Gators Earn Three USTFCCCA Regional Honors
Monday, June 6, 2011 | Track and Field
The University of Florida track and field team and coaching staff have earned three regional awards from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for their outstanding efforts during the 2011 outdoor track and field season, as voted on by the nation's coaches, the New Orleans-based organization announced Monday.
Junior jumper Will Claye (Phoenix, Ariz.) was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year, Mike Holloway was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Head Coach of the Year and Dick Booth was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year.
Seventy-three 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.
Claye enters the NCAA Outdoor Championships as the top seed in the men's triple jump and the second seed in the men's long jump. Claye captured each of those events at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships, becoming the first person to accomplish that feat since Leevan Sands of Auburn did so in 2004. Claye was named the 2011 SEC Outdoor Men's Field Athletics of the Year.
Claye currently is the American leader and ranks third in the world in the men's long jump with a mark of 8.29m/27-2.50. He also holds the third-best wind-assisted triple jump mark in the world this season at 17.24m/56-6.75. At the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships, Claye won the men's triple jump and placed second in the men's long jump.
Holloway, who is a two-time USTFCCCA National Men's Indoor Head Coach of the Year, directed the Gators to a second-place finish at the 2011 SEC Outdoor Championships, totaling 140 team points. Florida had five individual SEC Champions and qualified 17 slots for the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Holloway directly coaches UF's dynamic sprints, hurdles and relays group that took home SEC titles in the 100m (Terrell Wilks) and 4x100m. The Gators, under Holloway's direction, have turned in the top 4x100-meter relay time (38.53) in the nation this season and the second-best in school history. His pupil Jeff Demps leads the nation with a top time of 9.96 in the 100m. Florida, the preseason No. 1 team, has spent the entire season among the nation's top-five teams.
Booth, the 2011 USTFCCCA National Men's Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year, advanced three athletes in five qualifying positions to this week's NCAA Outdoor Championships. He mentored Claye to SEC titles in the long jump and triple jump to earn SEC Men's Field Athletes of the Year honors. Booth's athletes were directly responsible for scoring 37 of Florida's 140 points at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Florida returns to action June 8-11, when it participates in the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Iowa.
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.
Men's Track Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region: De'Sean Turner, Indiana
Mid-Atlantic Region: Casimir Loxsom, Penn State
Midwest Region – Mookie Salaam, Oklahoma
Mountain Region: Miles Batty, BYU
Northeast Region: Leonard Korir, Iowa
South Region: Kirani James, Alabama
South Central Region: Barrett Nugent, LSU
Southeast Region: Sam Chelanga, Liberty
West Region: Elliot Heath, Stanford
Men's Field Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Michael Hartfield, Ohio State
Mid-Atlantic Region: Dwight Barbiasz, Maryland
Midwest Region: Erik Kynard, Kansas State
Mountain Region: Julian Wruck, Texas Tech
Northeast Region: Robert Golabek, Buffalo
South Region: Will Claye, Florida
South Central Region: Marquise Goodwin, Texas
Southeast Region: Marcel Lomnicky, Virginia Tech
West Region: Colin Dunbar, Long Beach State
Men's Head Coaches of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Dennis Mitchell, Akron
Mid-Atlantic Region: Fred Samara, Princeton
Midwest Region: Larry Wieczorek, Iowa
Mountain Region: Mark Robison, BYU
Northeast Region: Nathan Taylor, Cornell
South Region: Mike Holloway, Florida
South Central Region: Pat Henry, Texas A&M
Southeast Region: Dave Cianelli, Virginia Tech
West Region: Fred Harvey, Arizona
Men's Assistant Coaches of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Ed Beathea, Ohio State
Mid-Atlantic Region: Steve Dolan, Princeton
Midwest Region: Joey Woody, Iowa
Mountain Region: Dion Miller, Texas Tech
Northeast Region: James Garnham, Buffalo
South Region: Dick Booth, Florida
South Central Region: Mario Sategna, Texas
Southeast Region: Greg Jack, Virginia Tech
West Region: Jason Dunn, Stanford
Women's Track Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Christina Manning, Ohio State
Mid-Atlantic Region: Sheila Reid, Villanova
Midwest Region: Diamond Dixon, Kansas
Mountain Region: Amanda Mergaert, Utah
Northeast Region: Kate Grace, Yale
South Region: Ti'erra Brown, Miami
South Central Region: Jeneba Tarmoh, Texas A&M
Southeast Region: LaKya Brookins, South Carolina
West Region: Jordan Hasay, Oregon; Lea Wallace, Sacramento State
Women's Field Athletes of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Beth Rohl, Michigan State
Mid-Atlantic Region: Chelsea Carrier, West Virginia
Midwest Region: Mara Griva, Nebraska
Mountain Region: Ifeatu Okafor, Texas Tech
Northeast Region: Rebecca O'Brien, Buffalo
South Region: Kimberly Williams, Florida State
South Central Region: Tina Sutej, Arkansas
Southeast Region: April Sinkler, Clemson
West Region: Anna Jelmini, Arizona State
Women's Head Coaches of the Year
Great Lakes Region: Karen Dennis, Ohio State
Mid-Atlantic Region: Sean Cleary, West Virginia
Midwest Region: Steve Rainbolt, Wichita State
Mountain Region: Patrick Shane, BYU
Northeast Region: Bill Morgan, Connecticut
South Region: Caryl Smith Gilbert, UCF
South Central Region: Dennis Shaver, LSU
Southeast Region: Lawrence Johnson, Clemson
West Region: Fred Harvey, Arizona
Women's Assistant Coaches of the Year
Great Lakes Region: John Newell, Michigan State
Mid-Atlantic Region: Chris Miltenberg, Georgetown
Midwest Region: Dana Boone, Oklahoma
Mountain Region: Cliff Felkins, Texas Tech
Northeast Region: James Garnham, Buffalo
South Region: Adrian Ghioraie, Southern Miss
South Central Region: Rolando Greene, Arkansas
Southeast Region: Kevin Jermyn, Duke
West Region: Craig Carter, Arizona
