Friday, March 10
College Station, Texas
Florida Gators
at
NCAA Indoor Championships
Florida's men enter the meet as the favorites, while the women will make a push for multiple individual titles.
Gators Chase NCAA Titles in College Station
Thursday, March 9, 2017 | Track and Field
Florida's men have won six team national titles since 2010 (more than any program in the nation during that time) and are favored to win a fourth indoor title this weekend
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Florida's men enter this weekend's NCAA Indoor Championships as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, while the women feature a handful of individual title contenders.
For the men, seven of its entrants rank third or higher nationally. Only Oregon (three) boasts more than two such entries.
UF's group is headlined by national leader and SEC champion Grant Holloway (60 hurdles), who also ranks second in the long jump. Junior KeAndre Bates, the USTFCCCA South Region and SEC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, is seeded second in the triple jump and third in the long jump. Clayton Brown, the SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year, ranks tied for second in the high jump and third in the triple jump. Rounding out UF's top-three entries is its 4x400 relay team of Kunle Fasasi, Holloway, Eric Futch, and TJ Holmes, which broke the school record and ran the third-fastest time in collegiate history (3:02.73) at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Fasasi and Futch are also competing in the individual 400 meters, entering with the No. 9- and No. 11-ranked times in the nation, respectively.
Sophomore triple jumper Yanis David leads the women's entries, checking in at No. 2 nationally. David is ahead of the No. 3-ranked mark by seven inches. Fellow sophomore Sharrika Barnett also enters the meet ranked in the top five, boasting a season-best time of 52.07 in the 400 meters.
Friday's (March 10) and Saturday's (March 11) action will be streamed live on ESPN3, via Watch ESPN. A two-hour television broadcast of the championship will air on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET Sunday. A full schedule for this weekend is below, as are quotes from Thursday's (March 9) pre-meet press conference.
HEARING OUT (COACH & GRANT) HOLLOWAY
Grant Holloway on what he believes his best event is…
"My best event, I would honestly say, is whatever Coach Holloway decides to put me in that week. I'm very versatile, from the hurdles to the long jump, and I can run the open 400."
G. Holloway on whether or not there is pressure to score big points to help the team win the title…
"Pressure? No. Excitement? Yes. There is not really a lot of pressure when you have experience. If the team is counting on me for points, I'm just going to go out there and just be Grant Holloway, whether that's in the long jump or on the track. Just going out there, having fun, and competing with my team is all you can do at this point. There isn't really pressure."
G. Holloway on what the team needs to have happen to win the championship this weekend…
"Competing for a team championship is self-explanatory. We're just going to compete. We're going to join into the party with some of the best collegiate athletes here. You can't really focus in on certain events, because you never really know what's going to happen. The media does its job sending out predictions and everything, but it comes down to what happens when the gun goes off. Someone could run a 2-second PR, a 1-second PR, and someone can edge out someone. It's kind of just who is going to show up on that day, at that time, at that place."
Head Coach Mike Holloway's opening statement…
"Good afternoon. We're just really excited to be here. We've always had great championship meets here. I don't expect this one to be any different. On the men's side, we've got a very competent group, I like to call it. Very diverse. We're just really excited to take part in the championships. We've had a great two weeks of training since the conference championships. Just excited to see everyone get out there and do their thing this weekend."
Coach Holloway on being the favorite what his team needs to do to fend off the top contenders…
"We're going to take care of the Gators. Obviously everybody knows what (Oregon's) Edward (Cheserek) is trying to do. It's one of the bigger stories in the world right now. But, honestly, all we can do is take care of Florida, and I tell my team that. There's a computer that keeps the score; we've got to give it a reason to put some points beside Florida. We're not going to talk about other teams and what they can do. We're looking forward to great competition in every event we're involved in … but we can't focus on those competitors. We have to take care of ourselves. Obviously tomorrow is a big day, because if you don't take care of tomorrow there is no Saturday. That's our focus right now."
Coach Holloway on if there is an X-factor individual for the men's team that can help it win the title…
"Not particularly. I don't think that's fair to put that kind of pressure on anyone in one event area. We're a team. We're a family. We're going to take care of each other. If your brother has a bad day, then it's my job to pick him up. My team understands that. Anyone who puts a uniform on this weekend is important to our championship run. There's always the unexpected. There's always that athlete that shows up and performs above their head. It's an athletics competition and there's bound to be something (that) goes wrong. Fortunately, we've got a pretty deep team where we can pick each other up. But there's no way I'm standing up in a team meeting at any point in time and saying, 'You've got to do this for us to win.' It's just unfair."
NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern)
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For the men, seven of its entrants rank third or higher nationally. Only Oregon (three) boasts more than two such entries.
UF's group is headlined by national leader and SEC champion Grant Holloway (60 hurdles), who also ranks second in the long jump. Junior KeAndre Bates, the USTFCCCA South Region and SEC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, is seeded second in the triple jump and third in the long jump. Clayton Brown, the SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year, ranks tied for second in the high jump and third in the triple jump. Rounding out UF's top-three entries is its 4x400 relay team of Kunle Fasasi, Holloway, Eric Futch, and TJ Holmes, which broke the school record and ran the third-fastest time in collegiate history (3:02.73) at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Fasasi and Futch are also competing in the individual 400 meters, entering with the No. 9- and No. 11-ranked times in the nation, respectively.
Sophomore triple jumper Yanis David leads the women's entries, checking in at No. 2 nationally. David is ahead of the No. 3-ranked mark by seven inches. Fellow sophomore Sharrika Barnett also enters the meet ranked in the top five, boasting a season-best time of 52.07 in the 400 meters.
Friday's (March 10) and Saturday's (March 11) action will be streamed live on ESPN3, via Watch ESPN. A two-hour television broadcast of the championship will air on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET Sunday. A full schedule for this weekend is below, as are quotes from Thursday's (March 9) pre-meet press conference.
HEARING OUT (COACH & GRANT) HOLLOWAY
Grant Holloway on what he believes his best event is…
"My best event, I would honestly say, is whatever Coach Holloway decides to put me in that week. I'm very versatile, from the hurdles to the long jump, and I can run the open 400."
G. Holloway on whether or not there is pressure to score big points to help the team win the title…
"Pressure? No. Excitement? Yes. There is not really a lot of pressure when you have experience. If the team is counting on me for points, I'm just going to go out there and just be Grant Holloway, whether that's in the long jump or on the track. Just going out there, having fun, and competing with my team is all you can do at this point. There isn't really pressure."
G. Holloway on what the team needs to have happen to win the championship this weekend…
"Competing for a team championship is self-explanatory. We're just going to compete. We're going to join into the party with some of the best collegiate athletes here. You can't really focus in on certain events, because you never really know what's going to happen. The media does its job sending out predictions and everything, but it comes down to what happens when the gun goes off. Someone could run a 2-second PR, a 1-second PR, and someone can edge out someone. It's kind of just who is going to show up on that day, at that time, at that place."
Head Coach Mike Holloway's opening statement…
"Good afternoon. We're just really excited to be here. We've always had great championship meets here. I don't expect this one to be any different. On the men's side, we've got a very competent group, I like to call it. Very diverse. We're just really excited to take part in the championships. We've had a great two weeks of training since the conference championships. Just excited to see everyone get out there and do their thing this weekend."
Coach Holloway on being the favorite what his team needs to do to fend off the top contenders…
"We're going to take care of the Gators. Obviously everybody knows what (Oregon's) Edward (Cheserek) is trying to do. It's one of the bigger stories in the world right now. But, honestly, all we can do is take care of Florida, and I tell my team that. There's a computer that keeps the score; we've got to give it a reason to put some points beside Florida. We're not going to talk about other teams and what they can do. We're looking forward to great competition in every event we're involved in … but we can't focus on those competitors. We have to take care of ourselves. Obviously tomorrow is a big day, because if you don't take care of tomorrow there is no Saturday. That's our focus right now."
Coach Holloway on if there is an X-factor individual for the men's team that can help it win the title…
"Not particularly. I don't think that's fair to put that kind of pressure on anyone in one event area. We're a team. We're a family. We're going to take care of each other. If your brother has a bad day, then it's my job to pick him up. My team understands that. Anyone who puts a uniform on this weekend is important to our championship run. There's always the unexpected. There's always that athlete that shows up and performs above their head. It's an athletics competition and there's bound to be something (that) goes wrong. Fortunately, we've got a pretty deep team where we can pick each other up. But there's no way I'm standing up in a team meeting at any point in time and saying, 'You've got to do this for us to win.' It's just unfair."
NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern)
- Live Results (Flash Results)
- Friday Stream – 6:25 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
- Saturday Stream – 4:55 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
- Television Replay: Sunday, March 12 – 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
- Meet Notes (PDF)
- Venue: Gilliam Indoor Stadium (Texas A&M)
| Friday, March 10 (unless denoted otherwise all events are finals) | |
| Time | Gators – Event |
| 6:15 p.m. | Lloydricia Cameron – Women's Shot Put |
| 6:30 p.m. | KeAndre Bates, Grant Holloway – Men's Long Jump |
| 7:20 p.m. | Sharrika Barnett – Women's 400 meters (prelims) |
| 7:35 p.m. | Kunle Fasasi, Eric Futch – Men's 400 meters (prelims) |
| 8:00 p.m. | Holloway – Men's 60-meter Hurdles (prelims) |
| 8:10 p.m. | Darrielle McQueen – Women's Long Jump |
| 8:20 p.m. | Andres Arroyo – Men's 800 meters (prelims) |
| Saturday, March 11 (all events are finals) | |
| Time | Gators – Event |
| 3:00 p.m. | AJ McFarland – Men's Weight Throw |
| 4:30 p.m. | Clayton Brown – Men's High Jump |
| Yanis David; Darrielle McQueen – Women's Triple Jump | |
| 5:40 p.m. | Sharrika Barnett – Women's 400 meters |
| 5:50 p.m. | Kunle Fasasi, Eric Futch – Men's 400 meters |
| 6:00 p.m. | KeAndre Bates; Clayton Brown – Men's Triple Jump |
| 6:10 p.m. | Grant Holloway – Men's 60-meter Hurdles |
| 6:30 p.m. | Andres Arroyo – Men's 800 meters |
| 7:30 p.m. | Brandee' Johnson-Destinee Gause-Taylor Sharpe-Barnett – Women's 4x400 Relay |
| 7:45 p.m. | Fasasi-Holloway-Futch-TJ Holmes – Men's 4x400 Relay |
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators; #PushTheButton; #TheMissionContinues
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