Special to GC
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Florida head coach Mike Holloway is the 2015 SEC Indoor Track & Field Men’s Coach of the Year, while freshman jumper KeAndre Bates and senior jumper Marquis Dendy picked up SEC Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year and SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Year honors, respectively. In just his first season on campus, Bates has continued to carry the legacy of the Florida jump corps as the top freshman jumper in both the SEC and NCAA in the long and triple jumps. Bates scored fifth in both events in his SEC Indoor Championship debut, owns the No. 7 mark all-time in Florida history in the triple jump (16.06m/52-8.25), and will compete in both events at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville this weekend. Dendy, also the USTFCCCA South Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year, swept both the long and (8.00m/26-3) and triple jump (16.98m/55-08.5) titles at SEC Indoors in Lexington. The world leader in the triple jump and the 2014 NCAA Outdoor LJ and TJ champion, Dendy was the first athlete to sweep both jumps at the SEC Indoor Championships since the Gators’ Christian Taylor in 2009. Dendy tied for the SEC’s Cliff Harper High Point Award Trophy with his 20 points towards UF’s championship total. Holloway, last week named the USTFCCCA South Region Men’s Coach of the Year, is the SEC’s Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year for the third time (2004, 2011 and 2015) after guiding the Orange and Blue to their seventh SEC Indoor Championship Feb. 27 in Lexington. Holloway has five national titles -- including three straight indoor men’s national titles from 2010-12 -- to his credit. Florida enters NCAA Indoors in Fayetteville with a nation-leading 14 entries on the men’s side and 13 on the women’s side, which ranks second. KEANDRE BATES | SEC Indoor Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year · Finished fifth at SECs in both LJ (7.58m/24-10.5) & TJ (16.06m/52-8.25) · Accounted for eight Florida points towards UF’s SEC Championship and jumped onto UF’s all-time top-10 list with his TJ mark · Is the top FR jumper in both the SEC and NCAA in both LJ (7th – 7.84m/25-8.75) and TJ (12th – 16.06m/52-8.25) · Qualified for NCAA Indoors in both jumps events MARQUIS DENDY | SEC Indoor Men’s Field Athlete of the Year · USTFCCCA South Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year · SEC Champ in long jump (8.00m/26-3) and triple jump (16.98m/55-08.50), the first athlete to double in both since 2009 (Christian Taylor) · Tied for Cliff Harper Commissioner’s Trophy (high point) with 20 points towards UF’s SEC Championship · Won SEC Indoor LJ for third time, first SEC athlete to win three LJ titles in two decades (1992-94, Erick Walder of Arky) · Owns the top TJ in the NCAA/world this year (17.23m/56-6.5), also the No. 9 performance all-time (2-14-15 at Tyson Invite) MIKE HOLLOWAY | SEC Indoor Men’s Coach of the Year · USTFCCCA South Region Men’s Coach of the Year · Led Florida men to 2015 SEC Indoor Championship for first time since 2011, the program’s seventh men’s SEC indoor title in history (third under Holloway) · Won his eighth SEC title (men and women, indoor and outdoor) as the Gators’ head coach · Team boasts a nation-leading 14 event entries leading up to NCAA Indoors next week in Fayetteville · Men’s team had five SEC individual Champs & qualified 11 for NCAA Championships (23 total NCAA qualifiers with women’s squad) · Had SEC men’s high point award winner (Marquis Dendy), who swept both SEC jumps · Boasts world leader Dendy in TJ, top athlete in NCAA in 400m in Najee Glass, put four men in 400m, two in 800m, two each in TJ & LJ for NCAAs 2015 SEC TRACK & FIELD AWARDS Men’s Coach of the Year: Mike Holloway, Florida Women’s Coach of the Year: Lance Harter, Arkansas Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Maicel Uibo, Georgia Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Sandi Morris, Arkansas Men’s Runner of the Year: Omar McLeod, Arkansas Men’s Field Athlete of the Year: Marquis Dendy, Florida Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Christian Coleman, Tennessee Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: KeAndre Bates, Florida Women’s Co-Runners of the Year: Dominique Scott, Arkansas and Remona Burchell, Alabama Women’s Co-Field Athletes of the Year: Sandi Morris, Arkansas and Erica Bougard, Mississippi State Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Brooke Feldmeier, Ole Miss Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Keturah Orji, Georgia 2015 NCAA INDOOR MEET & BROACAST INFORMATION · Florida NCAA Indoor Qualifiers<http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=30021> · Meet Central<http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/news/2015-ncaa-indoor-track-field-championship-12-07-2014> · Meet Schedule<http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/ITF_Schedule_Arkansas_2015_FINAL.pdf> · LIVE Results<http://www.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/track-field/results/d1/indoor15/index.htm> · Accepted Entries<http://www.rtspt.com/ncaa/d1indoor15/> · SEC Track & Field Highlight Show: March 9, 2015 | ESPNU | 7:30-9 p.m. · ESPN3 will stream the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships live March 13 & 14 beginning at 7 p.m. ET. A tape delay of the championships will air March 23 on ESPN at 7 p.m. IN THE POLLS Men: No. 1<http://www.ustfccca.org/team-rankings-polls-central/division-i-rankings> Women: No. 3<http://www.ustfccca.org/team-rankings-polls-central/division-i-rankings>