Florida jumps coach Dick Booth has been named the National Men’s Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year after leading his athletes to stellar performances this past season, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced Monday.
Booth, who is in his second season with the Gators after 27 decorated seasons at the University of Arkansas, garners the honor outdoors after also being named the 2011 USTFCCCA National Men’s Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year.
Booth advanced three athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championship finals site in Des Moines, Iowa – Will Claye, Frankie Hammond and Christian Taylor. His jumps corps accounted for 24 of Florida’s 53 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Claye and Taylor turned in an epic back-and-forth battle at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump as Taylor would claim the NCAA Championship while Claye finished in second.
Booth also mentored sophomore Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas) to his second consecutive Penn Relays men’s triple jump championship, doing so with a personal-best mark of 16.46m/54-0, becoming just the 13th different athlete in Penn Relays history to win multiple men’s triple jump championships and the first back-to-back winner since Walter Davis of LSU in 2001 and 2002.