best: 3:56.84)
Men's 60m Hurdles (prelim) – 5:45 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7.70)
· Eddie Lovett (Career Best: 7.73)
Men's 400m (prelim) – 6:15 p.m. ET (AUTO: 46.15)
· Tony McQuay (Career Best: 45.21)
Men's 60m (prelim) – 6:45 p.m. ET (AUTO: 6.60)
· Jeff Demps (Career Best: 6.55)
· Terrell Wilks (Career Best: 6.59)
Men's Long Jump – 7:40 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7.90m/25-11)
· Will Claye (Career Best: 7.95m/26-1)
Men's 200m (prelim) – 7:45 p.m. ET (AUTO: 20.83)
· Tony McQuay (Career Best: 20.61)
Men's Shot Put – 7:50 p.m. ET (AUTO: 19.30m/63-4)
· Kemal Mesic (Career Best: 19.53m/64-1)
Men's 200m (final) – 9:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 20.83)
· Tony McQuay (Career Best: 20.61)
SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2011
Men's Heptathlon – 1 p.m. ET (AUTO: 5,675)
· Gray Horn (Career Best: 5,816)
Heptathlon 60m Hurdles (AUTO: 7.70)
· Gray Horn (Career Best: 8.00)
Heptathlon Pole Vault (AUTO: 5.50m/18-0.50)
· Gray Horn (Career Best: 4.80m/15-9)
Heptathlon 1,000m (Not an NCAA Championship Event)
· Gray Horn (Career Best: 2:43.40)
Men's Triple Jump – 5:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 16.15m/53-0)
· Will Claye (Career Best: 17.17m/56-4)
· Omar Craddock (Career Best: 16.57m/54-4.50)
· Christian Taylor (Career Best: 17.36m/56-11.50)
Women's Mile (final) – 6 p.m. ET (AUTO: 4:37.00)
· Cory McGee (Career Best: 4:36.53)
Men's Mile (final) – 6:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 3:59.00)
· Dumisani Hlaselo (Career Best: 3:56.84)
Men's 60m Hurdles (final) – 6:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 7.70)
· Eddie Lovett (Career Best: 7.73)
Men's 400m (final) – 6:50 p.m. ET (AUTO: 46.15)
· Tony McQuay (Career Best: 45.21)
Men's 60m (final) – 7:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 6.60)
· Jeff Demps (Career Best: 6.55)
· Terrell Wilks (Career Best: 6.59)
Women's 4x400m Relay – 8:10 p.m. ET (AUTO: 3:34.00)
· Florida (E. Eutsey, L. Whittaker, D. Williams, U. Ndu) (Season Best: 3:34.61)
Men's 4x400m Relay – 8:25 p.m. ET (AUTO: 3:06.50)
· Florida (B. Heriot, T. McQuay, J. Toppin, C. Taylor) (Season Best: 3:05.51)
