Gator history was made on the opening day of the 2013 NCAA
Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday, as sophomore Marquis
Dendy (Middletown, Del.) and junior Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach,
Fla.) broke their own school records in the men’s long jump and men’s 60-meter
hurdles at the Randal Tyson Track Center at the University of Arkansas.
“I thought our men did really well today,” Florida head
coach Mike Holloway said. “They came out and performed the way we knew
they could. We qualified everyone today and that was our goal.”
Dendy captured his first individual NCAA crown, leaping to a
new personal best and school record of 8.28m/27-2 to take home the title. The
two-time SEC Champion indoors in the event, Dendy fouled his first two jumps
before leaping 8.10m/26-7 on his third and final jump of the first flight to
take the lead into the finals. On the first jump of the finals, Dendy improved
to 8.23m/27-0 to extend his lead. Getting the crowd into it, Dendy got Randal
Tyson Track Center on its feet and clapping, using the energy and one of his
best approaches of the night to jump 8.28m/27-2. Dendy is now the sixth-best
performer in the history of the NCAA and leads the NCAA and the U.S. in the
event this year. His mark is second in the world in 2013.
“We’ve talked all year about being who we are and doing what
we do,” Holloway said. “His first two jumps, he got a little anxious. Third
jump, he executes the way Coach (Nic) Petersen wants him to and he leads
the competition and never looks back. In the finals, he was wonderful. I’m very
proud of him. It’s his first NCAA championship and it got us off to a great
start.”
Dendy is Florida’s first-ever men’s long jump champion and
won the Gators’ eighth horizontal jumps national title in program history, all
coming in the last four years. Dendy will turn around tomorrow and compete in
the men’s triple jump alongside defending NCAA Champion Omar Craddock (Killeen,
Texas) at 7 p.m. ET Saturday.
“This track facility is a great place to
jump. I felt really, really good here,” Dendy said. “I just had to do it like I
did at SECs. This was a much-needed ten points. I have to go back and either
get ten or eight (points) tomorrow in triple jump. Hopefully I can get the team
eighteen to twenty points here.”
“When we recruited him, we knew we wanted him to be a double
(jumps) guy,” Holloway said. “So it’s no surprise to anyone who recruited him
or anyone who saw him in high school that he’s triple-jumping as well as he is
right now. He just needs to get back to the hotel and get rested up. It’s going
to be a great competition tomorrow. It was an unbelievable meet tonight and it’ll
be unbelievable tomorrow as well.”
Lovett scorched the track in the prelims of the men’s
60-meter hurdles, crossing the finish in a school record of 7.53, a new
personal best and the fastest in the NCAA and the U.S. this year. Lovett is
currently fourth in the world this year and the sixth-best performer in NCAA
history. The junior looks to capture his first NCAA individual title at 7:30
p.m. ET Saturday.
“Eddie was tremendous today,” Holloway noted. “He’s just
running his race and focusing on himself. He’s executing the plan he and Coach
(Erin) Tucker have worked on and he’ll be exciting to watch tomorrow.”
Three other Gator men qualified for Saturday’s finals, as
freshman Najee Glass (Woodbridge, N.J.) and Hugh Graham, Jr. (Miami,
Fla.) each advanced to the finals of the men’s 400. Glass ran the race of his
young career, finishing fifth overall with a new personal best of 45.97, good
for seventh all-time at Florida. Glass was the 16th entrant in the event
heading into the championship meet. Graham, Jr., a member of Florida’s NCAA
Outdoor Champion men’s 4x400-meter relay, finished seventh overall in 46.24 to
advance to Saturday’s finals.
“When we recruited Najee, we knew he was a special talent,”
Holloway commented. “He had some injuries last year during his high school
season and we got those worked out. When he came here, they crept back a bit
during the indoor season. When he went to Notre Dame last week, he ran a
collegiate best and was the last person to get into the meet. For him to come
out here and run like he did today, I’m just so proud of him. He did a
phenomenal job.”
Junior Sean Obinwa (Tampa, Fla.), the 2013 SEC
Champion in the men’s 800, advanced on time in the event with his time of
1:48.83. Obinwa was the final qualifier in the event Friday, finishing fifth in
what was the fastest section of the night. Obinwa was the 10th entrant heading
into the championship meet.
Sophomore Dedric Dukes (Miami, Fla.) competed in his
first NCAA Indoor Championships, advancing to the finals of the men’s 200
meters with a preliminary time of 20.89. Dukes then raced in the fastest final
of the night, taking third in his section and fifth overall with a time of
20.70, tying his personal best.
“Dedric had a rough semifinal, and I take the blame for
that, but he came back in the final and tied his PB and I’m very pleased with
his performance tonight,” Holloway commented.
Agata Strausa (Riga, Latvia) advanced in the women’s
mile Friday, finishing fifth overall in the preliminaries in 4:37.56. Strausa
is advancing to her second women’s mile finals, having finished seventh overall
a year ago. Strausa will compete at 7 p.m. ET Saturday.
Freshman Kyra Jefferson (Detroit, Mich.) set a new
personal best in her first-ever NCAA Indoor Championships, crossing the finish
of the women’s 200 meters in 23.43 to finish tenth overall. Junior Ebony
Eutsey (Miami, Fla.) also turned in a top-10 finish Friday, finishing in
52.90 in the women’s 400 meters to come in 10th.
The Gator men have nine scoring opportunities Saturday, with
seniors Jeremy Postin (Andover, Kan.) and David Triassi (Jacksonville,
Fla.) participating in the men’s weight throw at Walker Pavilion at 3 p.m. ET.
Four Gators begin competition at 7 p.m. ET, with Strausa on the track in the
women’s mile and sophomore Ciarra Brewer (Union City, Calif.) joining
Craddock and Dendy on the runways, as Brewer will compete in the women’s triple
jump.
“We have the chance to do really, really well tomorrow,”
Holloway said. “We need to go back to the hotel, rest up and come out here and
be the University of Florida tomorrow and do what we do.
“We want to show the world how great it is to be a Florida
Gator,” Holloway finished.
