Dick Booth Named National Assistant Coach of the Year
Monday, June 20, 2011 | Track and Field
Florida jumps coach Dick Booth has been named the National Men's Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year after leading his athletes to stellar performances this past season, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced Monday from its New Orleans-based offices.
Booth, who is in his second season with the Gators after 27 decorated seasons at the University of Arkansas, garners the honor outdoors after also being named the 2011 USTFCCCA National Men's Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year.
Booth advanced three athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championship finals site in Des Moines, Iowa – Will Claye (Phoenix, Ariz.), Frankie Hammond (Hollywood, Fla.) and Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.). His jumps corps accounted for 24 of Florida's 53 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Claye and Taylor turned in an epic back-and-forth battle at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump as Taylor would claim the NCAA Championship and Claye would finish as the runner-up.
Taylor's winning jump, a wind-aided leap of 17.80m/58-4.75 is the all-time, all-conditions collegiate best mark, surpassing the 1985 wind-aided measure by Arkansas' Mike Conley (17.72m/58-1.75). Claye recorded a wind-aided best of 17.62m/57-9.75, the third-best all-conditions jump in collegiate history. Taylor and Claye's wind-legal marks of 17.40m/57-1 and 17.35m/56-11.25, respectively, moved the duo to the all-time top-five in collegiate history, trailing only SMU's Keith Connor, Conley and Baptist's Charlie Simpkins. Taylor and Claye are both in the world's top-five performers list for the season.
For his accomplishments, Claye on Friday was named the USTFCCCA Men's National Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.
At the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships in Athens, Ga., Claye won both the long jump and triple jump titles, becoming the first athlete to accomplish that feat at the SEC Outdoor Championships since Leevan Sands of Auburn in 2004. At that meet, Booth's athletes scored 37 of Florida's 140 total team points.
Claye and Taylor finished 1-2 at the SEC Outdoor Championships with a series of impressive leaps. Claye claimed the SEC triple jump title with a wind-aided leap of 17.24m/56-6.75 (+2.2). Taylor finished second in the event, but because his best mark was wind-legal, he also set the SEC meet record and the Spec Towns Track record in the process with a jump of 17.15m/56-3.25 (+1.4).
Claye won the men's long jump with a leap of 8.29m/27-2.50 (+1.9), while Taylor was fourth at 8.00m/26-3 (+0.5). Hammond was fifth overall in the high jump at the conference meet with a leap of 2.15m/7-0.50.
Claye was named the SEC Men's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year for his efforts.
Booth also mentored sophomore Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas) to his second consecutive Penn Relays men's triple jump championship, doing so with a personal-best mark of 16.46m/54-0, becoming just the 13th different athlete in Penn Relays history to win multiple men's triple jump championships and the first back-to-back winner since Walter Davis of LSU in 2001 and 2002.
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Past Winners
2011: Dick Booth, Florida
2010: David Dumble, Arizona State
2009: Jim VanHootegem, Texas A&M
2008: Jerry Clayton, Auburn
