Saturday, February 23
Fayetteville, AR
3:55 PM
Florida Gators
at
SEC Indoor Championships
Gators Win Men’s SEC Indoors Title, Add Four Individual Crowns
Saturday, February 23, 2019 | Track and Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Behind three individual titles and seven additional medal finishes, Florida's men captured the eighth SEC Indoor Championships team title in school history Saturday evening. It is Florida's fourth SEC Indoors title, and seventh overall SEC team title with Mike Holloway as men's head coach (denoted below by *).
Florida Men's SEC Championships History
Saturday marked the second time in nine SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville someone other than the host (Arkansas) took home the title. The other? Florida in 2011.
Redshirt senior AJ McFarland set the tone for the day, as he shattered his own school record and won the weight throw title on the sixth and final toss of an intense competition. McFarland led until the third-to-last throw, when the defending champion, Georgia's Denzel Comenentia, seized it. The DeLand, Fla., native responded on the event's final throw, uncorking a winning toss of 23.35 meters (76 feet, 7.25 inches), which was nearly two feet clear of Comenentia. McFarland entered the day with a school record of 22.58 meters (74 feet, 1 inch).
Junior all-around sensation Grant Holloway swept the 60 meters and 60-meter hurdles titles, joining South Carolina's Terrence Trammell (1999-2000) as the only other man in history to pull that off. Combined with his silver medal in the long jump Friday, Holloway amassed 28 individual points, breaking the previous meet scoring record of 22.5 points.
Holloway won the 60 meters in a smooth 6.54 seconds, while he took the 60 hurdles title in 7.44 seconds, the third-fastest time in collegiate history and four hundredths of a second below the meet record he set in Friday's preliminary. The Chesapeake, Va., native now owns the three fastest 60 hurdles times in collegiate history.
For the women, senior Yanis David completed her sweep of the horizontal jumps, taking the triple jump title with a nation-leading mark of 13.84 meters (45 feet, 5 inches). David became the fourth woman in history to sweep the long jump and triple jump, and joined Olympian Shara Proctor (2010) as the only other UF jumper to pull it off.
2019 SEC Indoors Medalists (Saturday only – see results table for Friday medalists)
A tape-delay version of the broadcast will air Sunday at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Quotable
Head coach Mike Holloway on the SEC Indoors title…
"Some people underestimated us. I thought we could score 100 points. The biggest thing is, nobody else thought we could do that. We've been talking all week about trusting and believing in each other; we talked about having a razor-like focus this weekend, and that was the deal. It was unbelievable."
Coach Holloway on AJ McFarland's weight throw title…
"You could see he was missing his release a little bit. As soon as that last one came out of his hands I got chills. That's who AJ is. He's a leader, he gets the guys together. Phenomenal job. So proud of him."
Coach Holloway on Grant Holloway's pair of SEC titles Saturday…
"You say Terrence Trammell, and he's one of the greatest combination sprinter-hurdlers in American history. To do that, I think he ran a little faster than Terrence ran in those events, so that bodes well for his future if he continues along those lines. It speaks to Grant's focus, and his determination to be great."
AJ McFarland on winning his SEC title on the last throw of the competition, after losing the lead shortly before that…
"Denzel (Comenentia) is a great thrower. I knew it was coming. I was ready for it. I just kept telling myself I had to stay in it. I couldn't lose my focus. I told myself the whole time Denzel was going to catch one.
"I finally executed what (Associate Head) Coach (Steve) Lemke was talking to me about. It's crazy."
McFarland on the championship-winning moment…
"Surreal. It's something we've talked about, something I've dreamed about since the first day I got here. I knew I wanted an SEC gold. I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work. It's not something I'm going to celebrate on my own, because there are a lot of people who invested a lot of time in me, in five years to get here. Family, friends, coaches. Everybody."
McFarland on the team title…
"Every single one is way more fun than the one before, because every single one is different. The way we came together this weekend … we started the party early and just kept going. It was huge."
Grant Holloway on his pair of SEC championships today…
"Terrence (Trammell) is someone I always looked up to. Before the season even started, I called and asked him for tips and tricks on how to do both. He greatly gave me answers. Just to be on the same level as he was when he was at South Carolina, it feels great."
Holloway on the feeling of winning another team championship…
"This is why I came back. This is the feeling I always love, when everybody is winning and not just me doing my own thing. To have everybody contribute to the team … everybody did what they had to do."
Holloway on his plan heading into NCAA Indoor Championships…
"Mission is to get back, watch the film and see what I can fix. From there, we will evaluate the schedule, see what I'm going to run, and we'll go from there.
Yanis David on her pair of SEC titles this weekend…
"It's been a great weekend. I had expectations, and I met them this weekend. I really hope it's not the last. I'll get back to Gainesville, work on everything and come back at nationals. In the triple, I've been struggling, but it means I'm finally back. Not my best yet, but I'm back. I can't wait to show people what I've got in two weeks at nationals."
SEC Indoor Championships Meet Information (all times Eastern)
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Florida Men's SEC Championships History
- Indoor (8) – 1975, 1976, 1987, 1988, 2004*, 2011*, 2015*, 2019*
- Outdoor (6) – 1953, 1956, 1987, 2010*, 2015*, 2018*
The Gators were dominant enough to secure the team title before the 4x400 relay, always reserved for last at a championship meet. Florida totaled 103 points and, even without running a 4x4, finished 15 points clear of runner-up Arkansas.Secured the 🏆, enjoyed the party 😎#SECTF Indoor CHAMPS! #LessSaid pic.twitter.com/qzKp3W2m8M
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) February 24, 2019
Saturday marked the second time in nine SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville someone other than the host (Arkansas) took home the title. The other? Florida in 2011.
Redshirt senior AJ McFarland set the tone for the day, as he shattered his own school record and won the weight throw title on the sixth and final toss of an intense competition. McFarland led until the third-to-last throw, when the defending champion, Georgia's Denzel Comenentia, seized it. The DeLand, Fla., native responded on the event's final throw, uncorking a winning toss of 23.35 meters (76 feet, 7.25 inches), which was nearly two feet clear of Comenentia. McFarland entered the day with a school record of 22.58 meters (74 feet, 1 inch).
WHAT. A. FINISH. @AJ_UF77.
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) February 23, 2019
Broke his own school record by 2.5 FEET to win the #SECTF title 💪💪💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/CJxUWBHeBp
🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) February 23, 2019
SEC CHAMP!! 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/oDp1y6Vp1U
Junior all-around sensation Grant Holloway swept the 60 meters and 60-meter hurdles titles, joining South Carolina's Terrence Trammell (1999-2000) as the only other man in history to pull that off. Combined with his silver medal in the long jump Friday, Holloway amassed 28 individual points, breaking the previous meet scoring record of 22.5 points.
Set the SEC Indoors scoring record ✅
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 24, 2019
Break the SEC Indoors 60m hurdle record ✅
Become the 2nd man in history to sweep the 60m AND 60m hurdles ✅
What can't @Flaamingoo_ do? pic.twitter.com/49jXOemnCC
Holloway won the 60 meters in a smooth 6.54 seconds, while he took the 60 hurdles title in 7.44 seconds, the third-fastest time in collegiate history and four hundredths of a second below the meet record he set in Friday's preliminary. The Chesapeake, Va., native now owns the three fastest 60 hurdles times in collegiate history.
For the women, senior Yanis David completed her sweep of the horizontal jumps, taking the triple jump title with a nation-leading mark of 13.84 meters (45 feet, 5 inches). David became the fourth woman in history to sweep the long jump and triple jump, and joined Olympian Shara Proctor (2010) as the only other UF jumper to pull it off.
2019 SEC Indoors Medalists (Saturday only – see results table for Friday medalists)
- Clayton Brown, Men's Triple Jump – Silver Medalist
- Second consecutive top-two finish (won title in 2018), and collected a medal for the third consecutive year (bronze medalist in 2017).
- Benjamin Lobo Vedel, Men's 400 meters – Silver Medalist
- Highest Gators finisher since 2016, when Olympian Arman Hall finished second as well. Also ran a personal record of 46.11 seconds, which ranks 11th nationally and likely secures him a spot for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
- Hakim Sani Brown, Men's 60 meters – Silver Medalist
- Ran a personal record of 6.60 seconds, which tied the nation's No. 9-ranked time and likely solidified an NCAA Indoors berth. The time also tied Hugh Graham, Jr. and Antwan Wright for No. 4 on the school's All-Time Top 10 list. Combined with Holloway for the fourth 1-2 finish at the meet since 2001.
- Sharrika Barnett, Women's 400 meters – Bronze Medalist
- Collected bronze for the second straight year and nabbed a medal for a third consecutive season (was silver medalist in 2017). Also ran a season-best time of 52.51 seconds (video), which ranks fourth nationally and all but assures her a spot at NCAA Indoors.
- Ryan Clark, Men's 200 meters – Bronze Medalist
- First career individual medal at an SEC Championships meet. Ran an indoor personal record of 20.69 seconds (video), which ties him for 10th nationally and likely secures an NCAA Indoors berth. The time also tied him for No. 9 on the school's All-Time Top 10 list.
- Natricia Hooper , Women's Triple Jump – Bronze Medalist
- Posted a career-best mark of 13.53 meters (44 feet, 4.75 inches) on her opening jump and it held for bronze. Hooper's mark ranks fifth nationally and all but certainly solidifies an NCAA Indoors berth, in addition to moving her to No. 5 on the program's All-Time Top 10 list.
- Thomas Mardal (Weight Throw) – Bronze Medalist
- Posted a top mark of 22.59 meters (74 feet, 1.25 inches), which ranks sixth nationally and would have broken the school record had McFarland not topped him.
- Women's 4x400 Relay (Taylor Manson, Nikki Stephens, Barnett, Doneisha Anderson) – Bronze Medalist
- Ran the third-fastest time in the country and the second-fastest time in school history (3:29.57), lifting the Gators into a fourth-place finish in the team standings, their highest finish since tying for fourth in 2016.
A tape-delay version of the broadcast will air Sunday at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Quotable
Head coach Mike Holloway on the SEC Indoors title…
"Some people underestimated us. I thought we could score 100 points. The biggest thing is, nobody else thought we could do that. We've been talking all week about trusting and believing in each other; we talked about having a razor-like focus this weekend, and that was the deal. It was unbelievable."
Coach Holloway on AJ McFarland's weight throw title…
"You could see he was missing his release a little bit. As soon as that last one came out of his hands I got chills. That's who AJ is. He's a leader, he gets the guys together. Phenomenal job. So proud of him."
Coach Holloway on Grant Holloway's pair of SEC titles Saturday…
"You say Terrence Trammell, and he's one of the greatest combination sprinter-hurdlers in American history. To do that, I think he ran a little faster than Terrence ran in those events, so that bodes well for his future if he continues along those lines. It speaks to Grant's focus, and his determination to be great."
AJ McFarland on winning his SEC title on the last throw of the competition, after losing the lead shortly before that…
"Denzel (Comenentia) is a great thrower. I knew it was coming. I was ready for it. I just kept telling myself I had to stay in it. I couldn't lose my focus. I told myself the whole time Denzel was going to catch one.
"I finally executed what (Associate Head) Coach (Steve) Lemke was talking to me about. It's crazy."
McFarland on the championship-winning moment…
"Surreal. It's something we've talked about, something I've dreamed about since the first day I got here. I knew I wanted an SEC gold. I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work. It's not something I'm going to celebrate on my own, because there are a lot of people who invested a lot of time in me, in five years to get here. Family, friends, coaches. Everybody."
McFarland on the team title…
"Every single one is way more fun than the one before, because every single one is different. The way we came together this weekend … we started the party early and just kept going. It was huge."
Grant Holloway on his pair of SEC championships today…
"Terrence (Trammell) is someone I always looked up to. Before the season even started, I called and asked him for tips and tricks on how to do both. He greatly gave me answers. Just to be on the same level as he was when he was at South Carolina, it feels great."
Holloway on the feeling of winning another team championship…
"This is why I came back. This is the feeling I always love, when everybody is winning and not just me doing my own thing. To have everybody contribute to the team … everybody did what they had to do."
Holloway on his plan heading into NCAA Indoor Championships…
"Mission is to get back, watch the film and see what I can fix. From there, we will evaluate the schedule, see what I'm going to run, and we'll go from there.
Yanis David on her pair of SEC titles this weekend…
"It's been a great weekend. I had expectations, and I met them this weekend. I really hope it's not the last. I'll get back to Gainesville, work on everything and come back at nationals. In the triple, I've been struggling, but it means I'm finally back. Not my best yet, but I'm back. I can't wait to show people what I've got in two weeks at nationals."
SEC Indoor Championships Meet Information (all times Eastern)
- Results (FlashResults)
- Day One Recap
- Ranked Teams: Alabama (No. 13 men; No. 14 women), Arkansas (No. 1 women), Georgia (No. 6 men; No. 23 women), Kentucky (No. 6 women), LSU (No. 4 women; No. 5 men), Ole Miss (No. 19 men), South Carolina (No. 17 women; No. 18 men), Tennessee (No. 24 women)
- Venue: Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center (University of Arkansas)
| Saturday, February 23 (all events are finals) | |
| Event | Place (Score), Gators – Time / Mark | Notes |
| 60m (M) | 1 (10). Grant Holloway – 6.54 | Third title in school history, first since Jeff Demps (2011) |
| 2 (8). Hakim Sani Brown – 6.60 | Tied No. 9-ranked time in Division I; tied No. 4-ranked time on UF's All-Time Top 10 | |
| 5 (4). Ryan Clark – 6.66 | |
| 6 (3). Raymond Ekevwo – 6.66 | |
| 200m (M) | 3 (6). Clark – 20.69 | Tied No. 10-ranked time in Division I; tied No. 9-ranked time on UF's All-Time Top 10 |
| Benjamin Lobo Vedel – DNS | |
| 400m (M) | 2 (8). Lobo Vedel – 46.11 | No. 11-ranked time in Division I |
| 5 (4). Chantz Sawyers – 46.65 | |
| 400m (W) | 3 (6). Sharrika Barnett – 52.51 | No. 4-ranked time in Division I |
| 800m (W) | 6 (3). Gabrielle Wilkinson – 2:06.91 | Highest Gators finish since 2015, when Claudia Francis was bronze medalist |
| Mile (M) | 8 (1). Sam Ahrenholz – 4:06.99 | Topped personal record by 0.33 seconds |
| Mile (W) | 5 (4). Imogen Barrett – 4:47.48 |
| 3,000m (M) | 15. Trevor Foley – 8:21.13 |
| 19. Magnus Pettersen – 8:23.04 | |
| 22. Nick Deal – 8:24.72 | |
| 32. Colin Schaefer – 8:38.18 | |
| 3,000m (W) | 17. Morgan Hull – 9:51.07 |
| 29. Grace Blair – 10:02.90 | Topped personal record by 1.41 seconds | |
| 44. Caitlin McQuilkin-Bell – 10:19.27 | |
| Jessica Pascoe – DNS | |
| 60mH (M) | 1 (10). Holloway – 7.44 | Third-fastest time in collegiate history; meet record; third consecutive title; eighth title in school history |
| 8 (1). Cory Poole – 7.97 | |
| 4x400 (M) | DNS |
| 4x400 (W) | 3 (6). Taylor Manson-Nikki Stephens-Barnett-Doneisha Anderson – 3:29.57 | No. 3-ranked time in Division I; No. 2-ranked time on UF's All-Time Top 10 |
| HJ (W) | 5 (4). Amanda Froeynes – 1.72 meters (5 feet, 7.75 inches) |
| TJ (M) | 2 (8). Clayton Brown – 16.26 meters (53 feet, 4.25 inches) |
| TJ (W) | 1 (10). Yanis David – 13.84 meters (45 feet, 5 inches) | Sixth title in school history, first since Ciarra Brewer (2014); NCAA-leading mark |
| 3 (6). Natricia Hooper – 13.53 meters (44 feet, 4.75 inches) | No. 5-ranked mark in Division I; No. 5-ranked mark on UF's All-Time Top 10 | |
| 10. Asa Garcia – 12.97 meters (42 feet, 6.75 inches) | |
| 13. Kala Penn – 12.55 meters (41 feet, 2.25 inches) | |
| WT (M) | 1 (10). AJ McFarland – 23.35 meters (76 feet, 7.25 inches) | Third title in school history, first since David Triassi (2013); No. 4-ranked mark in Division I; broke own school record by 77 centimeters (2 feet, 6.25 inches) |
| 3 (6). Thomas Mardal – 22.59 meters (74 feet, 1.25 inches) | No. 6-ranked mark in Division I; topped personal record and No. 2-ranked mark in school history by 31 centimeters (1 foot) | |
| WT (W) | 6 (3). Amara Wiggan – 19.21 meters (63 feet, 0.25 inches) | Topped personal record by 72 centimeters (2 feet, 4.25 inches) |
| Friday, February 22 (only scorers listed; see Day One Recap for full results) | |
| Event | Place (Score), Gators – Time / Mark | Notes |
| DMR (M) | 3 (6). Guyton-Hill-Pacifico-Pettersen – 9:50.82 | Best finish since silver medal in 2014; season-best time |
| DMR (W) | 2 (8). Wilkinson-Stephens-Harrelson-Barrett – 11:27.41 | Best finish since winning title in 2014 |
| HJ (M) | 4 (5). Jhonny Victor – 2.22 meters (7 feet, 3.25 inches) | Tied No. 11-ranked mark in Division I; tied No. 7-ranked mark on UF's All-Time Top 10 |
| LJ (M) | 2 (8). Holloway – 7.84 meters (25 feet, 8.75 inches) |
| LJ (W) | 1 (10). Yanis David – 6.46 meters (21 feet, 2.5 inches) | Fourth SEC Indoors title in school history (first since Shara Proctor in 2010); NCAA-leading mark |
| 8 (1). Kala Penn – 5.91 meters (19 feet, 4.75 inches) | |
| SP (M) | 4 (5). Connor Bandel – 18.84 meters (61 feet, 9.75 inches) | Topped own No. 7-ranked mark on UF's All-Time Top 10 by 2 centimeters |
| Top 5 Men's Teams | |
| Place | Team – Points |
| 1. | No. 3 Florida – 103 |
| 2. | Arkansas– 88 |
| 3. | No. 5 LSU – 78 |
| 4. | No. 13 Alabama – 73 |
| 5. | No. 2 Texas A&M – 72 |
| Top 5 Women's Teams | |
| Place | Team – Points |
| 1. | No. 1 Arkansas – 151 |
| 2. | Texas A&M – 70 |
| 3. | No. 14 Alabama – 67 |
| 4. | No. 8 Florida – 61 |
| 5. | No. 4 LSU – 58 |
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