No. 1 Florida Gators men’s track and field captured their sixth conference title and first since 2004 on Sunday, winning the 2011 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championship with 148 total team points.

Florida took down the No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks (136.5), No. 2 LSU Tigers (98), No. 17 Alabama Crimson Tide (65.5) and No. 24 Georgia Bulldogs (55.33) at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, AR.

Junior running back and sophomore sprinter Jeff Demps captured the SEC 60-meter dash championship with a 6.55, one-hundredth of a second faster than his record-setting time from the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships. Joining him with SEC titles were junior Gray Horn (heptathlon), junior jumper Christian Taylor (triple jump), junior Dumisane Hlaselo (3,000-meter run), senior Kemal Mesic (shot put), freshman Eddie Lovett (60-meter hurdles) and two members of the women’s team – junior Fidela James (20-pound weight throw) and freshman Cory McGee (mile run).

Horn’s heptathlon title is the first in school history, and Hlaselo’s 3,000-meter title is Florida’s first since 1993. Taylor’s triple jump title is his third-straight. The Gators finished held the top three places in the triple jump with junior Will Claye and sophomore Omar Craddock following Taylor for silver and bronze.

Florida has two more meets next month before competing in the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships March 11-12.

Photo Credit: GZTrackField

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Arkansas Razorbacks, Christian Taylor, Cory McGee, Dumisane Hlaselo, Eddie Lovett, Fidela James, field, Georgia Bulldogs, Gray Horn, Jeff Demps, Kemal Mesic, LSU Tigers, Omar Craddock, Randal Tyson Track Center, SEC Championship, SEC Indoors, track, Will Claye

1 » Don’t bother asking them to, because it does not look like No. 1 Florida Gators gymnastics (6-0, 3-0 SEC) plans to slow down anytime soon. Drawing nearly 7,000 fans to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Friday, Florida took down the previously undefeated No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide (6-1, 1-1 SEC) 197.55-195.45. Gators freshman Mackenzie Caquatto led the team with two event wins (uneven bars, balance beam) and took the all-around title with a score of 39.575, while senior Maranda Smith captured the vault event and sophomore Marissa King won the floor exercise. Florida will be tested once again on Saturday as they face No. 4 Georgia on the road.

2 » Gators sophomore sprinter Jeff Demps and junior jumper Christian Taylor became the fourth and fifth members of the team, respectively, to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships after posting strong individual showings over the weekend at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet. Demps recorded a 6.57 in the men’s 60-meter dash, the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season, during his first race of the year. Taylor won the triple jump with a mark of 16.61m/54-6 for the sixth-straight time in his last six competitions. The duo join jumpers junior Will Claye and sophomore Omar Craddock and junior heptathlete Gray Horn as Florida’s current NCAA automatic-qualifiers off the No. 1 men’s track & field team.

Read the rest of this post…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: gymnastics, track, tennis, softball

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Alexandre Lacroix, Allie Will, Bob Van Overbeek, Central Florida Knights, Christian Taylor, Clint Bowles, College World Series, DeMarini Tournament, Demps, field, Florida International Panthers, Florida State Seminoles, Gray Horn, gymnastics, Jennifer George, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, MacKenzie Caquatto, Maranda Smith, Marissa King, Nassim Slilam, NCAA, NCAA Championships, O'Connell Center, Ole Miss Rebels, Omar Craddock, Ring Tennis Complex, Sekou Bangoura, Sofie Oyen, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, tennis, track, Vahid Mirzadeh, Vanderbilt Commodores, Virginia Tech Elite Meet, Will Claye, women's basketball

1 » Capturing five events while taking home two NCAA automatic-qualifying marks, No. 2 Florida Gators track and field had a great weekend at the Texas A&M Challenge. Junior heptathlete Gray Horn and junior transfer jumper Will Claye each registered the qualifiers, with Horn registering a personal best 5,747 and Claye posting a season-leading 16.86m/55-3.25 in the triple jump. The duo joins sophomore jumper Omar Craddock, who has already registered his own automatic qualifying time.

2 » No. 5/8 Florida men’s/women’s swimming and diving swept the No. 7/10 Tennessee Volunteers on Senior Day at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Saturday. The men won 198-101, while the women were victorious 180-120. According to the University of Florida, “The 97-point victory for the UF men is the most lopsided win over UT in school history, while being the most points scored by the Gator men and the largest margin of victory in a one-day dual meet since a 208-88 conquest over Florida Atlantic on Jan. 26, 2001. The 198 points were the most in a one-day SEC dual meet since outscoring South Carolina 248-68 on Oct. 27, 2000, which was also the last time the men…had a 90-plus point margin of victory in SEC competition.”

Both teams also faced the Indian River State College Pioneers on Sunday and were victorious 165-120 and 157-106, respectively.

3 » Facing the No. 13 N.C. State Wolfpack (1-2) and No. 23 Penn State Nittany Lions (1-4, 0-2 Big Ten), No. 1 Florida gymnastics (5-0, 2-0 SEC) won the fifth annual Gators Link to Pink meet on Friday. The Gators posted 197.50 points compared to 195.3 for the Nittany Lions and 194.075 for the Wolfpack. Florida won all five events with freshman Alaina Johnson capturing four (vault, uneven bars, floor exercise, all-around) and sophomore Ashanée Dickerson bringing home one (balance beam).

4 » No. 2 Florida women’s tennis (2-0) swept a pair of matches over the weekend, defeating the Central Florida Knights (1-1) 7-0 and the College of Charleston Cougars (0-1) 6-0 at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, FL. The No. 1 duo of sophomore Allie Will and freshman Sofie Oyen won its doubles match during both contests. Also victorious in both of their singles matches were No. 7 Will, No. 22 freshman Olivia Janowicz and No. 96 Oyen. No. 28 freshman Alex Cercone won on Friday, and No. 30 junior Joanna Mather did not finish her contest on Saturday.

5 » No. 7 Gators men’s tennis (4-0) was equally successful with back-to-back wins over the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 4-0 and N.C. State 6-1 in Gainesville. The No. 11 duo of senior Alexandre Lacroix and junior Nassim Slilam won its doubles match in both events. No. 4 Lacroix and Slilam each captured singles wins on Friday and Saturday. No. 52 sophomore Bob Van Overbeek also won singles matches both days, while No. 28 sophomore Sekou Bangoura, Jr. won his opportunity on Saturday.

6 » After starting the season strong, Florida women’s basketball (13-9, 3-5 SEC) dropped three-straight contests in mid-January but ended that losing streak with a 70-64 home victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide (11-10, 0-8 SEC) on Thursday. Freshman guard Jaterra Bonds and sophomore forward Jennifer George each scored a team-high 12 points in the victory.

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Alaina Johnson, Alex Cercone, Alexandre Lacroix, Allie Will, Ashanée Dickerson, Bob Van Overbeek, Central Florida Knights, College of Charleston Cougars, diving, field, Gators Link to Pink, Gray Horn, gymnastics, Indian River State College Pioneers, Jaterra Bonds, Jennifer George, Joanna Mather, Linder Stadium, N.C. State Wolfpack, Nassim Slilam, NCAA, O'Connell Center, Olivia Janowicz, Omar Craddock, Penn State Nittany Lions, Ring Tennis Complex, SEC, Sekou Bangoura, swimming, Tennessee Volunteers, tennis, Texas A&M Challenge, track, University of Florida, Will Claye, women's basketball

1 » No. 4 Florida Gators softball (47-8) began its quest for a berth in the 2010 NCAA Women’s College World Series with an 8-0 shutout of the No. 13 Arizona State Sun Devils (44-16) while hosting the Gainesville Super Regional on Saturday night at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Junior starter Stephanie Brombacher (33-6) has been dynamite in the postseason; she recorded her 11th shutout of the year, pitching a complete game and only yielding four hits. Junior outfielder Kelsey Bruder (2-3) and senior third baseman Corrie Brooks (2-2) each led the Gators with three RBI, while freshman designated player Brittany Schutte (2-3) added two. Florida hopes to conclude Super Regional action by prevailing in the second game, Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

2 » The Gators’ No. 5 doubles pair of senior Marrit Boonstra and freshman Allie Will was eliminated from competition for the 2010 NCAA National Championship Saturday, falling 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 to Tennessee’s No. 1 duo of Natalie Pluskota and Caitlin Whoriskey at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA. Florida tennis – both men’s and women’s – has now been completely removed from NCAA competition for this season.

Find out which Gators qualified for the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships and what sport Georgia is going after Florida in…after the break!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Softball up one, doubles falls, track

Tags: Allie Will, Arizona State Sun Devils, Brittany Schutte, Calvin Smith, Charlotte Browning, Christian Taylor, Corrie Brooks, Damon Evans, Evelien Dekkers, Fidela James, field, Georgia Bulldogs, Gray Horn, Jeff Demps, Josh Izewski, Julie Northrup, Keely Medeiros, Kelsey Bruder, Kemal Mesic, Magill Tennis Complex, Mariam Kevkhishvili, Marrit Boonstra, National Championship, NCAA, NCAA Outdoor Championship, Omar Craddock, Pressly Stadium, Shara Proctor, soccer, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, Steve Holeman, Super Regional, tennis, Terrell Wilks, Tony McQuay, track, Women's College World Series

No. 3 Florida Gators men’s track & field won the 2010 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championship on Sunday, the team’s first since 1987, by scoring 124 total team points at Tom Black Track in Knoxville, TN. The victory marks men’s track & field’s second major title this year – the team won the 2010 NCAA Indoor National Championship (the first in program history) back on March 14.

Florida’s four individual event titles propelled them to the SEC Championship victory. Sophomore sprinter Jeff Demps captured the 100-meter dash, sophomore Gray Horn defended his 2009 SEC Championship in the decathalon, sophomore Christian Taylor took home the triple jump and the four-man team of Taylor, senior R.J. Anderson, senior Calvin Smith and freshman Tony McQuay won the 4×400-meter relay.

Demps became the Gators’ first SEC Champion in the men’s 100-meter dash since 2000, while Taylor carried the same honor in men’s triple jump for the first time since 1976. Horn’s decathalon score of 7,652 was a career-high and second-best in school history. He is the ninth person in conference history to win the title back-to-back and first since 1974. Horn is also the only Florida track & field athlete to win an SEC decathalon title.

Florida’s No. 10 women’s team, which finished second in their respective event to the No. 2 LSU Tigers (which won their third SEC Championship in the last four years), posted a total team score of 107.5 points. Like the men, the women raked in the individual titles and captured five all-together.

Senior distance runner Charlotte Browning defended her 2009 SEC Championship in the 1,500-meter run, senior Mariam Kevkhishvili won the shot put, senior Evelin Dekkers took home the javelin event and senior Shara Proctor was victorious in both the long jump and triple jump.

Browning’s 1,500-meter run time of 4:13.96 was her career-best and the second-fastest time in school history. Even more impressive were the victories by Kevkhishvili in the shot put and Proctor in the triple jump – each woman won the SEC title for her third time in her respective event.

The Gators will now close the season beginning May 27-29 with the NCAA East Preliminary Round, which can earn them a berth in the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Photo Credit: University of Florida

Tags: Calvin Smith, Charlotte Browning, Christian Taylor, Evelin Dekkers, field, Gray Horn, Jeff Demps, LSU Tigers, Mariam Kevkhishvili, NCAA, R.J. Anderson, SEC, SEC Outdoor Championship, Shara Proctor, Tony McQuay, track

1 » No. 4/5 Florida Gators baseball (36-12, 19-7 SEC) took a pair of 4-3 victories from the Georgia Bulldogs (14-35, 3-21 SEC) over the weekend in their final home series at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL for the 2010 season. Friday night, freshman catcher Mike Zunino won the game for the Gators with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning. Sophomore Alex Panteliodis earned the start but was pulled after giving up three earned run in five innings; classmate Greg Larson (3-1) came on to finish out the game, shutting the Bulldogs out the rest of the way while striking out three. Freshman designated hitter Brian Johnson (2-4) pulled in an RBI to go along with the two Zunino added over the course of the evening.

2 » Looking to capitalize Saturday, Florida won in similar fashion. Sophomore catcher Ben McMahan led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer to break the 3-3 tie and help his team edge Georgia. Sophomore first baseman Preston Tucker (2-4, one run) and senior outfielder Matt den Dekker (1-4, two runs, RBI) led the way for the Gators offensively, with junior Kevin Chapman (3-0) picking up the relief win in 1.2 innings of work. Freshman Hudson Randall started the game, tossing 5.2 solid innings with five strikeouts and two earned runs.

Florida is tied with South Carolina atop the Southeastern Conference standings but has two more games to play (Sun. vs. Georgia, Tues. vs. North Florida) before traveling to Columbia, SC, for a three-game SEC-deciding series to close the regular season.

3 » Like it’s women’s counterpart, No. 6 men’s tennis (20-4) – which also holds the sixth seed in the event – swept the South Carolina State Huskies (11-11) 4-0 in first-round action in the 2010 NCAA Tournament at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, FL, on Saturday. The No. 8 doubles pair of junior Alexandre Lacroix and redshirt senior Antoine Benneteau took their doubles match; No. 7 Lacroix also won his singles contest, as did Benneteau and the rest of UF’s squad. Second-round action continues Sunday.

4 » Gators sophomore decathlete Gray Horn and senior jumper Shara Proctor each defended their titles, taking home the 2010 SEC Outdoor Championships in the decathalon and long jump, respectively. Competing at Tom Black Track in Knoxville, TN, Horn turned in a career-high 7,652 – the second-best decathalon score in UF history. He is the ninth person in conference history to win the title back-to-back and first since 1974. Horn is also the only Florida track & field athlete to win an SEC decathalon title. Similarly, Proctor won her second-straight title on the same track and became just the sixth multiple winner of the event with a victorious jump of 6.69m/21-11.50 (+1.4) – the best of her college career.

Tags: Alex Panteliodis, Alexandre Lacroix, Antoine Benneteau, baseball, Ben McMahan, Brian Johnson, decathalon, field, Georgia Bulldogs, Gray Horn, Greg Larson, Hudson Randall, Kevin Chapman, Linder Stadium, long jump, Matt den Dekker, McKethan Stadium, Mike Zunino, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Preston Tucker, Ring Tennis Complex, SEC, SEC Championship, Shara Proctor, South Carolina State Huskies, tennis, Tom Black Track, track

1 » A 90-minute rain delay did little to derail No. 7/9 Florida Gators baseball (24-9, 9-4 SEC) from taking a 10-8 win over the Kentucky Wildcats (21-13, 4-9 SEC) Friday night on the road at Cliff Hagan Stadium in Lexington, KY. Marking the 100th victory of head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s career, the win was powered by a home run each from freshman catcher Austin Maddox (3-5) and senior outfielder Matt den Dekker (2-3). Sophomore Alex Panteliodis got the start but received a no-decision after giving up five earned runs in 5.1 innings. Senior reliever Jeff Barfield (2-0) tossed 1.1 innings for the win as junior closer Kevin Chapman earned his seventh save of the season with four strikeouts in 2.0 innings.

2 » From GatorZone: “Sophomore Florida multi-event athlete Gray Horn turned in the second-best decathlon score in school history Thursday, charting 7,566 total points to place third at the Mt. Sac Relays Multi-Events hosted by Azusa Pacific University at Cougar Stadium.”

3 » No. 4/6 men’s and No. 10/11 women’s golf are each currently competing in their respective 2010 Southeastern Conference Championships. After the first round of action, the men’s team is in a tie for second place while the women are struggling and are currently in ninth. The Gators’ men are just two strokes behind the leading Arkansas Razorbacks and have a chance to take the lead Saturday.

4 » By all accounts, former Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong is already doing an amazing job in his first head coaching gig with the Louisville Cardinals. Granted, it is only spring practice so far. Regardless, Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples put out a nice piece about Strong on Monday, stating what OGGOA has long believed, that “schools nationwide are about to regret passing on Charlie Strong.”

Extra Bit » OGGOA has heard that Gators basketball’s Friday visit with Rutgers transfer guard Mike Rosario went really well. Some we have spoken with seem to believe he will be committing or already has committed. However, we are not able to confirm that at this point – just wanted to make our readers aware of what we are hearing.

Tags: Alex Panteliodis, Arkansas Razorbacks, Austin Maddox, baseball, Charlie Strong, Cliff Hagan Stadium, golf, Gray Horn, Jeff Barfield, Kentucky Wildcats, Kevin Chapman, Kevin O'Sullivan, Louisville Cardinals, Matt den Dekker, Mike Rosario, SEC, SEC Championship