Yanick Hart is after a 60-meter hurdles title at the NCAA Indoor Championships. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA)
Hart Has Hurdled Obstacles on Way to Breakout Season
Thursday, March 10, 2016 | Track and Field
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The Gators' junior is a contender in the 60-meter hurdles at NCAA Indoor Championships
By: Taryn Bray, Writing Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – If there's a perfect time to peak during the season, right before the NCAA Indoor Championships is it.
And that's exactly what UF men's hurdler Yanick Hart is doing.
The junior from Kingston, Jamaica, has seemingly hit his stride in the 60-meter hurdles, posting a personal-record 7.71 seconds at the SEC Indoor Championships recently at the University of Arkansas.
Hart's time moved him to No. 3 on UF's all-time indoor top 10, but performing this well indoor hasn't always been the case for Hart.
Often bogged down by injuries during the indoor season, this is the first time Hart has truly been healthy before the NCAA Indoor Championships. Yanick Hart "I started the preseason this year changing up some stuff with Coach [Mike] Holloway," said Hart. "We worked on some areas we knew I was lacking so we prepared well in the fall and we saw big things coming, but everything happens in its own time."
That time seems to be now.
Still, Hart admits at the beginning of the season he had to overcome a different hurdle – his emotions.
During the first meet of the season, he went into the finals leading but took an unfortunate fall that saw his lead slip away.
Hart was understandably frustrated after working so hard to be in that position, but Holloway sat him down and let him know he wasn't going to give up on him. The bigger message: Hart had to feel the same way about himself.
Later that day Hart did something he hasn't done before. He cried.
"I let the burden out by crying and after that I felt lighter at training and had a different mindset," he said. "My mind was clear and I was feeling good to compete."
Since then Hart has posted several of the top times of his career, including the one in Arkansas that made him one of only two Gators since 2007 to break 7.72 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles at the SEC Indoor Championships.
There has been a noticeable change in Hart this season. And it extends beyond the track.
"I think a lot of it has to do with motivation. His preparation is on a different level at this point," said senior teammate and fellow hurdler Moriel Pitt. "We've all known how talented he is and what he could do so I'm not surprised at how well he's performing."
Added Holloway: "The biggest change I've seen is he's understanding that it's a process and that he has to take care of every part of the race. He really figured out outdoors previously, and now he's really starting to figure out indoors."
The relationship Hart has developed with Holloway has been an important factor in the success he has been seeing on the track, and one of his main goals is to be on Holloway's wall.
Being on that wall means you have to be an SEC or NCAA champion, and his coach believes he has the makings to be one.
"I think it's just a matter of how much work he's willing to put in here on and off the track," Holloway said.
Hart is one of the eight entries on the men's side that will be competing this weekend in Birmingham, Ala., at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
If Hart wants to win that coveted NCAA title and land on his coach's wall, he will need to peak once more.
Post college track season, Hart has his eye on landing a spot on the Jamaican Olympic Team.
One more hurdle in a season that's already featured Hart clearing some big ones.
