Sophomore
Marquis Dendy (Middletown, Del.) and senior David Triassi (Jacksonville,
Fla.) took home Southeastern Conference titles on the second day of the SEC
Indoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Arkansas on
Saturday.
“I
love where we’re at,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “I think
what you saw out of us today is who we are and what we’re about. We had great
runs across the board, we were tremendous in the field events today and I’m
very proud of everyone for stepping up where it counts.”
Dendy
claimed his second-straight SEC title in the men’s long jump with a new
personal best and school record of 8.25m/27-0.75. In the process, Dendy set a
new SEC Championship meet record and leapt the best jump in the world this
year.
“When
we recruited Marquis out of high school, we knew he was a big-time athlete,”
Holloway commented. “He had some injury problems last year and was just a
freshman, but he struggled a bit with fouls at the Nebraska meet this year and
he and Coach (Nic) Petersen went to work and got those things adjusted.
That’s what you saw today. I’m really proud of him. SEC Champion and the SEC
Championship record-holder and world leader, I just couldn’t be prouder of him
and the work he and Coach Petersen have put in.”
“All
season I have been fouling huge jumps, so my coaches and I have been working on
my approach to a tee,” Dendy said. “Every day in practice it was just
approaches, approaches, approaches, then today I came out and executed like I
do in practice. I just wanted to go out there, put my foot on the board and
compete hard for my team.”
Triassi
started the day off strong for the Gator men at Walker Pavilion, claiming the
SEC men’s weight throw title with a personal-best mark of 21.59m/70-10, just
one centimeter off the school record of teammate Jeremy Postin (Andover,
Kan.), who turned in a runner-up finish Saturday with his throw of
21.48m/70-5.75.
“Very,
very pleased with the weight throwers today. David has been looking very good
in practice and Coach (Steve) Lemke mentioned in practice the other day
that he thought David was capable of winning it,” Holloway said. “When
your teammate is the school record holder and the NCAA runner-up in the hammer
throw outdoors, that’s a big statement. But true to Coach Lemke’s prediction,
David was on fire today. To Jeremy’s credit, he didn’t let him get it easily
either. For both of them to throw over 70 feet was a great start for us today.”
“I
came into today really relaxed,” Triassi said. “I wanted my last one (SEC
Indoors) to be my best one. I knew that if I didn’t throw a PR on my first
throw, there was no way that I could beat Jeremy and that’s what I did.
“The
great thing about this group of guys is that all four of us (Triassi, Postin, David
Levin [Altamonte Springs, Fla.] and Kyle Strawn [Temecula, Calif.])
are a brotherhood and we’re there for each other in our successes,” Triassi
finished. “We’re so pumped to get 18 points for Florida to start the meet.”
Junior
Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.) had a record-setting day for the
Orange and Blue, setting a new school record in the men’s 60-meter hurdles. The
two-time SEC Champion in the event torched the track with his time of 7.57, a
new lifetime best and the collegiate leader in the 60-meter hurdles. Lovett’s
time goes down as the third-fastest in the nation this year and tied for the
sixth-fastest in the world. Only 12 athletes have run faster than Lovett in
collegiate history.
“Eddie
Lovett was phenomenal today. He and Coach (Erin) Tucker really got into
a groove and they really get each other. Eddie understands what Coach Tucker is
asking him to do and to watch that race, and we’ve seen some great hurdle races
at the University of Florida, but that was a tremendous race and the first
thing Eddie said was, ‘I’ve got to keep my mind straight and do it again
tomorrow.’ I think that’s a great mindset for all of our athletes heading into
tomorrow.”
On
the women’s side, juniors Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.) and Agata
Strausa (Riga, Latvia) scored in the women’s 3,000 meters, finishing 2-3 in
the event with new personal bests of 9:15.67 and 9:16.25. McGee’s PR was
cemented by nearly 10 seconds and she and Strausa are now second and third
all-time at UF.
“That’s
what Cory and Agata do. If you talked to them before the race, they obviously would
have liked to go 1-2 but they both ended up with huge PRs and are now second
and third in school history,” Holloway noted. “Coach (Paul) Spangler has
done a phenomenal job with them and I’m very pleased with their effort in the
mile as well, along with Steph Strasser.”
Junior
Lorraine Graham (Springdale, Md.) and sophomore Ciarra Brewer (Union
City, Calif.) both scored in the women’s long jump, finishing third and seventh
with jumps of 6.18m/20-3.50 and 6.03m/19-9.50, respectively.
Graham’s
jump was a new personal best for her and goes down as tied for eighth all-time
in Florida program history. In the span of 24 hours, Graham has cemented
herself as second all-time in UF history in the women’s pentathlon (4,010
points), third all-time in the 60-meter hurdles (8.44), to add to her finish in
the women’s long jump Saturday.
Earlier
in the day, McGee and Strausa joined senior Stephanie Strasser (Fernandina Beach, Fla.) to qualify for Sunday’s finals of
the women’s mile. Strausa led the Gator pack with her second-place qualifier of
4:44.47 and McGee was sixth overall in 4:47.38. Strasser finished with a
new personal best of 4:48.69 to take the 10th and final qualifying spot for
Sunday’s final.
The
men’s distance corps had a banner day also, as Mark Parrish (Tampa,
Fla.) and Josh Izewski (Doylestown, Pa.) scored for the Gator men on
Saturday in the men’s 3,000 meters. Parrish ran a new lifetime best of 8:03.54
to finish fifth on the evening, good for fourth all-time at Florida. Izewski
turned in a lifetime best of 8:11.27 to finish eighth and etch his name at tenth
all-time in program history. Freshman JL Hines (Orlando, Fla.) landed
just outside the top-10 all-time at UF with his personal best of 8:11.95 and
freshman Jimmy Clark (St. Johns, Fla.) finished 11th in a personal-best
time of 8:16.10.
Sophomore
Hugh Graham, Jr. (Miami, Fla.) qualified for two of Sunday’s finals,
unleashing times of 6.64 in the 60 meters and 45.86 in the 400 meters, both new
personal bests.
“I
mean, Hugh Graham, Jr. runs 6.64 and 45.86 in the same day…I’m just speechless,”
Holloway said. “I just don’t think anyone has ever done that. In this
conference, that says something.”
Joining
Graham in double-qualifying for Sunday’s finals was junior Ebony Eutsey (Miami,
Fla.), who qualified with new PRs in the 200 (23.58) and 400 (52.48), good for 10th
and fourth all-time at UF, respectively. Along with Eutsey, Graham and Lovett,
Sunday’s qualifiers included Dedric Dukes (Miami, Fla.) in the men’s 200
meters (20.79 – PR), Ugonna Ndu (Newark, N.J.) in the women’s 60-meter
hurdles (8.38 – SB), Sean Obinwa (Tampa, Fla.) in the men’s 800 meters
(1:50.85), Shayla Sanders (Pompano Beach, Fla.) in the women’s 60 meters
(7.37 – PR) and Antwan Wright (Riviera Beach, Fla.) in the men’s 60
meters (6.69 – PR).
“I’m
really excited about our qualifiers for tomorrow. Overall, I’m really proud of
both teams and we’re ready to get back to the hotel, get rested and get
everyone fed, and come out here tomorrow and get after it.”
The
Championship Central for this weekend’s meet can be found on ArkansasRazorbacks.com, including the meet
schedule, performance lists, Fan Guide and much more. Live results will be
provided by Flash Results and full recap will be available on GatorZone each
day. Fans can interact with the Gators on Twitter throughout the meet at @GZTrackField.
The
meet will be broadcast live on RazorVision from 12-12:30 p.m. CT
on Sunday. Beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, the meet will air live on
ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Dwight Stones and Larry Rawson will be on the call
with Lewis Johnson on the sideline.
