Dionne Rose-Henley during her time with the Gators in 1992, helping UF win the national indoor title that season and finish second at the outdoor finals. (File photo)
Carter's Corner: Remembering former Gator, SEC Champion and Olympian Dionne Rose
Friday, January 4, 2019 | Women's Track and Field, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In her brief time with the Gators women's track team, Dionne Rose made it known she was here.
A native of Kingston, Jamaica, Rose was the 1992 Southeastern Conference indoor and outdoor long-jump champion and a four-time All-American for the Gators, helping UF's '92 indoor team win the program's first national championship.
Rose and UF teammate Michelle Freeman formed an impressive duo for then-UF head coach Beverly Kearney, named NCAA Coach of the Year. Both were Jamaicans who represented their homeland in multiple Olympics, including the '92 Summer Games in Barcelona shortly after their run to an NCAA title with the Gators.
Fifth in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Dionne Rose-Henley, as she was known in her later years, died on Dec. 24 following a battle with cancer. Rose-Henley will be honored on Saturday at a funeral service Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Rose-Henley's death touched those in the track and field community who recalled her fierce competitiveness masked by a warm smile and friendly demeanor at events.
Following her time at UF, Rose-Henley transferred to Middle Tennessee State to finish her collegiate career. She went into coaching after her competitive career ended, making stops at Tennessee State, Central Michigan and Coastal Carolina, where she had been an assistant coach since 2017.
Christopher Samuda, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association, paid tribute to Rose-Henley in a press release.
"She will never again face the starter in this human race with its emotional rivalries. But her name and her Olympic achievements in Barcelona and Atlanta, among other landmark feats, will enjoy immortality in the annals of Jamaica's sporting history,'' Samuda said.
Rose-Henley was 49 years old.
A native of Kingston, Jamaica, Rose was the 1992 Southeastern Conference indoor and outdoor long-jump champion and a four-time All-American for the Gators, helping UF's '92 indoor team win the program's first national championship.
Rose and UF teammate Michelle Freeman formed an impressive duo for then-UF head coach Beverly Kearney, named NCAA Coach of the Year. Both were Jamaicans who represented their homeland in multiple Olympics, including the '92 Summer Games in Barcelona shortly after their run to an NCAA title with the Gators.
Fifth in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Dionne Rose-Henley, as she was known in her later years, died on Dec. 24 following a battle with cancer. Rose-Henley will be honored on Saturday at a funeral service Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Sleep on my Olympic and World Championship teammate. You were just always the life of the party. Never had a dull moment around you Dionne. Condolences to the family. #myteammate #Olympian pic.twitter.com/CJyEZoNRFw
— Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, OLY (@julietcuthbert) December 25, 2018
Rose-Henley's death touched those in the track and field community who recalled her fierce competitiveness masked by a warm smile and friendly demeanor at events.
Following her time at UF, Rose-Henley transferred to Middle Tennessee State to finish her collegiate career. She went into coaching after her competitive career ended, making stops at Tennessee State, Central Michigan and Coastal Carolina, where she had been an assistant coach since 2017.
Christopher Samuda, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association, paid tribute to Rose-Henley in a press release.
"She will never again face the starter in this human race with its emotional rivalries. But her name and her Olympic achievements in Barcelona and Atlanta, among other landmark feats, will enjoy immortality in the annals of Jamaica's sporting history,'' Samuda said.
Rose-Henley was 49 years old.
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