Holloways Garner SEC Outdoor Hardware

Grant Holloway (left) and head coach Mike Holloway (right) at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville.

Holloways Garner SEC Outdoor Hardware

Tuesday, May 29, 2018 | Track and Field

Grant Holloway is the first Gator since 2009 to be named SEC Outdoor Men's Runner of the Year, and head coach Mike Holloway made history yet again

By: Zach Dirlam

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sophomore hurdler, jumper and sprinter Grant Holloway was named the SEC Outdoor Men's Runner of the Year, and head coach Mike Holloway collected both the SEC Outdoor Men's and Women's Coach of the Year awards, as announced Tuesday by the Southeastern Conference.

Coach Holloway is receiving the SEC Outdoor Men's Coach of the Year honor for the third time in his career, with his previous hardware coming in 2010 and 2015—both years in which Florida won the SEC Outdoor Championships. He is receiving it for the second time on the women's side, previously winning in 2009, the year of Florida's last SEC Outdoor crown.

Holloway is the first coach to win both SEC Outdoor Coach of the Year honors in the same season since the awards were first distributed in 1990. Now in his 16th season as head coach of the men and 11th as head coach of the women, Holloway joins Texas A&M's Pat Henry as the only other coach since the awards' inception to win multiple SEC Outdoor Coach of the Year honors with both men's and women's teams.

Earlier this month, Holloway engineered Florida's first-ever sweep of the SEC Outdoor Championships. It was also just the fourth sweep at the meet since 1991.

Grant Holloway was crucial in the sweep, scoring 23 points, tied with Georgia's Denzel Comenentia for the highest individual total at this year's meet.

Holloway is the fifth man to win the SEC Men's Indoor and Outdoor Runner of the Year awards in the same season since they were first distributed in 2004. The Chesapeake, Va., native is the first to do it since Alabama's Kirani James (2011), and joins Kerron Clement (2005) as the only other Gator to accomplish the feat. Holloway is the third Gator to win the outdoor award, joining Clement and Calvin Smith (2009).

Holloway is the fourth man to win the SEC Outdoor Runner of the Year award as an underclassman, joining Clement, Ole Miss' Barnabus Kirui (2007), and LSU's Xavier Carter (2006). Only Clement, Carter, and Holloway collected both the indoor and outdoor awards as underclassmen.

Only man in OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD HISTORY to break 13.20 / long jump 8.10+ meters ??????

Second man #SECTF Outdoors history to win 110 hurdles / long jump ????

Frank Sinatra dice roll celebration ????

And @Flaamingoo_ did it all in a 28-hour stretch ?????????? pic.twitter.com/U1CU3Ad8Pe
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) May 15, 2018

Here is a look at Holloway's most notable achievements from this outdoor season:

2-time SEC Outdoor Championships gold medalist (110-meter hurdles; long jump)
Second man in history to sweep the 110 hurdles and long jump titles at SEC Outdoors (Keith Talley, Alabama, 1986-87)
2-time SEC Outdoor Championships bronze medalist (4x100 relay; 4x400 relay)
First man in outdoor track and field history to break 13.20 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and long jump at least 8.10 meters (both wind-legally), according to athlete bios maintained by the IAAF
Ran the second-fastest (13.15) and tied the third-fastest (13.16) 110-meter hurdles times in collegiate history
Ranks No. 2 nationally in the long jump (8.32 meters / 27 feet, 3.75 inches; wind-aided)
Ran for Florida's nation-leading 4x400 relay (3:01.00), No. 3-ranked 4x100 relay (38.86)
Third collegian in history (Aleec Harris, Southern California; Renaldo Nehemiah, Maryland) to break 13.20 seconds twice in a career

2018 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Awards

Men's Runner of the Year: Grant Holloway, Florida
Men's Field Athlete of the Year: Denzel Comenentia, Georgia
Men's Freshman Runner of the Year: Dwight St. Hillaire, Kentucky
Men's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Anderson Peters, Mississippi State
Men's Co-Scholar-Athletes of the Year: Anders Eriksson, Florida; Nicolas Quijera, Mississippi State
Men's Coach of the Year: Mike Holloway, Florida

Women's Runner of the Year: Karissa Schweizer, Missouri
Women's Field Athlete of the Year: Keturah Orji, Georgia
Women's Freshman Runner of the Year: Sydney McLaughlin, Kentucky
Women's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Tyra Gittens, Texas A&M
Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Keturah Orji, Georgia
Women's Coach of the Year: Mike Holloway, Florida

Florida's 2018 All-SEC Outdoor Honorees

Avione Allgood – Javelin Throw (First Team)
Sharrika Barnett – 400 meters (First Team), 4x400 relay (Second Team)
KeAndre Bates – Triple Jump (Second Team)
Elisabeth Bergh – 1,500 meters (Second Team)
Clayton Brown – High Jump (Second Team), Triple Jump (Second Team)
Lloydricia Cameron – Discus Throw (Second Team)
Ryan Clark – 4x100 relay (Second Team)
Yanis David – Long Jump (Second Team), Triple Jump (Second Team)
Anders Eriksson – Hammer Throw (Second Team)
Kunle Fasasi – 4x400 relay (Second Team)
Amanda Froeynes – Heptathlon (Second Team)
Grant Holloway – 110 Hurdles (First Team), Long Jump (First Team), 4x100 relay (Second Team), 4x400 relay (Second Team)
Brandee' Johnson – 400 Hurdles (Second Team)
Benjamin Lobo Vedel – 4x400 relay (Second Team)
Taylor Manson – 4x400 relay (Second Team), 400 meters (Freshman Team)
Darrielle McQueen – Long Jump (Second Team)
Cory Poole – 400 Hurdles (Second Team / Freshman Team)
Chantz Sawyers – 4x400 relay (Second Team)
Taylor Sharpe – 4x400 relay (Second Team)
Nikki Stephens – 4x400 relay (Second Team)
Michael Timpson Jr. – 4x100 relay (Second Team)

The Gators conclude their outdoor season next week at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.

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