Three Gator athletes earned individual titles Sunday as the
Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships came to a
close. The Florida men were the runners-up in the team standings with 123
points while the Gator women finished fourth with 106 points over the course of
the four-day event. The Texas A&M women and Arkansas men were the SEC
Champions.
“Our goal at every SEC meet is to be the conference
champions,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “Credit to the Texas
A&M women and Arkansas men for what they did this weekend. I’m pleased with
both of our teams’ efforts today. I felt like we recovered well from yesterday
and we challenged them to be who we are and do what we do.”
Sophomore Ciarra Brewer (Union City, Calif.) and senior
Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas) swept the triple jump titles while
freshman Marija Vucenovic (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia) took home the women’s
javelin title Sunday.
Two school records went down Sunday on the final day of
competition, as Brewer and Ugonna Ndu (Newark, N.J.) cemented their
names at the top of the Florida record books.
“For Ciarra to break not only the school record, but the SEC
meet record…I’m just so proud,” Holloway said. “You think about all the great
jumpers who have come through this conference and I just can’t say enough about
what she did today.”
Brewer’s first attempt at the women’s triple jump was
phenomenal, leaping a new personal best of 13.85m/45-5.25 (+1.6). Brewer
defended her conference title in the event, having won as a freshman a year
ago, and adds to the Gators’ haul of five of the last six women’s triple jump
crowns.
“Coach (Nic Petersen) has been preparing us and making sure
we don’t foul early,” Brewer noted. “He pushed me back (on my approach) to make
sure I get a legal mark because your first jump is typically your best because
you’re fresh off warm-ups. I just made sure I pushed out and I felt great down
the runway. I was a little timid at first because I did the long jump yesterday
and my legs were a little sore but I knew I was going to be okay. I hit the
board and I just felt it. I landed and heard the crowd and I knew it was going
to be big.”
The mark goes down as a new Florida program record, SEC meet
record, facility record and ties as the second-best mark in the NCAA this year with
Kansas’ Andrea Geubelle.
“I didn’t even know I broke the school record until I heard
it over the loudspeaker,” Brewer continued. “I’m just so thankful. I’ve been
working really hard and it finally shows. I’ve jumped 45 feet in practice and I
knew I could do it in competition. Now it’s time to get back to Gainesville and
keep working hard with Coach Nic for regionals and NCAAs.”
Ndu tallied a runner-up finish in the women’s 400-meter
hurdles, breaking the Florida program record with her time of 56.12, a new
personal best. Ndu also had a podium finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a
PR-tying 13.14 (+0.5).
“Ugonna had a great meet,” Holloway noted. “I’m really
pleased with her effort in the 400-meter hurdles, as well as a PR in the 100
hurdles and a great leg on the 4x4.”
Craddock defended his SEC Outdoor title in the men’s triple
jump, leaping a new collegiate-leading 16.46m/54-0 (-0.5) on his first jump of
the competition and three of his four legal jumps were over 53 feet.
“It’s just exciting,” Craddock said. “What Marquis and I
talked about last night was going 1-2 and getting 18 points for the team. We
want to show the nation that we are the jump school, this is Gator Flight
School. I wanted to increase my season’s best, which I did. I wanted to go 17
meters and I didn’t, but I got the win and that’s what matters today.”
Craddock’s jumping partner Marquis Dendy (Middletown,
Del.) turned in his second runner-up finish of the meet with a new personal
best in the men’s triple jump. Dendy’s third jump of 16.03m/52-7.25 (+0.7) puts
him at seventh all-time in Florida program history. The Gator sophomore tallied
16 points over the course of the SEC meet.
“Omar did what Omar does, he came out and competed at his
best,” Holloway said. “I’m very proud of his and Marquis’ efforts today and I
think it certainly builds momentum for the regional meet.
“A lot of credit for Omar and Ciarra’s success this weekend
and this season goes to Coach Petersen,” Holloway continued. He’s prepared his
jumpers well for this meet and I look forward to seeing how they do as the
championship season progresses.”
Rookie Vucenovic gave the Gators 10 points in the women’s
javelin, tossing a mark of 52.91m/173-7 on her fifth attempt to lead the
competition to the end. Fellow Gator Fawn Miller (Stoneboro, Pa.) led
the meet until Vucenovic’s winning throw as the 2011 javelin champ threw a
season’s best 51.30m/168-4.
“Coach (Steve) Lemke’s goal was for Marija and Fawn to go
1-2,” Holloway said. “He challenged them to do that and they both performed
well and competed hard today.”
The men’s 4x400-meter relay turned in a runner-up finish,
racing to a 3:04.46 finish to score eight points for the Orange and Blue. The
Gator women also turned in a runner-up finish in the 1600 relay with a time of
3:31.44, adding eight points to Florida’s total.
Other podium finishes for the Gators included junior Eddie
Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.), who battled windy conditions to finish
second in the men’s 110-meter hurdles in 13.61 (-2.1). Juniors Cory McGee (Pass
Christian, Miss.) and Agata Strausa (Riga, Latvia) both scored in the
women’s 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters. McGee was the runner-up in the 1,500
(4:15.80) and sixth in the 5k (16:21.86 – seventh all-time at UF), while
Strausa was second in the 5k (16:09.41 – fifth all-time at UF) and seventh in
the 1,500 (4:19.27).
Junior Sean Obinwa (Tampa, Fla.) was the runner-up in
the men’s 800 meters, crossing the finish in 1:47.92 to score eight points for
the Gators. Redshirt freshman Jimmy Clark (St. Johns, Fla.) turned in
another podium finish after his 10k win Friday night. Clark shaved 17 seconds
off his PR for a third-place finish of 13:58.24, good for third all-time at
Florida.
The 2013 SEC Outdoor Championships will air as part of a
90-minute show on ESPNU on Thursday, May 23 beginning at 8 p.m.
ET. Dwight Stones, Larry Rawson and Lewis Johnson have the call for the ESPN
coverage of the meet.
Next up for the Gators is the NCAA East Preliminary Round,
hosted by North Carolina A&T State at the Irwin Belk Track & Field
Center. The three-day meet begins Thursday, May 23 and runs through Saturday,
May 25.
