No. 1/3 Gators Primed for Championship Season, Kick Off SEC Indoors Friday in Lexington
Thursday, February 26, 2015 | Track and Field
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The 2015 SEC Indoor Championships are here, and the No. 1 Florida men and No. 3 Gator women's squads will get the two-day affair started Friday morning at Nutter Field House on the University of Kentucky campus. Gator track and field fans can catch all the action live on SEC Network + with Larry Rawson, starting at 3:50 p.m. ET Friday and 1:50 p.m. Saturday.
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The Gators own 14 SEC Indoor Championships, including six on the men's side and eight for the Florida women. Florida's ladies squad will be shooting for back-to-back SEC titles after winning the crown in 2014, while UF's men will aim to come out on top for the first time since 2011 after three straight runner-up finishes 2012-14.
Entering the indoor conference championships, Florida owns the top spot in the league in five men's events and three women's races, including world leaders in senior men's triple jumper Marquis Dendy (17.23m/56-6.50) and junior Kyra Jefferson in the 200m (22.81).
“The most exciting thing about this meet for me is the fact that everybody that walks into the building -- whether they have a great team or a few great athletes -- comes into it with a tremendous amount of pride,” head coach Mike Holloway remarked. “This league is amazing. Every school has at least one or two or three athletes that are coming in here trying to win something. When you get that many great athletes and coaches in the same building, that's why you have the fireworks you have every year. It's just exciting for me to go out and watch and watch my athletes compete in it.”
Senior pentathlete Brittany Harrell will open up competition for the Gators Friday with the first event of the pentathlon (60mH) at 10:15 a.m. Field events continue through the morning and afternoon, while prelims of track events start at 4 p.m. with the 60-meter hurdles. In addition to the pentathlon, SEC Champions will be crowned in the men's high jump, weight throw and long jump, women's pole vault, long jump and shot put, while finals of both the men's and women's 3K races will be contested Friday evening.
WEEKLY LINKS
· From Scott Carter: Francis Off to Fast Start in Fresh Start at Florida
· VIDEO: Head Coach Mike Holloway Monday Press Conference
2015 SEC INDOOR MEET & BROACAST INFORMATION
· SEC Network + (Friday, 3:50 p.m. ET)
· SEC Network + (Saturday, 1:50 p.m. ET)
· SEC Track & Field Highlight Show: March 9, 2015 | ESPNU | 7:30-9 p.m.
PREVIEWING 2015 SEC INDOORS
The Gator track and field program hits the road for the 2015 SEC Indoor Championships Feb. 27-28 at Nutter Field House in Lexington, where a majority of the Florida program debuted the indoor season Jan. 23-24 at the Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational. UF enters SEC Indoors ranked No. 1 on the men's side, No. 3 in women's action. Florida owns 14 SEC Indoor Championships, six on the men's side and eight in women's action. Florida's women will look to defend its 2014 indoor championship while aiming for their fourth indoor crown in the last six years this weekend in Lexington. The men's squad last won SEC indoors in 2011 and secured a runner-up finish last season. The Orange and Blue own the top mark in the SEC in eight different events between UF's men's and women's teams. While the Gators bid farewell to SEC Indoor Co-Women's Runner of the Year in Cory McGee, the Gators return four SEC indoor champions from a year ago, including SEC Men's Indoor Runner of the Year Arman Hall on the men's side (200) and Ciarra Brewer (TJ) on the women's side, as well as half of UF's SEC Champion DMR and 3/4 of Florida's defending 4x4 relay for the Gator women.
2015 SEC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS GATOR SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
| FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 | ||
| Field Events | ||
| 10:15am | Pentathlon | Harrell |
| 1:00pm | M High Jump | Victor |
| W Long Jump | McQueen | |
| 2:00pm | M Weight Throw | Strawn |
| 4:45pm | M Long Jump | Bates / Dendy |
| 5:00pm | W Shot Put | Cameron |
| Field Events | ||
| 4:00pm | W 60m Hurdles (P) | Owens / McEnany |
| 4:20pm | M 60m Hurdles (P) | Hart / Pitt |
| 4:40pm | W 60m (P) | Sanders |
| 5:00pm | M 60m (P) | Graham, Jr. / Wright / Dukes |
| 5:30pm | W Mile (P) | Tubbs / Hayes / Greene |
| 5:50pm | M Mile (P) | Beitter / Miranda / Reynolds |
| 6:10pm | W 400m (P) | Gause / Nunn / Washington / Jefferson |
| 6:30pm | M 400m (P) | Glass / Graham, Jr. / Uruburu / Futch / Aird / Hall |
| 6:45pm | W 800m (P) | Francis |
| 7:00pm | M 800m (P) | Arroyo / Schnulle |
| 7:25pm | W 200m (P) | Jefferson / Gause / Sanders / Washington |
| 7:50pm | M 200m (P) | Dukes / Wright |
| 8:15pm | W 3,000m | Tubbs |
| 8:40pm | M 3,000m | Parrish / Clark |
| SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 | ||
| Field Events | ||
| 11:30am | W Weight Throw | Bostic / Cameron |
| W High Jump | Burke | |
| W Triple Jump | Brewer / Warner / McQueen | |
| M Pole Vault | Watkins / Amodio | |
| 3:00pm | M Shot Put | Zunic |
| M Triple Jump | Dendy / Bates | |
| Running Events (finals competitors TBD after Friday prelims) | ||
| 2:00pm | W 60m Hurdles (F) | Owens / McEnany |
| 2:10pm | M 60m Hurdles (F) | Hart / Pitt |
| 2:20pm | W 60m (F) | Sanders |
| 2:25pm | M 60m (F) | Graham, Jr. / Wright / Dukes |
| 2:45pm | W Mile (F) | Tubbs / Hayes / Greene |
| 2:55pm | M Mile (F) | Beitter / Miranda / Reynolds |
| 3:05pm | W 400m (F) | Gause / Nunn / Washington / Jefferson |
| 3:15pm | M 400m (F) | Glass / Graham, Jr. / Uruburu / Futch / Aird / Hall |
| 3:25pm | W 5,000m | Brasure / McDermott |
| 4:05pm | W 800m (F) | Francis |
| 4:15pm | M 800m (F) | Arroyo / Schnulle |
| 4:25pm | W 200m (F) | Jefferson / Gause / Sanders / Washington |
| 4:35pm | M 200m (F) | Dukes / Wright |
| 4:45pm | M 5,000m | Parrish / Clark / Garcia |
| 5:20pm | W DMR | Tubbs-Washington-Greene-Hayes (Nunn) |
| 5:35pm | M DMR | Arroyo-Uruburu-Schnulle-Beitter (Futch-Aird) |
| 5:50pm | W 4x400 | Gause-Jefferson-Francis-Washington (Nunn) |
| 6:05pm | M 4x400 | Glass-Graham, Jr.-Dukes-Hall (Uruburu-Futch) |
IN THE POLLS
Men: No. 1
Women: No. 3
UP NEXT
The 2015 indoor campaign wraps up with NCAA Indoors March 13-14 at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. NCAAs will mark the third meet the Gators will visit Fayetteville this indoor season, having already competed at the Razorback Invitational and Tyson Invitational.
