Florida coach Mike Holloway expects greatness from his athletes, but last weekend’s performances may have made him do a double take.
While the No. 1 men clinched their first Southeastern Conference Indoor Championship since 2004, nine Gators combined for 10 individual SEC titles.
Freshmen Cory McGee and Eddie Lovett, who won the women’s mile run and the men’s 60-meter hurdles, respectively, particularly stood out.
McGee (4:41.10) defeated her nearest competitor by more than five seconds, while Lovett (7.73) barely edged Keith Hayes of Kentucky (7.78).
“While we were pleased that they won SEC titles, we’re definitely not surprised at what they did, because we knew that’s what they were capable of doing,” Holloway said. “We’d be disappointed if they didn’t perform at that level.”
Lovett’s triumph at the SEC meet was his first victory of the season, but McGee’s win added yet another accomplishment to her résumé, which includes two SEC Freshman of the Week awards and a personal-best mile time of 4:36.53.
Another Gator who reeled in his first SEC Indoor Championship victory was junior Gray Horn, who won the heptathlon with 5,816 points.
Despite two consecutive victories in the decathlon at the SEC Outdoor Championships, Horn had yet to win an indoor crown before last weekend.
“If you look at it, (Horn)’s gotten better and better each year, so it’s not so much a getting over the hump thing,” Holloway said. “Gray’s just kept working and got better, and we’re going to continue to see that.”
With the SEC meet behind them, the Gators will move on to last-chance meets this weekend in the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind., and the Virginia Tech Qualifier in Blacksburg, Va.
Among the athletes looking to qualify for the national meets are senior sprinter Terrell Wilks and SEC triple-jump champion Christian Taylor, who is looking to qualify in the long jump.
Next weekend, the Gators will travel to College Station, Texas, to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
