The No. 1 Gators will arrive at the NCAA Indoor Championships with
the same mission, but different circumstances than before.
Florida now has a target on its back as not only the nation’s
top-ranked team, but as the squad that won last season’s NCAA
crown.
"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Cambria; color: #1f1f1f;">
“We’re not concerned about defending anything this weekend,” head
coach Mike Holloway said. “We’re very proud of that accomplishment
(winning the 2010 NCAA
"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Cambria; color: #1f1f1f;">
Indoor Championship), but that happened a year ago.”
The defending NCAA Indoor Champions will send 11 athletes to
compete in 13 events in College Station, Texas, this weekend.
Two of those athletes, junior jumper Will Claye and sophomore
sprinter Tony McQuay, will compete in two events each.
“You really can’t just focus on one (event), so we’re just trying
to work on both and get things right for both events,” Claye
said.
The Bowerman award candidate will be competing in the long jump and
the triple jump, while McQuay will be running in the 200-meter dash
and 400-meter dash.
“My events are on two different days, but for Tony, it’s going to
be harder because both of his events are on the same day,” Claye
said.
McQuay won the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championship in the
200-meter dash (20.61 seconds) and placed second in the 400-meter
dash with the second-fastest time in the world this year
(45.21).
The sophomore’s impressive showing at the SEC meet two weeks ago
comes on the heels of returning from a hamstring injury in
mid-February.
“I came back a long, long way from my injury because I’m about six
seconds faster than last year when I was when I was healthy,”
McQuay said.
In addition to trying to win two individual national championships,
Claye also has another goal set in his mind.
Prior to the SEC Championships, the Oklahoma transfer predicted
that he and teammates Christian Taylor and Omar Craddock would
sweep the triple jump.
Taylor won the SEC Championship in the triple jump with a
17.36m/56-11.50, setting three records — the UF record, the SEC
meet record and the Tyson (Arkansas) track record.
Claye and Craddock didn’t finish far behind; achieving personal
records with jumps of 17.17m/56-4 and 16.57m/54-4.50, completing
the sweep.
“Definitely, definitely,” Claye said about the chances of another
sweep. “We definitely feel that we can get it done in the triple
(jump).”
Meanwhile, the women’s team, which placed fifth at the SEC Indoor
Championships, will send freshman distance runner Cory McGee and
its 4x400m relay team to the NCAA meet.
McGee won claimed her first SEC title in the women’s mile run
(4:52.69).
Gators win four SEC Indoor Track and Field
awards
Florida’s track and field squads won four combined awards for its
efforts this season from the SEC.
Head coach Mike Holloway took home the SEC Men’s Indoor Coach of
the Year Award after winning the same award for his work with
women’s team last season.
Junior jumper Christian Taylor was named SEC Men’s Field Athlete of
the Year.
Distance runner Cory McGee and hurdler Eddie Lovett swept the SEC
Freshman of the Year awards after winning SEC titles in their
respective events.
Lovett had the best 60m hurdles time for a freshman this season
(7.73 seconds), and McGee previously won two SEC Freshman of the
Week awards.
