After placing their first individual title from the field at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Day 1, the Gators continued to pile on the hardware.
Marquis Dendy became the men’s long jump champion by leaping a personal-best 26 feet, three inches with a strong headwind to take the title on his sixth and final jump of the event.
Dendy then extended Florida’s men’s individual titles to its fifth consecutive year, and added the Gators’ 28th title all-time.
The long jump outdoor champion said he doesn’t think of what accomplishments that came from the past, and only focuses on what lies ahead.
He said he goes into every competition like if hasn’t won a single title and that helps him to succeed over and over again.
The junior jumper now adds a long jump title to both the indoor and outdoor seasons, as he tags along with Fawn Miller who claimed the javelin title in Day 1 competition to make it two Gator athletes thus far with a title.
The Gators ended the day advancing multiple athletes in every event that included the men’s 200-meter, women’s 1,500-meter, men’s 110-meter hurdles, women’s 100-meter hurdles and both the men’s and women’s 4-by-400 meter relay squads.
Day 3 of the Outdoor championships continues with the finals from the Day 1 events headlining the competition, as Florida can add on up to six titles on both sides.
But as the second day of competition ended, Dendy stood as the champion above all athletes who competed.
“Overall we had a great day,” coach Mike Holloway said. “We outperformed ourselves in some areas. This gives us a chance to go back a retool ourselves and get everyone else fired up and get out there again.”
Follow Lawrence Laguna on Twitter @LagunaLawrence
Marquis Dendy competes at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track Championships on Feb. 23, 2013, in Fayetteville, Ark. Dendy won the long jump on Day 2 of the NCAA Outdoors Championships on Thursday in Eugene, Ore.
