Genevieve LaCaze Named SEC Co-Women's Runner of the Year
Saturday, May 19, 2012 | Track and Field
Senior distance runner Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia) has been named the 2012 Southeastern Conference Co-Women's Runner of the Year, announced by the conference office in Birmingham, Ala. on Friday. The Australia native shares the accolade with LSU junior Kimberlyn Duncan.
This is the first Outdoor Runner of the Year honor in the history of the Florida women's program and only the second overall for the program, as Tiandra Ponteen earned the nod indoors in 2005. This is the second major accolade of LaCaze's career, as she was also named the SEC Women's Freshman Runner of the Year outdoors in 2009.
LaCaze etched her name in SEC history last weekend, as she became the first female in conference history to sweep the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, the women's 1,500 meters and the women's 5,000 meters. The senior scored 30 points over the meet, earning herself the 2012 SEC Commissioner's Trophy.
She is the first Florida female to win the Commissioner's Trophy outdoors since LaQuanda Cotton shared the honors in 2002 and ties as the highest point-scorer in Gator women's track & field history alongside Shelly Steely in 1985. LaCaze is the highest scorer at the SEC meet on both the men's and the women's side since Georgia's Hyleas Fountain in 2004.
LaCaze won the 3,000 meter steeplechase on Saturday evening and turned around on Sunday afternoon to compete in the finals of the women's 1,500 meters. LaCaze ran a steady race and took charge the last 100 meters to take home her second title of the weekend, winning in 4:13.44, a new personal best.
LaCaze then ventured into the women's 5,000 meters, a race with 29 participants. The Australia native came into the event with adrenaline and momentum from her previous two victories and came out of it a champion, winning in 16:26.38, earning yet another title and another 10 points for the Gators. The senior ran personal bests this season in the 800 meters (2:07.70), 1,500 meters (4:13.44) and the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:55.44). The senior All-American also ran a season-best 16:26.38 in the 5,000 meters at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
LaCaze has five victories on the season, including the Pepsi Florida Relays 4x800-meter relay. She is sixth in the nation in the 3000-meter steeplechase and owns the only sub-10 3000m steeplechase time in the SEC this season.
Florida returns to action May 24-26, when it travels to nearby Jacksonville, Fla., to participate in the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds hosted by the University of North Florida.
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 Florida track and field on Twitter at @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField. You can also find the Gators on Facebook.
2012 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Awards
Men's Coach of the Year: Chris Bucknam, Arkansas
Women's Coach of the Year: Dennis Shaver, LSU
Men's Runner of the Year: Caleb Cross, Arkansas
Men's Field Athlete of the Year: Andrew Irwin, Arkansas
Men's Freshman Runner of the Year: Aaron Ernest, LSU
Men's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Andrew Irwin, Arkansas
Co-Women's Runner of the Year: Genevieve LaCaze, Florida
Co-Women's Runner of the Year: Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU
Women's Field Athlete of the Year: Annie Alexander, Tennessee
Women's Freshman Runner of the Year: Dominique Scott, Arkansas
Women's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Morgann Leleux, Georgia
Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Marvin Reitze, South Carolina
Co-Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Ellen Wortham, Tennessee
Co-Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tara Diebold, Arkansas
2012 SEC Outdoor Track and Field All-SEC Teams
Men's First Team All-SEC
100m: Keenan Brock, Auburn
110m Hurdles: Barrett Nugent, LSU
200m: Isiah Young, Ole Miss
400m: Tony McQuay, Florida
400m Hurdles: Caleb Cross, Arkansas
800m: Aaron Evans, Georgia
1,500m: Duncan Phillips, Arkansas
Steeplechase: Matt Cleaver, Georgia
5,000m: Lane Boyer, Arkansas
10,000m: Eric Fernandez, Arkansas
4x100m Relay: Arkansas (Caleb Cross, Akheem Gauntlett, Neil Braddy, Marek Niit)
4x400m Relay: Florida (Dedric Dukes, Hugh Graham, Leonardo Seymore, Tony McQuay)
High Jump: Dwight Barbiasz, Florida
Pole Vault: Andrew Irwin, Arkansas
Long Jump: Raymond Higgs, Arkansas
Triple Jump: Omar Craddock, Florida
Shot Put: Stephen Saenz, Auburn
Discus: Andrew Evans, Kentucky
Hammer Throw: Jeremy Postin, Florida
Javelin: Stipe Zunic, Florida
Decathlon: Kevin Lazas, Arkansas
Men's Second Team All-SEC
100m: Aaron Ernest, LSU
110m Hurdles: Eddie Lovett, Florida
200m: Aaron Ernest, LSU
400m: Torrin Lawrence, Georgia
400m Hurdles: Carson Blanks, Ole Miss
800m: Leoman Momoh, Arkansas
1,500m: Patrick Rono, Arkansas
Steeplechase: Luis Orta, Kentucky
5,000m: Brandon Lord, Georgia
10,000m: Solomon Haile, Arkansas
4x100m Relay: Georgia (Phillip Adams, Waymon Storey, Eric Harris, Justin Scott-Wesley)
4x400m Relay: LSU (Quincy Downing, Robert Simmons, Ade Alleyne-Forte, Riker Hylton)
High Jump: Marcus Jackson, Mississippi State
Pole Vault: Sam Kendricks, Ole Miss
Long Jump: Damar Forbes, LSU
Triple Jump: Kyron Blaise, LSU
Shot Put: Caleb Whitener, Georgia
Discus: Tavis Bailey, Tennessee
Hammer Throw: Justin Welch, Georgia
Javelin: Raymond Dykstra, Kentucky
Decathlon: Terry Prentice, Arkansas
Men's SEC All-Freshman Team
100m: Aaron Ernest, LSU
110m Hurdles: Kyle Dunn, Arkansas
200m: Aaron Ernest, LSU
400m: Hugh Graham, Florida
400m Hurdles: Drew Branch, Georgia
800m: Patrick Rono, Arkansas
1,500m: Patrick Rono, Arkansas
Steeplechase: None
5,000m: Eddie Garcia, Florida
10,000m: JL Hines, Florida
High Jump: William LeBlanc, LSU
Pole Vault: Andrew Irwin, Arkansas
Long Jump: Jarrett Samuels, Mississippi State
Triple Jump: Marquis Dendy, Florida
Shot Put: Matthew Hoty, Tennessee
Discus: Tavis Bailey, Tennessee
Hammer Throw: Jeremy Tuttle, LSU
Javelin: Raymond Dkystra, Kentucky
Decathlon: Gunnar Nixon, Arkansas
Women's First Team All-SEC
100m: Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU
100m Hurdles: Jasmin Stowers, LSU
200m: Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU
400m: Regina George, Arkansas
400m Hurdles: Ellen Wortham, Tennessee
800m: Charlene Lipsey, LSU
1,500m: Genevieve LaCaze, Florida
Steeplechase: Genevieve LaCaze, Florida
5,000m: Genevieve LaCaze, Florida
10,000m: Kristie Krueger, Georgia
4x100m Relay: LSU (Takeia Pinckney, Semoy Hackett, Rebecca Alexander, Kimberlyn Duncan)
4x400m Relay: LSU (Latoya McDermott, Rebecca Alexander, Cassandra Tate, Jonique Day)
High Jump: Taylor Burke, Florida
Pole Vault: Morgann Leleux, Georgia
Long Jump: Rachel Jenkins, Ole Miss
Triple Jump: Ciarra Brewer, Florida
Shot Put: Annie Alexander, Tennessee
Discus: Annie Alexander, Tennessee
Hammer Throw: Nikola Lomnicka, Georgia
Javelin: Allison Updike, Georgia
Heptathlon: Brittany Harrell, Florida
Women's Second Team All-SEC
100m: Semoy Hackett, LSU
100m Hurdles: Ivanique Kemp, Arkansas
200m: Semoy Hackett, LSU
400m: Rebecca Alexander, LSU
400m Hurdles: Cassandra Tate, LSU
800m: Chanelle Price, Tennessee
1,500m: Cory McGee, Florida
Steeplechase: Grace Heymsfield, Arkansas
5,000m: Kristen Gillespie, Arkansas
10,000m: Dominique Scott, Arkansas
4x100m Relay: Auburn (V'Alonee Robinson, CeCe Williams, Kai Selvon, Nivea Smith)
4x400m Relay: Arkansas (Gwendolyn Flowers, Regina George, Tiffany Hines, Whitney Jones)
High Jump: Saniel Atkinson, Georgia
Pole Vault: Tina Sutej, Arkansas
Long Jump: Brittany Porter, LSU
Triple Jump: Colleen Felix, Georgia
Shot Put: Hilenn James, Georgia
Discus: Hilenn James, Georgia
Hammer Throw: Brieanna Kennedy, LSU
Javelin: Annie Simoneaux, LSU
Heptathlon: Fabia McDonald, Ole Miss
Women's SEC All-Freshman Team
100m: Keilah Tyson, Kentucky
100m Hurdles: Chalese Davis, South Carolina
200m: Keilah Tyson, Kentucky
400m: Erika Rucker, South Carolina
400m Hurdles: Tamera Harris, South Carolina
800m: Samantha Levin, LSU
1,500m: Carly Hamilton, Georgia
Steeplechase: Shannon Klenke, Arkansas
5,000m: Dominique Scott, Arkansas
10,000m: Dominique Scott, Arkansas
High Jump: Taylor Burke, Florida
Pole Vault: Morgann Leleux
Long Jump: Erica Bougard, Mississippi State
Triple Jump: Ciarra Brewer, Florida
Shot Put: Tori Bliss, LSU
Discus: Megan Rayford, Mississippi State
Hammer Throw: Nia Barnes, Alabama
Javelin: Allison Updike, Georgia
Heptathlon: Erica Bougard, Mississippi State
