Florida Gators
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Gators T&F Finishes as 2015 NCAA Outdoor National Runner-Up
Saturday, June 13, 2015 | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore. -- Marquis Dendy and the Florida seniors left it all on the track and field Friday, Dendy repeating as the triple jump national champion with a plethora of notable honors to notch his second NCAA title this week, the seventh national title of his career and Florida's 61st national title in program history. The Gator men's track and field program finished as the national runner-up at Hayward Field with 56 points behind host Oregon (85).
If there was a doubt in anyone's mind, Dendy cemented his place as one of the best combo jumpers ever, starting with a leap of 57 feet, five inches Friday, the best triple-jump mark by a collegiate athlete in 30 years, not to mention a school record. His wind-aided finale of 58 feet, one and a quarter inches, counted as an NCAA Meet Record, and solidified his place as the No. 3 performer all-time in collegiate history, all-conditions, with the No. 3 mark in the world right now.
Florida now has seven straight top-three finishes on the men's side outdoors, and has been second or better six of those years. Dendy grabbed UF's 60th and 61st national titles, half of which (13 indoor, 17 outdoor) have come since head coach Mike Holloway took over the program in 2008. The Gators' 56 points this year were the second-most in Holloway's tenure with the men's program. By the way, Dendy's triple jump title made it six straight TJ titles for the Orange and Blue outdoors.
While Dendy paced the Gators' squad with 20 points towards Florida's two-day NCAA Outdoor total 56, senior thrower Stipe Zunic added six on day one, and the Gators followed with another 30 Friday. Senior sprinter Dedric Dukes ran UF's 4x1 relay and NCAA runner-up 4x4 relay while finishing as the national runner-up in the 200m and fellow veteran Mark Parrish scored three with an All-America performance in the steeplechase. Junior Najee Glass held it down with a fourth-place finish and five points in the 500m (46.31).
The Orange and Blue capped the day with a NCAA runner-up finish in the 4x4 behind a 3:02.48 run from Nick Uruburu, Dukes, Arman Hall and Glass to put a wrap on the 2015 collegiate outdoor campaign.
With the men's champion crowned, Florida's women's squad will now return to work at Hayward at 1:30 p.m. (PT) Saturday seeking its second national championship. The ESPN family of networks will have coverage of the final day of the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
SEVEN-TIME NATIONAL CHAMPION MARQUIS DENDY
On jumping 58 feet in the triple jump Friday:
“It meant a whole lot. After the jump, I knew that I sealed the win. Going in, my thought process was that this was my last jump as a collegiate athlete and I definitely wanted to hit the 58-foot mark, so I went after it and it felt so good when I landed it. I kind of knew it was big, but I wasn't sure right away.”
On winning seven individual national titles:
“I can't even fathom that I accomplished that. I'm not sure what to say. I think I need to lay and think about it for a while to let it sink in. I'm really glad that I was able to give it my all do so well during my career.”
HEARING OUT HOLLOWAY
On Marquis Dendy:
“This is just my honest opinion, I think that Marquis Dendy is arguably the best combination jumper to come out of the University of Florida. He battled through some injuries while he was here, but when that guy was healthy, he was one of the best I have ever seen. I'm just so proud of him. I think he's a superstar in the making and we're all going to hear a lot from him internationally down the road. I can't begin to speak about what he's meant to this program and what he has done for this program. I'm really proud of him for everything he's accomplished.”
On UF winning its sixth-straight triple jump title:
“It speaks volumes to the effort and the excellence that we've put forth into our program. Marquis (Dendy), KeAndre (Bates) and any jumper we bring on campus talks about the success we've had in the triple jump, the success we've had in the long jump and that we want to be the best jumps school in the country. We showed it again today.”
On the team finishing second:
“We hang our hats on the fact that dating back to 2009, so 16 meets in a row, we've finished in the top 3 as a team. I think that's a phenomenal run and it's not one we're looking to see end anytime soon.”
On UF's men going forward:
“This summer is big for us because we will have some guys here during Summer B and they will have a chance to get with Matt DeLancey, our strength and conditioning coach, and get stronger both mentally and physically, which is really important for the future of our program.”
MEN'S TOP 10 TEAM SCORES
| Place | Men's Team | Score | |
| 1 |
| Oregon | 85.0 |
| 2 |
| Florida | 56.0 |
| 3 |
| Arkansas | 53.0 |
| 4 |
| LSU | 45.0 |
| 5 |
| USC | 40.50 |
| 6 |
| Texas A&M | 27.0 |
| 7 |
| Texas | 26.0 |
| 8 |
| Miss State | 20.0 |
| 9 |
| Texas Tech | 18.0 |
| 10 |
| Illinois | 17.0 |
| 10 |
| Penn State | 17.0 |
GATORS NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS NOTABLES
· A contingent of 23 Gators descended upon Eugene and TrackTown USA Sunday afternoon for the 2015 NCAA Championships at Historic Hayward Field. The Gators own six national titles, including five on the men's side. Two of those crowns are outdoor national titles as the No. 1 UF men's squad struck with back-to-back outdoor titles in 2012 and 2013. The No. 6 Florida women own one indoor national title from 1992
· Still left to compete for a title Saturday, women's redshirt sophomore Kyra Jefferson, the indoor national champion at 200m, has made a splash this season and enters Saturday's finals as the top seed in the event with her PR and school-record tying 22.26
· The Gators were crowned the 2015 SEC Outdoor Champions on the men's side after picking up Florida's fifth overall outdoor title in Starkville in May
· On the women's side, after finishing third indoors for their highest finish under head coach Mike Holloway, the Gators finished with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the second top-five finish under Holloway and the best since third in 2010. Florida scored the second-most points in program history at NCAA Outdoors (55), while UF's 19 All-America honors from outdoors marked the most in school history
MEET AND BROADCAST INFORMATION
· 2015 NCAA Championships Schedule
· Remaining ESPN Broadcast Schedule:
Saturday, June 13........................5 p.m.-7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
4:30 p.m.-7:45 p.m. (ESPN3)
FLORIDA NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE (all times Pacific) | DAY ONE RECAP (men) ?| DAY TWO RECAP (women)
| Friday, June 12 Men's Results | |
| Triple Jump | 1. Marquis Dendy, 17.71m/58-1.25 (+2.4) | New school record on first jump (57-5), No. 3 performance all-time in collegiate history all-conditions, No. 3 mark in the world right now all-conditions, NCAA Meet Record |
| 4x100 (F) | 6. Antwan Wright, Arman Hall, Eric Futch, Dedric Dukes, 38.96 | scored 3 points for Gators |
| Steeple (F) | 6. Mark Parrish, 8:42.34 | scored 3 points for Gators |
| 400m (F) | 4. Najee Glass, 46.31 | scored 5 points for the Gators |
| 800m (F) | 8. Andres Arroyo, 1:50.67 | scored a point for the Gators |
| 400mH (F) | 7. Eric Futch, 50.90 | scored 2 points for the Gators |
| 200m (F) | 2. Dedric Dukes, 19.86 (+2.4) | all-conditions PR, scored eight points for Florida w/ No. 4 all-conditions mark in world |
| 4x400 (F) | 2. Nick Uruburu, Dedric Dukes, Arman Hall, Najee Glass, 3:02.48 | scored eight points for Florida |
| Saturday, June 13 (WOMEN – CHAMPION CROWNED) | |
| 1:30pm | High Jump – Burke |
| 2:00pm | Triple Jump – Brewer |
| 2:05pm | 4x100 (F) – Reynolds-Sanders-Gause-Jefferson |
| 2:45pm | 100 Hurdles (F) – Owens |
| 3:20pm | 800m (F) – Francis |
| 3:40pm | 200m (F) – Jefferson |
| 4:20pm | 4x400 (F) – Reynolds-Jefferson-Gause-Francis-Washington |
IN THE POLLS
Men: No. 1
Women: No. 6
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Women's Instagram
PERFORMANCE LISTS: W Outdoor Top 10 | M Outdoor Top 10 | 2015 Outdoor Performance Chart
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Gators PushTheButton #NCAATF
