Gators Gear Up for NCAA Outdoor Championships
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 | Track and Field
START LISTS: Men's Events | Women's Events
The University of Florida men's and women's track & field teams are ready for competition as the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Drake University, begin this week.
The Gators have 17 athletes combining for 20 qualifying spots in 19 events, as eight women, eight men and the women's and men's 4x400-meter relays will represent the Orange and Blue in Des Moines.
The four-day meet begins on Wednesday, June 6 and extends to Saturday, June 9. ESPNU will televise Saturday's action from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. CT. The ESPN announcing team is comprised of Trey Bender (play-by-play), Larry Rawson (analyst) and Jill Montgomery (reporter). The entire event will be streamed live through ESPN3.com, with the exception of Wednesday, June 6, which will be streamed for free at www.NCAA.com.
The action gets started for the Gators at 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, as freshman jumper Marquis Dendy (Middleton, Del.) will compete for the men's long jump crown. Dendy is one of two double-dippers for the Gators (Darshay Davis – women's 100m & 200m), as he will also compete in Friday's triple jump competition.
Junior Tony McQuay (Riviera Beach, Fla.), the reigning SEC Outdoor Champion, NCAA Indoor Champion and 2011 U.S. Champion in the 400 meters, will look to advance to the finals of the men's 400 meters, as the semifinals begin at 6:45 p.m. CT. Immediately following will be sophomore Lanie Whittaker (Miami, Fla.), who will look to advance in the women's 400 meters, beginning at 7:00 p.m. CT.
Davis will run her first of two sprint semifinals as she races in the women's 100 meter semifinals at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Davis is the first Florida female athlete since 20-time Gator All-American Kisha Jett (1994-1998) to qualify in both the 100 meters and the 200 meters, as Jett qualified in both events all four of her years in the Orange and Blue.
The final event of Wednesday evening for the Orange and Blue is the semifinal of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, where senior Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia), who was recently named the 2012 USTFCCCA South Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year, will compete for a spot in Friday's finals. Her event will begin at 7:45 p.m. CT.
Live results from the week's action will be available online at NCAA.com and FlashResults.com, and accessible via a link from the Championship Central page on the Drake Athletics website, www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com, which also will include quotes, notes, photos and event information.
The Gator men have placed in the top three at the last three NCAA Outdoor Championships, while the Florida women recorded a third-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
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.
NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS (JUNE 6-9, 2012 – DES MOINES, IA) – all times CT
Wednesday, June 6
| 5:30pm | Men's Long Jump | Marquis Dendy |
| 6:45pm | Men's 400m | Tony McQuay |
| 7:00pm | Women's 400m | Lanie Whittaker |
| 7:30pm | Women's 100m | Darshay Davis |
| 7:45pm | Women's 3,000m Steeplechase | Genevieve LaCaze |
Thursday, June 7
| 1:00pm | Heptathlon 100 Hurdles | Brittany Harrell |
| 2:00pm | Heptathlon High Jump | Brittany Harrell |
| 2:30pm | Men's Javelin | Stipe Zunic |
| 4:30pm | Heptathlon Shot Put | Brittany Harrell |
| 5:30pm | Men's High Jump | Dwight Barbiasz |
| 5:30pm | Men's 200m | Dedric Dukes |
| 5:45pm | Women's 200m | Darshay Davis |
| 6:00pm | Heptathlon 200m | Brittany Harrell |
| 6:30pm | Women's 1500m | Cory McGee |
| 6:50pm | Men's 110 Hurdles | Eddie Lovett |
| 8:05pm | Men's 4x400m | Dedric Dukes-Hugh Graham, Jr.-Leonardo Seymore-Tony McQuay |
| 8:25pm | Women's 4x400m | Ebony Eutsey-Alishea Usery-Lanie Whittaker-Ugonna Ndu |
| 8:45pm | Women's 10,000m | Florence Ngetich |
Friday, June 8
| 2:00pm | Men's Hammer | Jeremy Postin |
| 3:00pm | Heptathlon Long Jump | Brittany Harrell |
| 4:15pm | Heptathlon Javelin | Brittany Harrell |
| 4:30pm | Women's High Jump | Taylor Burke |
| 4:30pm | Men's Triple Jump | Omar Craddock, Marquis Dendy |
| 6:02pm | Women's 100m | Darshay Davis |
| 6:30pm | Women's 3000 Steeplechase | Genevieve LaCaze |
| 6:45pm | Heptathlon 800m | Brittany Harrell |
| 6:55pm | Men's 400m | Tony McQuay |
| 7:02pm | Women's 400m | Lanie Whittaker |
Saturday, June 9
| 10:00am | Women's Triple Jump | Ciarra Brewer |
| 11:28am | Women's 1500m | Cory McGee |
| 11:39am | Men's 200m | Dedric Dukes |
| 11:47am | Women's 200m | Darshay Davis |
| 12:07pm | Men's 110 Hurdles | Eddie Lovett |
| 12:40pm | Men's 4x400 | Dedric Dukes-Hugh Graham, Jr.-Leonardo Seymore-Tony McQuay |
| 12:50pm | Women's 4x400 | Ebony Eutsey-Alishea Usery-Lanie Whittaker-Ugonna Ndu |
All shaded boxes show events that are contingent upon advancing from earlier semifinals
FLORIDA'S NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
| 100 Meters – Women | Darshay Davis |
| 200 Meters – Women | Darshay Davis |
| 200 Meters – Men | Dedric Dukes |
| 400 Meters – Women | Lanie Whittaker |
| 400 Meters – Men | Tony McQuay |
| 1,500 Meters – Women | Cory McGee |
| 10,000 Meters – Women | Florence Ngetich |
| 110-Meter Hurdles – Men | Eddie Lovett |
| 3000-Meter Steeplechase – Women | Genevieve LaCaze |
| 4x400-Meter Relay – Women | Florida |
| 4x400-Meter Relay – Men | Florida |
| High Jump – Women | Taylor Burke |
| High Jump – Men | Dwight Barbiasz |
| Long Jump – Men | Marquis Dendy |
| Triple Jump – Women | Ciarra Brewer |
| Triple Jump – Men | Omar Craddock, Marquis Dendy |
| Hammer Throw – Men | Jeremy Postin |
| Javelin Throw – Men | Stipe Zunic |
| Heptathlon – Women | Brittany Harrell |
