No. 1 Gators Lexington-Bound for SEC Outdoors with Eyes on the Prize
Wednesday, May 14, 2014 | Track and Field
WATCH: Florida Head Coach Mike Holloway SEC Outdoors Preview Presser
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The No. 1 Gator track and field squads will embark on Lexington, Ky., for the SEC Outdoor Championships May 15-18, hosted on the University of Kentucky campus. Florida owns nine SEC outdoor championships, four on the men's side ('53, '56, '87, '10) and five in women's action ('92, '97, '98, '03,'09).
Competition in Lexington kicks off Thursday at the Kentucky Track and Field Complex with the heptathlon and decathlon at noon and 12:30 p.m., while prelims and finals of the women's hammer throw start at 1:30 p.m. Florida's Brittany Harrell and Jayla Bostic will get things started for the Gators in the heptathlon and hammer throw, respectively. The Gators were the 2014 SEC Indoor Champions on the women's side and the SEC runner-up indoors in men's action this year. Both Florida teams took third at NCAA Indoors in March.
The Orange and Blue return three SEC champions from last year's outdoor championships: Kyle Strawn in the hammer throw (219-6), Ciarra Brewer in the triple jump (45-5.25) and Marija Vucenovic in the javelin throw (173-7). Both Strawn (68.18m/223-8) and Vucenovic (56.73m/186-1) have shattered those marks from last year with PRs this year. Brewer owns a season best 13.58m/44-6.75 in the triple jump, second in the country through the outdoor season so far. Check out more Florida notables and a complete schedule heading into SECs below.
HOLLOWAY'S TAKE
“We are very excited. We've had a great outdoor season to this point. Our athletes have understood the process and worked hard. We're always very excited about the championship season. It gives the athletes a chance to rest and taper, not just from the track but also in the weight room. The SEC meet is, in my opinion, maybe one of the best meets ever in the world. I've been to the Olympic Games, World Championships and the NCAA Championships and I don't think there is anything I've seen at those meets that is more exciting than what I see at the SEC Championships every year because of the pride and passion that all of the coaches, athletes and programs bring to the table. It should be another exciting meet this weekend… I think it's going to be a great competition and I'm really excited about where our teams sit right now. We're not about what's going on in the rankings – they don't concern us – the only one that concerns us is the one that comes out at the end of the year once the NCAA meet is over.”
2014 SEC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS BROADCAST INFORMATION & LIVE RESULTS
SEC Outdoors Central and Meet Schedule
FREE Live Video Feed (Thursday & Friday)
ESPN3.com SATURDAY | ESPN3.com SUNDAY
· ESPN3 will stream the meet live during the following times: Saturday, May 17 (3:40 p.m. ET – 6:50 p.m. ET) and Sunday, May 18 (1:50 p.m. ET – 5:50 p.m. ET)
· The broadcast talent includes: Dwight Stones (play-by-play), Larry Rawson (analyst) and Lewis Johnson (sideline reporter)
· The 2014 SEC Outdoor Championships will air as part of a two-hour highlight show on ESPNU on Thursday, May 22, beginning at 8 p.m. ET
FOLLOW THE GATORS
2014 Florida T&F Performance Lists
Florida Men's Outdoor Top-10 Record Book
Florida Women's Outdoor Top-10 Record Book
SEC OUTDOORS GATOR BYTES
· Florida owns nine SEC outdoor championships, four on the men's side ('53, '56, '87, '10) and five in women's action ('92, '97, '98, '03,'09)
· The Gators were the 2014 SEC Indoor Champions on the women's side and the SEC runner-up indoors in men's action this year. Both Florida teams took third at NCAA Indoors in March
· The Orange and Blue return three SEC champions from last year's outdoor championships: Kyle Strawn in the hammer throw (219-6), Ciarra Brewer in the triple jump (45-5.25) and Marija Vucenovic in the javelin throw (173-7). Both Strawn (68.18m/223-8) and Vucenovic (56.73m/186-1) have shattered those marks from last year with PRs this year – Strawn at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational with the second-best mark in UF history and 10th best in the country this season, and Vucenovic at the Texas Relays with the second-best mark in the NCAA, third all-time in Florida history. Brewer owns a season best of 13.58m/44-6.75 in the triple jump, second in the country through the outdoor season so far
· Both men's sophomore Arman Hall and junior Dedric Dukes enter the SEC Outdoor Championships as The Bowerman Award honorees. Dukes is one of 10 on The Bowerman Men's Watch List, while Hall is receiving votes
· The Gators made a big splash early in the season with several school records, nation and world-leading marks at both the Texas Relays and the Florida Relays. Dukes still has the fastest 200m (19.97) in the world so far this year as he put up the ninth-best performance in collegiate history and one of 12 collegians ever to break the 20-second barrier with a wind-legal mark. Notably, Florida's 4x4 relay, composed of Najee Glass, Hugh Graham, Jr., Dukes and Hall posted a 2:59.73 to take top honors against a field of decorated elite and Olympic athletes with the second-best performance in collegiate history and a new Florida record. The quartet joined an elite group of four other relays to ever break three minutes in collegiate history
· The Ga?tors also set the American Collegiate Record in the 4x1 relay at the Texas Relays with a 38.29 school-record performance from Antwan Wright, Graham, Jr., Hall and Dukes
· Most recently, Florida junior thrower Stipe Zunic, the SEC Men's Field Athlete of the Week, tossed a PR of 19.92m/65-4.25 to take the men's shot put title at the FSU Twilight in Tallahassee Friday evening at Mike Long Track, putting a stamp on the outdoor regular season for the No. 1 Gators. Zunic turned in the second-best performance in school history, the second-best performance in the Southeastern Conference and the sixth-best mark in the country heading into the 2014 SEC Outdoor Championships
· Entering 2014 Outdoors, the Gators have at least one athlete in the top three in 16 different events on the men's and women's sides, including the top marks in the league thus far in the men's & women's 200m (Dukes: 19.97, Jefferson: 22.78), women's 400m (Reynolds: 51.57), men's long jump (Dendy: 7.93m/26-0.25), women's triple jump (Brewer: 13.58m/44-6.75) and women's javelin (Vucenovic: 56.73m/186-1)
· Florida's men's 4x1 (38.29) and 4x4 (2:59.73) relays both rank first, while the women's 4x4 (3:27.38) and 4x1 (43.41) are first and second, respectively, in the league
2014 SEC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS | SCHEDULE OF EVENTS AND PARTICIPANTS
| THURSDAY | |
| 12:00PM | HEPTATHLON – Harrell |
| 1:30PM | WOMEN'S HAMMER PRELIM & FINAL – Bostic |
| FRIDAY | |
| FIELD EVENTS |
|
| 1:30PM | HEPTHALON – Harrell |
| 1:30PM | MEN'S HAMMER PRELIM & FINAL – Levin / Strawn |
| TRACK EVENTS |
|
| 6:15PM | WOMEN'S 800M PRELIM – Greene |
| 6:30PM | MEN'S 800M PRELIM – Obinwa / Arroyo / Schnulle / Lee, Jr. |
| 6:45PM | WOMEN'S 200M PRELIM – Gause / Davis |
| 7:05PM | MEN'S 200M PRELIM – Dukes / Wright / Hall |
| 7:40PM | MEN'S 400M HURDLES PRELIM – Aird |
| 8:05PM | WOMEN'S 10,000M FINAL – Macedo |
| 8:45PM | MEN'S 10,000M FINAL – Garcia / Clemente / Reynolds / Miranda |
| SATURDAY | |
| FIELD EVENTS |
|
| 1:00PM | WOMEN'S LONG JUMP PRELIM & FINAL – Graham / Reynolds |
| 1:00PM | WOMEN'S JAVELIN PRELIM & FINAL – Miller / Vucenovic |
| 3:00PM | WOMEN'S HIGH JUMP FINAL – Burke |
| 4:00PM | MEN'S LONG JUMP PRELIM & FINAL – Dendy |
| TRACK EVENTS |
|
| 3:45PM | WOMEN'S 1500M PRELIM – McGee / Strausa / Greene |
| 4:20PM | WOMEN'S 100M HURDLES PRELIM – Owens / Ross-Ransom / Eady |
| 4:40PM | MEN'S 110M HURDLES PRELIM – Lovett / Pitt / Hart |
| 5:00PM | WOMEN'S 400M PRELIM – Reynolds / Eutsey / Gause / Curtis |
| 5:20PM | MEN'S 400M PRELIM – Hall / Graham, Jr. / Glass / Uruburu |
| 5:40PM | WOMEN'S 100M PRELIM – Sanders / Davis |
| 5:55PM | MEN'S 100M PRELIM – Wright / Dukes |
| 6:40PM | MEN'S STEEPLECHASE FINAL – Mutz |
| SUNDAY | |
| FIELD EVENTS |
|
| 11:00AM | MEN'S JAVELIN PRELIM & FINAL – Zunic |
| 12:00PM | WOMEN'S TRIPLE JUMP PRELIM & FINAL – Brewer / Warner |
| 1:30PM | MEN'S SHOT PUT PRELIM & FINAL – Zunic |
| 2:00PM | MEN'S POLE VAULT FINAL – Watkins / Amodio |
| 3:00PM | MEN'S TRIPLE JUMP FINAL – Dendy |
| 3:00PM | WOMEN'S DISCUS PRELIM & FINAL – Laska |
| TRACK EVENTS |
|
| 2:00PM | WOMEN'S 4X100M FINAL – Reynolds-Sanders-Gause-Eutsey |
| 2:10PM | MEN'S 4X100M FINAL – Wright-Graham, Jr.-Hall-Dukes |
| 2:20PM | WOMEN'S 1500M FINAL – McGee / Strausa / Greene |
| 2:40PM | WOMEN'S 100M HURDLES FINAL– Owens / Ross-Ransom / Eady |
| 2:50PM | MEN'S 110M HURDLES FINAL– Lovett / Pitt / Hart |
| 3:00PM | WOMEN'S 400M FINAL– Reynolds / Eutsey / Gause / Curtis |
| 3:10PM | MEN'S 400M FINAL– Hall / Graham, Jr. / Glass / Uruburu |
| 3:20PM | WOMEN'S 100M FINAL – Sanders / Davis |
| 3:30PM | MEN'S 100M FINAL– Wright / Dukes |
| 3:40PM | WOMEN'S 800M FINAL – Greene |
| 3:50PM | MEN'S 800M FINAL – Obinwa / Arroyo / Schnulle / Lee, Jr. |
| 4:10PM | MEN'S 400M HURDLES FINAL – Aird |
| 4:20PM | WOMEN'S 200M FINAL – Gause / Davis |
| 4:30PM | MEN'S 200M FINAL – Dukes / Wright / Hall |
| 4:40PM | WOMEN'S 5000M FINAL – Strausa / Macedo / McGee |
| 5:00PM | MEN'S 5000M FINAL – Reynolds / Miranda / Mutz / Clemente / Garcia |
| 5:25PM | WOMEN'S 4X400M FINAL – Reynolds-Gause-Curtis-Eutsey |
| 5:35PM | MEN'S 4X400M FINAL – Glass-Graham, Jr.-Dukes-Hall-Uruburu |
