Sprinter McQuay Ready to Run, Help Gators Three-Peat at NCAA Indoors
Friday, March 9, 2012 | Men's Track and Field, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The stage is set once again for Gators sprinter Tony McQuay to do something special at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
McQuay was in the same position a year ago when he posted the best time in the 400-meter preliminaries. However, he tweaked his hamstring in the race and when the finals rolled around the next night, McQuay finished a disappointing seventh.
“I feel a lot more confident racing this year,'' McQuay said. “I'm a lot stronger.”
The sting of McQuay's injury was eased by the fact his teammates performed well enough to claim UF's second consecutive national indoor title. Florida seeks a three-peat this weekend in Nampa, Idaho.
McQuay is running at full throttle and appears in prime position to help the Gators return home with another championship trophy.
The same was true two weeks ago at the SEC Indoor Championships in Lexington, Ky. McQuay edged Georgia's Torrin Lawrence and Arkansas' Neil Braddy in the 400 meters but was later disqualified by officials when they ruled he bumped Lawrence.
If McQuay's victory had counted, the Gators would have won the meet. Instead, they settled for second behind the Razorbacks.
McQuay quickly shook off the ruling and has trained well heading into Friday night's preliminaries. The 400 final is Saturday night.
“Everything we've done to this point, he has been right on point,'' Gators coach Mike Holloway said. “Everything that we've asked him to do he has done. I'd say he is focused and ready to have a good meet.”
Not only does his hamstring feel much better than at last year's Indoor Championships, but a cleaner running style has helped him developed into a serious contender for the U.S. Olympic Team later this year in London.
McQuay raised his profile nationally last June at the U.S. Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., defeating 2004 Olympic gold medalist Jeremy Wariner in the 400 final with a personal-best time of 44.68 seconds.
Once McQuay returned to UF for his junior season, he remained in the fast lane thanks to a better technique coming out of the blocks, cutting down on his strides in races and, of course, a stronger hamstring.
McQuay spent time with Holloway and others refining his technique, worked out extensively in the weight room on building more leg strength, and watched a lot of video of his races searching for little ways to improve.
“Some things I just needed to work on when I'm running,'' he said. “I believe this year I'm 100 times better. I've been here before. I feel pretty good going in.”
McQuay has limited his outings during the indoor season to stay fresh for UF's outdoor season and what shapes up to be a busy summer aimed toward London. He had a season-best time of 46.11 seconds in the SEC Indoor preliminaries.
Holloway is confident that McQuay's best is still ahead and expects him to be in the mix for points this weekend.
“He has done a very good job this season,'' Holloway said. “He's gotten better and better every year. Hopefully that trend will continue.”
“I really want to go in there and have a big mark,'' McQuay said.
McQuay trains regularly with former UF star Kerron Clement, the 400 world record holder and who also owns the school-record time of 44.57 seconds set in 2005.
“I always tell him I want to beat his record,'' McQuay said. “I'd love to go out there and get it at this meet.”
The two have talked extensively about McQuay peaking at the right time the way he did at last summer's U.S. Championships.
While McQuay felt confident entering the race, he realizes the performance opened eyes and perhaps altered perceptions, especially beating Wariner head-to-head.
“I just came off an injury from indoors. I wasn't going to let that hold me back,'' he said. “A lot of people were surprised to see that I could compete on that type of level.
“My goal is to win [NCAA Indoors] even though it is an Olympic year and I want to be cautious how I train and compete this year. At the same time, I'm still a collegiate athlete and I have to go out there and do what I have to do for the team. This is the point in the year where I need to be running for a mark to see where I will be at going into outdoors. I haven't run a lot of indoors.”
With McQuay showing signs of being in top form and a lineup that also includes sprinters Jeff Demps in the 60 meters, Hugh Graham Jr. in the 400, Eddie Lovett in the 60 hurdles and an array of top-ranked athletes in the field events, Florida enters as one of the favorites.
The second-place finish at the SEC – and McQuay's disqualification – are already far in the rearview mirror.
“We know that everybody wants to fight and take something away from us,'' McQuay said. “We can't have that. Our mindset is really strong right now and everybody is ready to compete.”
