Dendy, Glass, Holloway & Petersen Garner USTFCCCA South Region Indoor Athlete & Coach of Year Accolades
Friday, March 6, 2015 | Track and Field
NEW ORLEANS, La. -- A week after winning the 2015 Men's Track & Field SEC Indoor Championship, the No. 1 Gators reeled in four USTFCCCA South Region Athlete and Coach of the Year Awards, announced Friday afternoon by the Coaches Association.
SEC individual champions Najee Glass and Marquis Dendy were named the South Region Track and Field Athletes of the Year, respectively, while Florida head coach Mike Holloway picked up South Region Men's Coach of the Year honors. On the women's side, Gators assistant Nic Petersen was tabbed the South Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the UF jumps corps sending five athletes, including two men's jumpers, to indoor nationals next week.
Glass and Dendy combined to win three SEC titles for the Gators en route to the program's seventh SEC Indoor Championship Feb. 26-27 in Lexington. For Glass, the SEC title marked the first individual title of his career, while Dendy, a three-time national champion, picked up his third SEC indoor long jump title and his fourth and fifth career SEC titles with a sweep in the long and (8.00m/26-3) and triple jump (16.98m/55-08.5) events. Dendy, the world leader in the triple, was the first athlete to sweep both jumps at the SEC Indoor Championships since Gators' Christian Taylor in 2009, as he tied for the SEC's Cliff Harper High Point Award Trophy with his 20 points towards UF's championship total. Glass won the 400m in 45.37, becoming the first Gator to win the indoor quarter mile in a decade.
The body of work for Holloway speaks for itself as the Gators have established themselves as one of the elite track and field programs in the country on both the men's and women's side. Holloway has led the men's track and field program to five national titles, including three indoors, while the women's third-place finish at 2014 indoor nationals was its highest under Holloway. Florida's 40.5 points were its most in 10 years, while the Gators' 20 All-America honors were the most in program history. Florida enters NCAAs next week with a nation-leading 14 entries on the men's side and 13 on the women's side, which ranks second.
Petersen, in his third season coaching the Orange and Blue, has carried on the tradition of Florida's production of elite jumpers. Petersen has tutored five athletes to NCAA Indoors next week, including three on the women's side in seniors Ciarra Brewer, Gissell Warner and freshman Darrielle McQueen. Brewer owns the second-best mark in the country so far this season (13.77m/45-2.25) in the triple jump. On the men's side, both Dendy and freshman KeAndre Bates stack up for Florida, as the duo went 1-5 in both the long and triple at SECs.
MARQUIS DENDY | SOUTH REGION MEN'S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
· SEC Champ in long jump (8.00m/26-3) and triple jump (16.98m/55-08.50), the first athlete to double in both since 2009 (Christian Taylor)
· Tied for Cliff Harper Commissioner's Trophy (high point) with 20 points towards UF's SEC Championship
· Won SEC Indoor LJ for third time, first SEC athlete to win three LJ titles in two decades (1992-94, Erick Walder of Arky)
· Owns the top TJ in the NCAA/world this year (17.23m/56-6.5), also the No. 9 performance all-time (2-14-15 at Tyson Invite)
NAJEE GLASS | SOUTH REGION MEN'S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
· The SEC Champion in the 400m (45.37) in Nutter Field House Record time and the leadoff leg of UF's SEC runner-up relay (3:04.28) to contribute 18 points as UF won the SEC Indoor Championship
· Owns the fastest 400m in the NCAA this season, a 45.34 performance from the Razorback Invitational Jan. 31
· Glass' 45.34 currently ranks second in the world, and was the fastest mark in the world in 2015 until 2-21-15
· First Gator since Kerron Clement in 2005 to win the SEC Indoor 400m
MIKE HOLLOWAY | SOUTH REGION MEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR
· Led Florida men to 2015 SEC Indoor Championship for first time since 2011, the program's seventh men's SEC indoor title in history (third under Holloway)
· Won his eighth SEC title (men and women, indoor and outdoor) as the Gators' head coach
· Team boasts a nation-leading 14 event entries leading up to NCAA Indoors next week in Fayetteville
· Men's team had five SEC individual Champs & qualified 11 for NCAA Championships (23 total NCAA qualifiers with women's squad)
· Had SEC men's high point award winner (Marquis Dendy), who swept both SEC jumps
· Boasts world leader Dendy in TJ, top athlete in NCAA in 400m in Najee Glass, put four men in 400m, two in 800m, two each in TJ & LJ for NCAAs
NIC PETERSEN | SOUTH REGION WOMEN'S ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR
· Three women's NCAA jumps qualifiers in Ciarra Brewer, Darrielle McQueen & Gissell Warner
· Notably, has five total jumpers heading to NCAA Indoors (two men as well), including world triple jump leader Marquis Dendy
· Coached Brewer to a runner-up finish at SEC Champs in the TJ (13.54m/44-05.25), while the freshman McQueen scored UF's first points at SECs in her conference meet debut with a PR and fifth-place showing in the LJ (6.30m/20-8)
· Warner's TJ PR of 12.97m/42-6.75 ranks her 12th in the nation entering NCAA Indoors
· McQueen is the second-best freshman in NCAA in LJ, while Brewer ranks No. 2 in NCAA in TJ with her PR of 13.77m/45-2.25
2015 NCAA INDOOR MEET & BROACAST INFORMATION
· Florida NCAA Indoor Qualifiers
· SEC Track & Field Highlight Show: March 9, 2015 | ESPNU | 7:30-9 p.m.
· ESPN3 will stream the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships live March 13 & 14 beginning at 7 p.m. ET. A tape delay of the championships will air March 23 on ESPN at 7 p.m.
IN THE POLLS
Men: No. 1
Women: No. 3
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