Gators Ready for Big Stage at NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 | Track and Field
FINAL SCHEDULE | USTFCCCA CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | START LISTS AND ENTRIES | MEET NOTES
The University of Florida track & field teams descend upon Fayetteville for the 2013 NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas. The No. 2 Gator men are the three-time defending NCAA Champions and the No. 11 Florida women turned in a top-10 finish a year ago.
The Gator men qualified 11 entries, the second-most behind Arkansas' 19, while the women saw seven qualifiers advance to the NCAA Championships. The Southeastern Conference leads all conferences with 64 entries on both the men's and women's sides.
Competition begins for the Gators at 4:15 p.m. ET on Friday, March 8 with the women's high jump, as sophomore Taylor Burke (Medina, Ohio) will look to continue her success from last year's NCAA Indoors and claim All-America honors for a second time.
Also competing in field event finals on the first day is sophomore Marquis Dendy (Middletown, Del.), who leads the nation in the men's long jump with his mark of 8.25m/27-1, a new Florida school record. Dendy was just named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year and is on the most recent edition of The Bowerman Watch List. He is also the SEC's Men's Field Athlete of the Year. Dendy will look to claim his first NCAA individual title at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday.
Also honored by the USTFCCCA was junior hurdler Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.) who was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year after his third consecutive 60-meter hurdles title. Lovett leads the NCAA in the men's 60-meter hurdles with his new school record of 7.54, an SEC Championship meet record. Lovett begins his title quest with the preliminaries of the men's 60-meter hurdles at 7:15 p.m. ET Friday. The finals of the event are 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
The Gators boast a returning NCAA Indoor Champion in senior jumper Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas), who captured both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles in the men's triple jump by leaping 16.75m/54-11.50 (indoors) and 16.92m/55-6.25 (outdoors) in 2012. Craddock and Dendy will take to the runway at 7 p.m. ET Saturday in men's triple jump.
14 returning NCAA Indoor All-Americans, eight men and six women, will travel to Fayetteville this weekend, including Burke, Craddock, Dendy, and Lovett. Joining the Gator foursome are individual qualifiers Ciarra Brewer (Union City, Calif.), Dedric Dukes (Miami, Fla.), Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.), Hugh Graham, Jr. (Miami, Fla.), Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.), Sean Obinwa (Tampa, Fla.), Jeremy Postin (Andover, Kan.) and Agata Strausa (Riga, Latvia).
In the relays, All-Americans Leonardo Seymore (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Lanie Whittaker (Miami, Fla.) return for the Orange and Blue. Seymore ran the third leg on the Gators' SEC and NCAA Champion 4x400-meter relay outdoors in 2012. Whittaker is a four-time All-American making her third NCAA Indoor Championships appearance.
Newcomers to the NCAA meet include freshmen Destinee Gause (Reynoldsburg, Ohio), Najee Glass (Woodbridge, N.J.), Arman Hall (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Kyra Jefferson (Detroit, Mich.) and Robin Reynolds (Miami, Fla.). Gause will race in the women's 4x400-meter relay, while Hall and Reynolds will serve as relay alternates. Glass (men's 400) and Jefferson (women's 200) qualified individually as well as with their respective relays.
Another newcomer to the NCAA Indoor Championships is making the most of his final season representing the Gators. Senior David Triassi (Jacksonville, Fla.) captured the 2013 SEC title in the men's weight throw, edging defending champion and teammate Postin for the win with a new personal best of 21.59m/70-10. Triassi made his first NCAA appearance at the 2012 NCAA East Preliminary Round in his hometown of Jacksonville last spring.
The last chance weekend proved to be beneficial for the Orange and Blue, as both Glass and Strausa qualified for the NCAA Championships with their performances at the Alex Wilson Invitational last weekend.
The meet will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app on Friday, March 8 beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET and Saturday, March 9 beginning at 7 p.m. ET. 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. Prior to the start of the ESPN coverage, fans can watch the meet live online through ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
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 INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS :: MARCH 8-9, 2013 :: FAYETTEVILLE, AR
| FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013 | ||
| 4:15 p.m. ET | Women's High Jump (F) | Taylor Burke |
| 6:30 p.m. ET | Men's Long Jump (P/F) | Marquis Dendy |
| 6:45 p.m. ET | Women's Mile (SF) | Cory McGee, Agata Strausa |
| 7:15 p.m. ET | Men's 60m Hurdles (SF) | Eddie Lovett |
| 7:25 p.m. ET | Women's 400m (SF) | Ebony Eutsey |
| 7:40 p.m. ET | Men's 400m (SF) | Hugh Graham, Jr., Najee Glass |
| 8:25 p.m. ET | Men's 800m (SF) | Sean Obinwa |
| 8:35 p.m. ET | Women's 200m (SF) | Kyra Jefferson |
| 8:45 p.m. ET | Men's 200m (SF) | Dedric Dukes |
| 9:35 p.m. ET | Women's 200m (F) | Kyra Jefferson |
| 9:40 p.m. ET | Men's 200m (F) | Dedric Dukes |
| SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 2013 | ||
| 3:00 p.m. ET | Men's Weight Throw (P/F) | Jeremy Postin, David Triassi |
| 7:00 p.m. ET | Women's Mile (F) | Cory McGee, Agata Strausa |
| 7:00 p.m. ET | Men's Triple Jump (P/F) | Omar Craddock, Marquis Dendy |
| 7:00 p.m. ET | Women's Triple Jump (P/F) | Ciarra Brewer |
| 7:30 p.m. ET | Men's 60m Hurdles (F) | Eddie Lovett |
| 7:40 p.m. ET | Women's 400m (F) | Ebony Eutsey |
| 7:50 p.m. ET | Men's 400m (F) | Hugh Graham, Jr., Najee Glass |
| 8:30 p.m. ET | Men's 800m (F) | Sean Obinwa |
| 9:05 p.m. ET | Women's 4x4 Relay (F) | Florida |
| 9:20 p.m. ET | Men's 4x4 Relay (F) | Florida |
