Florida Gators
SEC Indoor Championships
Marquis Dendy Crowned SEC Indoor Long Jump Champ, Gators Set Up for a Successful Championship Saturday
Saturday, February 28, 2015 | Track and Field
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Florida kicked off the 2015 SEC Indoor Championships with a SEC title from men's senior jumper Marquis Dendy, his third career SEC indoor championship, and the Orange and Blue set up for an exciting championship Saturday with the most finals qualifiers on both the men's (10) and women's (8) sides heading into the last day of competition at Nutter Field House in Lexington.
On the men's side, the Gators stand in second following day one (24 pts) behind Arkansas (33 pts), and packed a punch in the jumps behind Dendy's title (8.00m/26-3) with freshman KeAndre Bates in fifth (7.58m/24-10.5) for 14 crucial Florida points. Dendy became the first men's athlete to win three career long jump titles in nearly two decades since Erick Walder (Arkansas) did so from 1992-94. Men's senior distance runner Mark Parrish ran down two competitors in the final stretch of the 3000m final to sneak into third (8:05.70), while fellow distance partner Jimmy Clark (8:14.77) and men's senior thrower Kyle Strawn (19.78m/64-10.75) each finished seventh in their respective 3K and weight throw competitions.
Women's freshman long jumper Darrielle McQueen put up Florida's first points of the championships with a new PR and fifth-place showing in the event (6.30m/20-8) to start the Gators off right Friday afternoon, and UF added points on the women's side from senior Brittany Harrell's fourth-place finish in the pentathlon (4,208) and sophomore Taylor Tubb's fifth-place showing in finals of the 3000m (9:31.84). Florida sits in eighth place on the women's side following the first day of SEC Indoor competition (13 pts).
Andres Arroyo (800m), Claudia Francis (800m) and Kyra Jefferson (400m) all solidified the top seed of their respective events heading into Saturday finals, while Najee Glass (400m), Hugh Graham, Jr. (60m), Jefferson (200m) and Shayla Sanders (60m) all secured No. 2 seeds for finals. Bridgette Owens (60mH) and Ryan Schnulle (800m) each secured No. 3 seeds following Friday prelims.
Gator track and field fans can catch the final day of action live on SEC Network + with Larry Rawson starting at 1:50 p.m. Saturday. Follow the Gators: Twitter | Facebook | Women's Instagram | Men's Indoor Top-10 | Women's Indoor Top-10 | SEC Indoors Meet Notes
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.
HEARING OUT HOLLOWAY
On his overall thoughts on the first day of SEC Indoors:
“I thought we had a great day today. I'm extremely proud of everybody on both sides. Britt Harrell came in and was All-SEC again in the pentathlon, Marquis Dendy won the long jump, Mark Parrish had a wonderful kick in finishing third in the 3K. KeAndre Bates scored in the long jump, Darrielle McQueen came in and set a new PR in her first SEC Championships to finish fifth. Just a phenomenal day, and we qualified great.”
On his message to the team heading into Saturday:
“My message to the team is today is gone. If you didn't do what you needed to do today, you have tomorrow to make up for it. If you got done what you needed to get done today, don't rest on it. We have to come back tomorrow and we have to match the intensity of the other schools in this building.”
WATCH: Marquis Dendy on his SEC Long Jump Championship
WATCH: Darrielle McQueen on scoring UF's first points at SEC Indoors
2015 SEC INDOOR MEET & BROACAST INFORMATION
· SEC Network + (Saturday, 1:50 p.m. ET)
· SEC Track & Field Highlight Show: March 9, 2015 | ESPNU | 7:30-9 p.m.
2015 SEC CHAMPIONS
· Marquis Dendy: Long Jump (8.00m/26-3)
2015 SEC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS GATOR SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
| FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 RESULTS | ||
| Field Events | ||
| Pentathlon | 4. Brittany Harrell, 4,208 | |
| 6. 60mH (1010 points) -- 8.53 | PR, No. 9 mark all-time for UF | ||
| 7. HJ (879) -- 1.72m/5-7.75 | ||
| 14. SP (599 points) -- 11.06m/36-3.5 | season-best mark | ||
| 6. LJ (789 points) -- 5.80m/19-0.5 | ||
| 1. 800m (931 points) -- 2:12.35 | PR | ||
| M High Jump | 11. Jhonny Victor, 2.05m/6-8.75 | |
| W Long Jump | 5. Darrielle McQueen, 6.30m/20-8 | PR, No. 7 mark in school history | |
| M Weight Throw | 7. Kyle Strawn, 19.78m/64-10.75 | |
| M Long Jump | 1. Marquis Dendy, 8.00m/26-3 | third SEC indoor title (2012, 2013, 2015) | |
| 5. KeAndre Bates, 7.58m/24-10.5 | ||
| W Shot Put | 9. Lloydricia Cameron, 15.36m/50-4.75 | |
| Running Events | ||
| W 60m Hurdles (P) | 3. Bridgette Owens, 8.11 | qualifies for finals | |
| 15. Ryann McEnany, 8.81 | ||
| M 60m Hurdles (P) | 5. Yanick Hart, 7.82 | season-best mark, advances to finals | |
| 13. Moriel Pitt, 8.07 | ||
| W 60m (P) | 2. Shayla Sanders, 7.21 | season-best mark, advances to finals | |
| M 60m (P) | 2. Hugh Graham, Jr., 6.60 | PR, advances to finals | |
| 6. Antwan Wright, 6.69 | advances to finals | ||
| 16. Dedric Dukes, 6.85 | ||
| W Mile (P) | 7. Taylor Tubbs, 4:49.73 | advances to finals | |
| 8. Greene, 4:50.04 | season-best mark, advances to finals | ||
| 19. Shelby Hayes, 5:03.16 | ||
| M Mile (P) | 12. Carlos Miranda, 4:09.36 | PR | |
| 14. Jack Beitter, 4:12.64 | PR | ||
| 21. Mac Reynolds, 4:22.61 | ||
| W 400m (P) | 1. Kyra Jefferson, 52.31 | advances to finals | |
| 10. Destinee Gause, 53.85 | ||
| 30. Destiny Washington, 56.47 | PR | ||
| 32. Julie Nunn, 56.48 | PR | ||
| M 400m (P) | 2. Najee Glass, 45.76 | advances to finals | |
| 4. Nick Uruburu, 46.31 | PR, advances to finals | ||
| 5. Hugh Graham, Jr., 46.40 | advances to finals | ||
| 6. Arman Hall, 46.43 | season-best mark, advances to finals | ||
| 10. Eric Futch, 46.72 | PR | ||
| 28. Gabe Aird, 49.01 | PR | ||
| W 800m (P) | 1. Claudia Francis, 2:05.15 | PR, fourth-fastest in UF history, advances to finals | |
| M 800m (P) | 1. Andres Arroyo, 1:48.31 | advances to finals | |
| 3. Ryan Schnulle, 1:49.38 | advances to finals | ||
| W 200m (P) | 2. Kyra Jefferson, 23.21 | advances to finals | |
| 6. Destinee Gause, 23.61 | advances to finals | ||
| 15. Shayla Sanders, 24.02 | ||
| M 200m (P) | 5. Dedric Dukes, 21.04 | advances to finals | |
| 9. Antwan Wright, 21.26 | PR | ||
| W 3,000m | 5. Taylor Tubbs, 9:31.84 | |
| M 3,000m | 3. Mark Parrish, 8:05.70 | |
| 7. Jimmy Clark, 8:14.77 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 2:00pm | W 60m Hurdles (F) | Owens |
| 2:10pm | M 60m Hurdles (F) | Hart |
| 2:20pm | W 60m (F) | Sanders |
| 2:25pm | M 60m (F) | Graham, Jr. / Wright |
| 2:45pm | W Mile (F) | Tubbs / Greene |
| 3:05pm | W 400m (F) | Jefferson |
| 3:15pm | M 400m (F) | Glass / Graham, Jr. / Uruburu / 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 |
| 4:35pm | M 200m (F) | Dukes |
| 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.
