No. 1 Florida Men Go 1-3 in Long Jump Behind Dendy’s National Title, Gators Set Up For Championship Saturday

Friday, March 13

Fayetteville, AR

Florida Gators

NCAA Indoor Championships

No. 1 Florida Men Go 1-3 in Long Jump Behind Dendy’s National Title, Gators Set Up For Championship Saturday

Saturday, March 14, 2015 | Track and Field

WATCH: Marquis Dendy reaction to long jump national title

From NCAA.com (Chip Souza): Better Than Ever: Florida senior overcomes injury to win long jump title

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Florida senior jumper Marquis Dendy used a PR and school-record tying 8.28m/27-2 leap to win his second indoor national title in the long jump and fourth career individual NCAA championship to help highlight day one of the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships for the Gators in Fayetteville. Three Florida records went down Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center, and the Orange and Blue qualified eight for Saturday finals.

The Florida men racked up 16 points in the long jump with Dendy's title and a third-place personal-best showing from freshman KeAndre Bates in his NCAA Indoor debut with an impressive PR and the No. 4 mark in school history (8.02m/26-3.75). Florida stands third in the men's team standings entering day two of competition, and has qualified Najee Glass (46.11) and Gino Hall (46.18) in the 400m, Ryan Schnulle in the 800m (1:48.79) and Dedric Dukes in the 200m (20.74). Bates and Dendy return to the runway tomorrow for finals of the men's triple jump looking to add to the tally, while men's thrower Stipe Zunic will square off with the opposition in the shot put.

UF's women were on fire, as senior Bridgette Owens used a personal-best performance (7.94) to better her own Florida record in the 60-meter hurdles and solidify the top seed for Saturday finals, while junior sprinter Kyra Jefferson sped her way to a 22.64 PR, also bettering her school record in the 200m. Jefferson enters finals second in the event. Juniors Robin Reynolds and Shayla Sanders also advanced to finals of the 400m (52.76) and 60m (7.23), respectively. Senior Ciarra Brewer will additionally hit the runway for the women's squad in finals of the triple jump beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Both 4x4s will additionally be contested to wrap up the 2015 championships at Randal Tyson.

The final day of action at NCAA Indoors kicks off at 7 p.m. ET with both triple jumps, while all running finals start at 7:20 p.m. ET. From the Randal Tyson Track Center. ESPN3 will stream the final day of the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships live Saturday beginning at 5:50 p.m. ET, and a tape-delayed broadcast of the championships will air March 23 on ESPN at 7 p.m.

HEARING OUT HOLLOWAY

On the men's team following day one:

“We need to be focused for tomorrow. This is a great meet and we're in the title hunt. We just have to keep doing what we do. After the long jump, I told them congratulations, but (Marquis Dendy and KeAndre Bates) will get refocused on the triple jump, we have two qualifiers in the 400m, Dedric (Dukes) in the 200, Ryan (Schnulle) in the 800, the triple jump, the 4x4 and Stipe (Zunic) in the shot. We're ready to go.”

On the women's team Friday:

“I was very proud of the women, Bridgette Owens with a new school record and personal best, very proud of Robin (Reynolds). A couple of weeks ago we weren't sure she'd be able to do this, but she's tough. I challenged her to be who she is. She said: coach, I got you and she did a good job tonight. Kyra (Jefferson) -- wow, another phenomenal performance, another school record. There's more there. The biggest thing for us, we have those three ladies tomorrow, we have Shayla (Sanders), we have triple jump and the 4x4. We just have to come out here and put our best foot forward.”

2015 NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET & BROACAST INFORMATION

· Meet Central

· Saturday ESPN3.com Coverage (5:50 p.m. ET)

· Women's Start List | Men's Start List

· Meet Schedule

· LIVE Results

FOLLOW THE GATORS

SCHOOL RECORDS

· Marquis Dendy: Long Jump, 8.28m/27-2

· Bridgette Owens: 60mH, 7.94

· Kyra Jefferson: 200m, 22.64

TOP FIVE TEAM SCORES FOLLOWING DAY ONE

Men

1. Oregon, 32

2. Arkansas, 23

3. Florida, 16

4. Akron, 10

5. Wisconsin, 10

Women

1. Georgia, 14

2. Oregon, 13.5

3. Baylor, 13

4. Arkansas, 13

5. Akron, 12

6. Kentucky, 12

INDIVIDUAL NCAA INDOOR NOTABLES

· Florida senior jumper Marquis Dendy racked up his second indoor national title in the long jump Friday. Dendy was UF's last indoor national champion on the men's side after winning the event as a sophomore in 2013. Ironically, Dendy won the title in both 2013 and 2015 with the same mark of 8.28/27-2. Dendy now has four individual national titles -- indoor LJ (2013 & 2015), outdoor LJ & TJ (2014) and will be looking to double for the third consecutive championship meet (NCAA outdoors, SEC indoors)

· On the women's side, the Gators' last individual indoor titles came in 2010 when Charlotte Browning and Mariam Kevkhishvili won the mile and shot put, respectively

· Three Gators in Dendy (TJ, 56-6.5), Najee Glass (400m, 45.34) and Kyra Jefferson (200m, 22.81) own the top marks/times in the NCAA so far this year in their events. In addition, both Dendy and Jefferson have world-leading marks in the triple jump and 200m, respectively

· Florida has now won 26 indoor NCAA individual titles on the men's side with Dendy's Friday, 18 on the women's side

· Florida owns a combined four NCAA Indoor Championships, including one on the women's side in 1992 and three straight for the Florida men from 2010-12. Both University of Florida squads finished third at last year's NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, marking the men's sixth-straight top-three finish and the highest finish for the women's program indoors under head coach Mike Holloway

· On the women's side, Florida's 40.5 points at 2014 indoor nationals were its most in 10 years, while the Gators' 20 All-America honors were the most in program history

2015 NCAA INDOOR FRIDAY GATORS RESULTS

Women's Weight Throw Finals

14. Jayla Bostic, 20.09m/65-11

Women's High Jump Finals

10. Taylor Burke, 1.81m/5-11.25

Men's Long Jump Finals

1. Marquis Dendy, 8.28m/27-2 | top mark in the NCAA this year, No. 2 in world, second LJ indoor title, fourth individual natty title

3. KeAndre Bates, 8.02m/26-3.75 | PR, No. 4 mark all-time at Florida

Women's Long Jump Finals

12. Darrielle McQueen, 6.02m/19-9

Men's 5K Finals

9. Mark Parrish, 14:01.21