Three Florida athletes and head coach Mike Holloway have garnered individual honors as part of the 2011 Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Awards, as voted on by the league’s head coaches, announced by the league offices in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday.
Junior jumper Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) was named the SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Year, freshman hurdler Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.) was honored as the SEC Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year, freshman distance runner Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.) was named the SEC Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year, while Holloway was honored as the SEC Men’s Head Coach of the Year.
Holloway directed the Florida men to their first SEC Indoor Championship since the 2004 season, accomplishing the feat two weeks ago in Fayetteville, Ark. The Gators scored 148 total team points and posted eight SEC individual titles. Florida’s men swept the championships in the short-sprint events, which Holloway directly coaches. Sophomore Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.) won the men’s 60m dash in a school-record time of 6.55, Lovett won the men’s 60m hurdles with the second-fastest time in school history at 7.73 and sophomore Tony McQuay (Riviera Beach, Fla.) claimed the men’s 200m dash with the fourth-fastest time in school history at 20.61. Holloway’s relay also won the league championship in an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 3:05.51.
Taylor captured the 2011 SEC Indoor Championship in the men’s triple jump for the third consecutive year with the third-best mark in collegiate history at 17.36m/56-11.50 on his last jump. He also placed eighth in the long jump and anchored UF’s second-place and NCAA automatic-qualifying 4x400-meter relay team at the league meet. Taylor helped direct Florida to a 1-2-3 finish in the men’s triple jump at the SEC Indoor Championships, also setting the SEC meet record, the Randal Tyson Track facility record and breaking his own UF school record. He currently ranks first in the nation and fifth in the world in the men’s triple jump this season with a mark of 17.36m/56-11.50.
Lovett won the 2011 SEC Indoor Championship in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, doing so with the nation’s No. 1 time by a freshman at 7.73. He posted the second-best men’s 60-meter hurdles time in school history, claiming the school’s first title in that event since Josh Walker accomplished the feat in 2004. He currently ranks sixth in the nation in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, directing a 1-3-6 finish by his team in that event at the 2011 SEC Indoor Championships.
McGee won the women’s mile at the 2011 SEC Indoor Championships and placed seventh in the women’s 3,000-meter run. She currently ranks fifth in the nation in the women’s mile with a personal-best time of 4:36.53. She is the only freshman in the nation this season to rank among the top-five nationally in any of the middle-distance or distance events (800m-5,000m). She is a two-time SEC Female Freshman of the Week recipient during the 2011 season.
Florida returns to action March 11-12, when it travels to College Station, Texas, to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University.
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2011 SEC Indoor Track and Field Awards
Men’s Runner of the Year: Kirani James, Alabama
Men’s Field Athlete of the Year: Christian Taylor, Florida
Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Eddie Lovett, Florida
Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Stephen Saenz, Auburn
Men’s Coach of the Year: Mike Holloway, Florida
Women’s Runner of the Year: Jackie Areson, Tennessee
Women’s Field Athlete of the Year: Tina Sutej, Arkansas
Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Cory McGee, Florida
Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Fabia McDonald, Ole Miss
Women’s Coach of the Year: Dennis Shaver, LSU
