Florida Gators
NCAA Indoor Championships
Lovett Captures NCAA Hurdles Crown in Meet Record 7.50 as Gator Men Finish Second
Sunday, March 10, 2013 | Track and Field
The University of Florida men's track & field program scored 59 points at the 2013 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships for a runner-up finish, marking the 13th time in program history to finish in the top three and the seventh time under Florida head coach Mike Holloway. Host Arkansas won the title with 74 points.
“Congratulations to Arkansas, they had a great meet,” Holloway said. “That's the most we've scored at the national championships since I've been here and to get beat by 15, I don't know what to say. We came out here and competed well, had seasonal bests across the board. That's what we train for, that's what we live for and we have nothing to hang our heads about.
“Of course we came here and wanted to win,” Holloway continued. “We wanted to be national champions again. But being national runner-up and performing the way we did, we left our hearts and souls out here and I couldn't be more proud of these young men.”
59 points is the third-most scored at an NCAA Indoor Championships by a Florida team and the highest point total since 1988.
Junior Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.) etched his name in the record books on the second day of the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, setting a new meet record in the men's 60-meter hurdles with a new personal best and school record of 7.50.
“I felt pretty good,” Lovett said. “Yesterday, I just wanted to work on my start. I made it up in between the hurdles, and I did the same today. It wasn't the best start like I wanted, but I made it up at the end. I'm just happy. If I got my steps and technique right, it would all fall into place.”
Lovett is now fourth all-time in collegiate history and brings home Florida's first 60-meter hurdle title in program history. It's the second hurdle crown in Florida school history, as Earl Diamond won the 55-meter hurdles at the 1989 NCAA Indoor Championships.
“Eddie is the kind of guy where he could have a perfect start and still say it wasn't,” Holloway commented. “That's just how he and Coach Tucker are. What I'll tell you is watching his transformation… it's always great when you can break that ice and watch him come around. He broke our school record, he's one of the top five guys in the history of the event, the NCAA meet record holder and he's been focused like this since August when he started. I'm extremely proud of him.”
The Florida men's 4x400-meter relay finished second overall with a season's best 3:03.71, the second-best time in NCAA Championship meet history and the second-best at Florida. The time, set by freshman Najee Glass (Woodbridge, N.J.), sophomore Hugh Graham, Jr. (Miami, Fla.), freshman Arman Hall (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and sophomore Dedric Dukes (Miami, Fla.) is third-fastest in collegiate history.
The only faster Florida relay was the NCAA Champion men's 4x4 in 2005, who set the NCAA record in 3:03.51. That relay, whose record was broken tonight by NCAA Champion Arkansas (3:03.50) had two juniors (Sekou Clarke and Stefan Pastor), a sophomore (Kerron Clement) and a freshman (Bernard Middleton) participating.
Senior Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas) turned in a runner-up finish in the men's triple jump, leaping to a new personal best of 16.80m/55-1.50, keeping himself at third all-time at Florida. Sophomore Marquis Dendy (Middletown, Del.) jumped to a fourth-place result in the event, registering a 16.20m/53-1.75 mark after his record-breaking day Friday. Dendy finished with 15 points scored over the course of the two-day meet.
Earlier in the day, Graham, Jr. and Glass competed in the men's 400 meters, scoring eight points for the Orange and Blue, crossing the finish in third (46.01) and seventh (46.54), respectively.
Also scoring for the Gator men was junior Sean Obinwa (Tampa, Fla.), who came in fourth in the men's 800 meters with second-fastest indoor 800 of his career in 1:47.81. Obinwa was the only finalist who also made the 800 final in 2012.
Senior David Triassi (Jacksonville, Fla.), competing in his first NCAA Indoor Championships, finished eighth overall with his mark of 20.68m/67-10.25. Triassi earns All-America honors for the first time in his career after winning the SEC Indoor title just two weeks ago.
“It's going to help us be better outdoors,” Holloway noted. “It's a motivation, it's a better purpose, a better focus. Any time we want to slack a little, I'll just bring the trophy out to the middle of the infield at practice so they can see it and remember we got second indoors. We didn't do anything wrong this weekend. Eddie Lovett, Omar, Marquis, Sean Obinwa… everyone did their absolute best this weekend and I'm so proud of them.”
The Gator women scored all of their 17 points on the second day of competition, using three top-five finishes, two seasonal bests and a personal best during the day to finish 13th in the team competition.
Sophomore Ciarra Brewer (Union City, Calif.) soared to a new personal best in the women's triple jump with her leap of 13.69m/44-11, good for bronze-medalist honors and putting her at second all-time in Gator history.
Agata Strausa (Riga, Latvia) finished third in the women's mile with a season's best of 4:36.91, the second-fastest time of her career. Strausa was one of the final entries into the event after racing at the Alex Wilson Invitational during Last Chance Weekend.
The Florida women's 4x400-meter relay, consisting of junior Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.), freshman Destinee Gause (Reynoldsburg, Fla.), freshman Robin Reynolds (Miami, Fla.) and senior Lanie Whittaker (Miami, Fla.), finished fourth overall with a season's best of 3:31.54, the second-fastest time in program history.
“We talked to the women this morning about having more pride (today),” Holloway said. “They came out and ran season's best in the 4x4, season's best in the mile for Agata and a new PR for Ciarra.
“The Gators left their mark on the building,” Holloway finished. “Now we're outside where we live and breathe and we'll see them in a few months.”
A full highlight package of the 2013 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will air on Sunday, March 17 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The 2013 Southeastern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships can also be seen on ESPNU, airing at 9:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 13.
The Gators open the 2013 outdoor season Saturday, March 16 at the UCF Black and Gold Challenge.
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.
2013 NCAA DIVISION I INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS :: MARCH 8-9, 2013 :: FAYETTEVILLE, AR
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Women - Team Rankings - 17 Events Scored
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1) Oregon 56 2) Kansas 44
3) LSU 43 4) Arkansas 42.50
5) UCF 30 6) Clemson 28
7) Arizona 25 7) Arizona State 25
9) Iowa State 23 10) Georgia 22
11) Dartmouth 20 12) Texas A&M 18
13) Florida 17 14) Illinois 14
15) Florida State 13 15) Michigan 13
15) UCLA 13 18) Texas 12
19) Indiana State 11 20) Kentucky 10
20) Oklahoma 10 20) Miss State 10
20) Colorado 10 24) Wichita State 9
25) Villanova 8 25) Michigan State 8
25) San Diego St. 8 25) Kent State 8
25) Eastern Illinois 8 25) Baylor 8
31) South Carolina 7 31) East Carolina 7
31) Illinois State 7 34) Virginia Tech 6
35) Georgetown 5 35) Notre Dame 5
35) Duke 5 35) Texas Tech 5
35) Auburn 5 40) TCU 4
40) Utah 4 40) Harvard 4
40) Idaho 4 40) Boston U. 4
40) Oklahoma State 4 46) South Dakota 3
46) Alabama 3 46) Wisconsin 3
46) Kansas State 3 50) Mid. Tenn. State 2.50
51) West Virginia 2 52) North Carolina 1
52) Mississippi 1 52) Ohio State 1
52) Georgia Tech 1
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Men - Team Rankings - 17 Events Scored
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1) Arkansas 74 2) Florida 59
3) Wisconsin 33 4) Texas A&M 30
5) Texas Tech 28 6) Oregon 22
6) Arizona 22 8) Oklahoma State 20
9) Virginia Tech 19 9) Penn State 19
9) Indiana 19 12) Miss State 18
12) Minnesota 18 14) Auburn 16
15) LSU 15 16) Northern Arizona 13
16) Arizona State 13 18) Florida State 11
18) Purdue 11 18) Georgia 11
21) Houston 10 21) Princeton 10
23) Mississippi 9 23) Texas 9
25) Oral Roberts 8 25) Clemson 8
25) Michigan State 8 25) North Carolina St. 8
25) Jackson State 8 30) Stanford 7
30) Indiana State 7 32) Baylor 6
32) Nebraska 6 32) Alabama 6
32) TCU 6 32) Loyola (Ill.) 6
32) Kansas State 6 32) Louisiana Tech 6
32) Notre Dame 6 40) Texas-Arlington 5
40) Tennessee 5 40) Tulsa 5
40) UTSA 5 44) Villanova 4
44) Akron 4 44) Missouri 4
47) Ohio State 3 47) UTEP 3
49) UCLA 2 49) North Dakota St. 2
49) Illinois 2 49) Kentucky 2
49) New Mexico 2 54) California 1
54) Eastern Illinois 1 54) George Mason 1
FIELD EVENTS
Women's Triple Jump
3. Ciarra Brewer, 13.69m/44-11 (PR)
Men's Triple Jump
2. Omar Craddock, 16.80m/55-1.50 (PR)
4. Marquis Dendy, 16.20m/53-1.75
Men's Weight Throw
8. David Triassi, 20.68m/67-10.25
11. Jeremy Postin, 20.44m/67-0.75
RUNNING EVENTS
Men's 400 Meters – Final
3. Hugh Graham, Jr., 46.01
7. Najee Glass, 46.54
Men's 800 Meters – Final
4. Sean Obinwa, 1:47.81 (SB)
Women's Mile – Final
3. Agata Strausa, 4:36.91 (SB)
Men's 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
1. Eddie Lovett, 7.50 (PR/SR/NCAA/MR)
Women's 4x400-Meter Relay – Final
4. Florida (Eutsey, Gause, Reynolds, Whittaker), 3:31.54 (SB)
Men's 4x400-Meter Relay – Final
2. Florida (Glass, Graham, Jr., Hall, Dukes), 3:03.71 (SB)
