The defending national champions can finally call the Southeastern Conference their own.
The No. 1 Gators scored 148 points to hold off host No. 5 Arkansas (136.5 points) and win their first SEC Indoor Championship since 2004.
“Right now, we’re just doing what we’re supposed to do,” UF coach Mike Holloway said. “I was hired at the University of Florida to compete for championships, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The men’s team was propelled to its first conference crown in seven years thanks to eight individual SEC Championships over the weekend.
One of those conference champions was sprinter and The Bowerman award candidate Jeff Demps, who won the 60-meter dash with a season-best time of 6.55 seconds.
Demps, who won the national championship in the 60-meter dash last season (6.57 seconds), is favored to successfully defend his title.
“It sets us up well (for the national meet),” Demps said. “At the SEC title, we had Arkansas coming at the Gators, so it made us work harder and get ready for the national title (meet).”
Joining Demps as a title winner for Florida was distance runner Dumisane Hlaselo, who won SEC titles in the 3,000-meter run and the mile run.
Hlaselo’s two event victories earned the South African junior 20 points and the Cliff Harper Trophy for the highest point total at the SEC meet this weekend.
“It feels great (to win the Cliff Harper Trophy and two SEC titles), and I’m really joyful,” Hlaselo said. “I didn’t even know until they presented it, so I was excited about it.”
In addition to Demps and Hlaselo, Kemal Mesic (shot put), Gray Horn (heptathlon), Eddie Lovett (60-meter hurdles), Tony McQuay (200-meter dash) and The Bowerman award candidate Christian Taylor (triple jump) won SEC titles.
The No. 21 Florida women placed fifth with 55 points and had two athletes win SEC championships in their respective events.
Two-time SEC Freshman of the Week Cory McGee won the mile run (4:41.10) defeating her closest competitor, Kristen Gillespie of Arkansas, by 5.04 seconds.
The other UF champion was Fidela James, who won the women’s weight throw (19.83/65-0.75) and placed second in the women’s shot put (15.98m/52-5.25).
After a strong showing by the No. 1 men’s team at the SEC meet, Florida is preparing to travel to College Station, Texas, on March 11-12 for NCAA Indoor Championships.
“Nobody can put more pressure on us than ourselves,” Holloway said. “If you talk to (the team), they’ve been confident about this for a while.”
