Jimmy Carnes Boulevard dedicated
Wednesday, August 22, 2012 | Women's Swimming & Diving, Track and Field, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Jimmy Carnes would have beamed with pride back on June 9, the day the University of Florida men finally won their first NCAA Outdoor Track and Field championship.
So imagine how he would have felt Saturday.
Carnes, the UF Hall of Famer and former United States Olympic coach, was memorialized Saturday when the stretch of SW 23rd Street behind Percy Beard Track was renamed “Jimmy Carnes Boulevard.” 
A sign honoring Carnes, who died March 5, 2011 following a three-year battle with cancer, was unveiled during a ceremony hosted by the Gainesville Sports Commission and attended by family, friend and former athletes who were close to one of the most decorated coaches in UF history.
Carnes coached the Gators track team from 1964 to 1976, along the way winning two Southeastern Conference championships (earning another 13 top-three finishes) and going 93-3 in dual meets. Carnes went on to serve as assistant coach for the USA track squad during the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal and head coach of the '80 team that boycotted the Games in Moscow.
In founding the Florida Track Club, heading the Florida Governors's Council on Physical Fitness and being named the first director of the Sunshine State Games, Carnes became arguably the most influential track and field figure in state history.
Yes, he would be proud.
