Live Blog: Gators go for team, individual titles at Indoor Track & Field National Championships
Saturday, March 14, 2015 | Women's Basketball, Track and Field, Scott Carter
Updated post: 9:58 p.m.
Hey folks, thanks for checking out the live blog tonight. I'm going to start writing a story for GatorZone.
The Oregon men clinched the national title by scoring 24 points in the 3,000 meters. The Ducks had five runners in the event. The Gators can still close the gap -- they currently trail 74-50 -- but not all of it.
Meanwhile, the Arkansas women clinched the title, the first women's national championship in school history.
Overall, the Gators won five individual national championships and still have the 4x400 men's relay left to run.
For the Oregon men, it's their second consecutive national title and third in seven years, matching the Gators over that span.
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Updated post: 9:03 p.m.
If you like national champions, the Gators have pumped four out in the last half hour or so.
The two latest are Marquis Dendy, who adds a triple jump national title to his long jump from Friday night, and Kyra Jefferson, who claimed the national title in the women's 200 meters.
Jefferson set a school record with a time of 22.63, edging Oregon's Jenna Prandini (22.74).
As for Dendy, he won with a jump of 17.37 meters/57 feet to sweep the jump titles. The jump was the third-longest in NCAA history and longest since 1986 according to the U.S Track and Field's Twitter feed. The triple-jump crown is Florida's fifth in the past seven years.
.@CheckTheSky --- SWEEP! National Champion in the long AND triple jump! #JumpsU #flightschool (17.37-57-0)! #Gators pic.twitter.com/FkR6tnSIAu
— Gator T & F and XC (@GZTrackField) March 15, 2015
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Updated post: 8:50 p.m.
It has been a memorable few minutes for the Gators at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
Shortly after Ciarra Brewer claimed the national title in the women's triple jump, Stipe Zunic broke his own school record in the shot put to win a national title.
Zunic's toss of 21.11 meters/69-3.25 foot earned the Florida men their second individual national title of the meet. Zunic joined Marquis Dendy, who won the long jump on Friday night.
UF track and field sports-information specialist Kelly Reynolds also points out that Zunic's throw set a new Croatian national record. Zunic is from Zadar, Croatia.
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Updated post: 8:42 p.m.
Florida's Ciarra Brewer just captured the Gators' second individual national title of the meet, earning the title in the triple jump with her school-record leap of 14.01 meters/45 feet, 11.75 inches.
Brewer's jump bettered the previous school record (13.88/45-6.50), set by Shara Proctor in 2010.
She did it! @iJUMP4Christ is the 2015 Indoor #NCAATF TJ NATIONAL CHAMP! School record 14.01m/45-11.75 #PushTheButton pic.twitter.com/KY9rsrmtlC
— Gator T & F and XC (@GZTrackField) March 15, 2015
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Updated post: 8:10 p.m.
Gators junior Najee Glass' quest to add a national title to his SEC title came up short in the men's 400 meters.
Glass (photo, left) placed third, finishing with a time of 45.77 seconds. LSU's Vernon Norwood won with a time of 45.31 seconds, followed by Texas A&M's Bralon Taplin (45.55). Teammate Armon Hall had to pull up in the race and did not finish due to injury.
Still, Glass picked up six points for the Gators in the team standings that could factor in huge as the event progresses.
On the women's side, Florida's Robin Reynolds (53.14) finished eighth in the 400 to pick up a point for the Gators.
In the 60 meters, Shayla Sanders just finished sixth with a time of 7.26 seconds. Video below --
.@lil_hemi24 finishes sixth in competitive 60m field in 7.26 #Gators #PushTheButton pic.twitter.com/FLwz4mzNJm
— Gator T & F and XC (@GZTrackField) March 15, 2015
Oregon currently leads the team standings on both sides. The UF men (22 points) are fourth, trailing the Ducks by 28 points. The women are tied for 10th with 12 points.
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Updated post: 7:38 p.m.
Gators senior sprinter Bridgette Owens finished runner-up in the 60-meter hurdles. Owens posted a time of 7.88 seconds, setting a school record and the fifth-fastest performance in the event for a women this year.
In a photo finish, Owens narrowly lost to Kentucky's Kendra Harrison (7.87).
You can watch below:
Bridgette Owens is your #NCAATF 60mH runner up at 7.88 -- PR & school record for Owens ...No. 5 performance in WORLD! pic.twitter.com/TFQoG6669g
— Gator T & F and XC (@GZTrackField) March 14, 2015
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Updated: 7:30 p.m.
WATCH: @iJUMP4Christ school record triple jump! #Gators #flightschool #PushTheButton pic.twitter.com/mIAfQi2UyG
— Gator T & F and XC (@GZTrackField) March 14, 2015
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Updated post: 7:10 p.m.
Florida's Ciarra Brewer and Gissell Warner were introduced shortly ago leading up to women's triple jump at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
On her first jump, Brewer just set a new school record, flying 14.01m/45-11.75 feet.
Brewer already had the best performance for the Gators in the event this season, posting a jump of 45 feet, 2.25 inches at the Rod McCravy Invitational in January.
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Updated post: 6:45 p.m.
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In case you are wondering, the Gators have won three national titles in men's indoor track and one in women's.
The Florida men captured three consecutive NCAA Indoor titles from 2010-12 with individual champions Jeff Demps (60 meters), Christian Taylor (triple jump), Will Claye (triple jump), Omar Craddock (triple jump) and Tony McQuay (400 meters) combining for seven individual titles over that span.
Demps was the national indoor 60-meter champion all three seasons.
Meanwhile, the UF women's team earned its only national indoor title in 1992 led by individual champions Leah Kirklin (triple jump) and Nekita Beasley, Michelle Freeman, Kim Mitchell and Anita Howard in the 4x400 relay.
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UF senior Marquis Dendy seeks a triple jump title after his long jump title Friday. (Photo: Cheryl Treworgy)
The Gators won four consecutive national indoor titles in the triple jump from 2009-12 as Christian Taylor (2009-10), Will Claye (2011) and Omar Craddock (2012) locked down the event for Florida.
Senior Marquis Dendy, who won the national indoor long jump title on Friday night -- the second of his career -- will try to claim the triple jump as well shortly.
Dendy is one of several UF track and field athletes going for national titles tonight at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
You can follow live scoring at this link or follow @GZTrackField on Twitter for regular updates. You can also check back into this blog throughout the event for updates.
