Florida track and field’s Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.) and Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) are two of 10 athletes named to the preseason watch list for The Bowerman, track and field’s highest honor, as announced Wednesday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Transfer Will Claye (Phoenix, Ariz.) is on the list of athletes also receiving mention for The Bowerman.
Demps claimed the indoor 60-meter and outdoor 100-meter crowns in 2010, becoming just the 12th person in NCAA men’s Division I history to accomplish the short-sprint sweep. He won the 100-meter final in a slightly wind-aided 9.96 in June and set a new Florida record by clocking a 6.56 in the 60-meter national preliminaries last March. He added a national championship in anchoring the Gators’ 4x100-meter relay squad.
Taylor won the NCAA indoor-oudoor double in the triple jump in 2010, becoming the first to accomplish the feat since LSU’s Walter Davis in 2001 and 2002. The indoor crown was his second consecutive entering his junior season. Taylor swept the SEC triple jump crowns in 2010, with the indoor title being a second consecutive such honor. Taylor was the NCAA Indoor runner-up in the long jump and was the USATF outdoor runner-up in the triple jump. He also is a member of Florida’s 4x400m relay team.
Florida opens its 2011 season on Saturday when it travels to University Park, Pa., to participate in the Nittany Lion Challenge. Events begin at 11 a.m. ET.
For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/trackfield or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team’s Twitter account @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField.
2011 THE BOWERMAN MEN’S PRESEASON WATCHLIST
| Name | Event | Year | School |
| Jeshua Anderson | Hurdles | Sr. | Washington State |
| Robby Andrews | Distance | So. | Virginia |
| Sam Chelanga | Distance | Sr. | Liberty |
| Charles Clark | Sprints | Sr. | Florida State |
| Jeff Demps | Sprints | So./Jr. | Florida |
| German Fernandez | Distance | Jr./So. | Oklahoma State |
| Mason Finley | Throws | So. | Kansas |
| Walter Henning | Throws | Sr. | LSU |
| Kirani James | Sprints | So. | Alabama |
| Christian Taylor | Jumps | Jr. | Florida |
ALSO RECEIVING MENTION
| Name | Event | Year | School |
| Will Claye | Jumps | Jr. | Florida |
| Derek Drouin | Jumps | Jr. | Indiana |
| Leford Green | Sprints | Jr. | Johnson C. Smith |
| Torrin Lawrence | Sprints | Jr. | Georgia |
| Josh Scott | Sprints | Sr. | St. Augustine’s |
| Dorian Ulrey | Distance | Sr. | Arkansas |
