Behind seven individual All-American performances, the UF men’s track team won the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend.
It’s the first indoor championship for the program and the 23rd national championship in school history.
“I’m extremely proud and very excited about everyone in the program,” coach Mike Holloway said. “It’s great to see hard work come together, especially when it comes together for a championship.”
The women finished fourth, their best since 2005, and had four All-Americans.
The men finished with 57 team points, holding off Oregon and defending national champion Texas A&M, which both finished with 44 points for second place. The women scored 33 points, finishing behind first-place Oregon, Tennessee and LSU.
Freshman Jeff Demps set a school record in the 60-meter dash preliminaries, running a 6.56. He ran a 6.57 in the finals to win the event and give the Gators 10 team points. Senior Jeremy Hall finished sixth in 6.66 seconds, scoring three team points.
Tony McQuay joined Demps and Hall in winning All-America honors. The freshman finished third in the 400 with his 45.74 and scored six points for the Gators. He finished eighth in the 200, running it in 20.80 and recording his second All-American honor.
“(McQuay) may be one of the best freshman I’ve ever had, and he proved that this weekend,” Holloway said.
Senior Calvin Smith ran the 400 in 46.60, finishing eighth, and ran the 200 in 20.67, good for sixth place. Smith finished his UF career with 15 All-America titles, the most in school history and one more than decathlete Mike Morrison.
McQuay and Smith joined Preston Wilson and Jovon Toppin in the 4x400 relay. The unit finished fourth with a time of 3:05:78, earning an All-America honor.
Sophomore Christian Taylor defended his triple-jump title, winning the event with a school-record jump of 17.18 meters. He finished second in the long jump in 7.93 meters.
Omar Craddock, who joined the team in January, landed 16.15 meters in the triple jump to place seventh and be named an All-American.
Kemal Mesic finished second in the shot put. The junior threw 19.26 meters while earning his third All-America title.
As expected, senior Mariam Kevkhishvili won her third-straight indoor shot put title. Her 18.59 meter throw was a personal best and secured her 13 straight event title.
Junior Charlotte Browning also earned All-America honors, finishing first in the women’s 1600-meter run with a time of 4:35:66.
Shara Proctor took home two All-America titles in her senior season. She finished third in both the long jump and the triple jump, recording 6.64 meters and 13.71 meters, respectively.
Junior shot putter Keely Medeiros also earned All-America honors with her eighth-place throw of 16.44 meters.
“Our seniors were able to accomplish their goals,” Holloway said. “When we recruited them, they talked about winning a national championship and now they have that monkey off their back.”
