GREENSBORO, N.C. – Florida track and field head coach Mike Holloway got his wish – his Gators will have 21 scoring slots at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 9-13.
On the final day of the NCAA East Regional at the Irwin Belk Track on the North Carolina A&T campus Saturday, Florida added nine more scoring opportunities after totaling 12 the first two days.
“We talked before we got here about doing our job at this meet and getting as many of our scorers through to the NCAA meet as possible,” Holloway said. “I thought we did a great job of that this weekend, and I’m very proud of our team’s focus and effort.
“A lot of times when you come in as the favorite, or you are expected to do certain things, you have a tendency to get complacent,” Holloway said. “I thought everybody did a wonderful job and that was a byproduct of our focus. The things we want to do in two weeks started Thursday. If we hadn’t done our jobs this weekend, we wouldn’t be able to score points in two weeks.”
Sophomore Christian Taylor and freshman Omar Craddock each qualified for the men’s triple jump finals, placing first and third, respectively, in Saturday’s qualifying round. Taylor would have broken his own school record of 55 feet, 5¾ inches had the performance not been heavily wind aided (+2.2). He recorded a mark of 55 feet, 7½ inches, while Craddock leaped 54 feet, 2½ inches,
The defending NCAA champion 4×100-meter relay team finished first with a season-best time of 38.81 seconds. The team consisted of Chris Rainey, Jeremy Hall, Terrell Wilks and Jeff Demps. Wilks also advanced in the 200 meters, logging a personal-record time of 20.53 seconds in the quarterfinal round.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team, which entered the meet with the fastest time in the world so far this season, placed second overall in the quarterfinals. The foursome of R.J. Anderson, Tony McQuay, Taylor and Calvin Smith clocked in at 3:02.75.
Senior Julie Northrup, the second-fastest women’s steeplechase athlete in school history, advanced to the semifinals with a time of 10:27.44. Northrup, who advanced on time, was fifth in her heat and seventh overall.
Senior Shara Proctor, already qualified in the long jump, added a fourth-place effort of 44 feet even to qualify for the triple jump.
Senior Charlotte Browning, who won the women’s 1,500 meters last year, ran a strategic race to finish third overall with a time of 4:18.46 to advance to Eugene.
NCAA DIVISION I OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
EAST REGIONAL / Irwin Belk Track / North Carolina A&T State University / Greensboro, N.C. / Thursday-Saturday, May 27-29, 2010 / Florida qualifiers for NCAA Finals at Hayward Field/University of Oregon/Eugene, Ore., June 9-13, 2010
WOMEN
Javelin: 1. Evelien Dekkers (165 feet, 7 inches)
Shot put: 1. Mariam Kevkhishvili (57 feet, 10½ inches); 5. Keely Medeiros (53 feet, 9 inches); 10. Fidela James (52 feet, 3¼ inches)
Long jump: 3. Shara Proctor (21 feet, 0 inches)
Triple jump: 4. Shara Proctor (44 feet, 0 inches)
3,000-meter steeplechase: 7. Julie Northrup (10:27.44).
1,500 meters: 3. Charlotte Browning (4:18.46)
MEN
Shot put: 1. Kemal Mesic (62 feet, 10½ inches)
Long jump: 1. Christian Taylor (26 feet, 0¾ inches)
Triple jump: 1. Christian Taylor (55 feet, 7½ inches); 3. Omar Craddock (54 feet, 2½ inches)
100 meters: 4. Jeff Demps (10.06 seconds); 9. Terrell Wilks (10.28 seconds)
200 meters: 4. Terrell Wilks (20.53 seconds)
400 meters: 2. Calvin Smith (45.06 seconds); 10. Tony McQuay (45.73 seconds)
10,000 meters: 12. Josh Izewski (30:12.18)
4×100-meter relay: 1. Chris Rainey, Jeremy Hall, Terrell Wilks, Jeff Demps (38.81 seconds)
4×400-meter relay: 2. R.J. Anderson, Tony McQuay, Christian Taylor, Calvin Smith (3:02.75)
Decathlon: Gray Horn