Florida freshman Marquis Dendy (Middletown, Del.) won the men’s long jump at the 2012 North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Track & Field Championships in Guanajuato, Mexico on Friday evening.
Dendy jumped a wind-aided 7.68m/25-2.50 to take home the gold for Team USA, narrowly edging fellow Team USA teammate Kendall Spencer, who leapt 7.67m/25-2 for silver.
This is Dendy’s eighth victory of 2012, having also nabbed wins at the Pepsi Florida Relays, the Virginia Tech Elite Meet and the SEC Indoor Championships. He becomes the eighth Gator to win at the NACAC U-23 Championships and keeps the men’s long jump title in the Gator family, as reigning IAAF World Champion and U.S. Olympic Trials gold medalist Christian Taylor won the event in 2010.
Competition continues tomorrow for the Gators as both sophomore hurdler Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and junior thrower Jeremy Postin (Auburndale, Fla.) compete in their respective events on Saturday.
Lovett will race in the semifinals of the men’s 110-meter hurdles Saturday at 6:15 p.m. ET. If he advances, the finals of the event will be contested later that evening at 7:50 p.m. ET. Postin participates in the qualifying round and finals of the men’s hammer throw at 6:10 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Courtesy UF Communications