While some sports fans know UF athletics only for basketball and football, there is another sport on campus hoping for championship glory.
The top-ranked men's track team won the NCAA East Regional in Greensboro, N.C., over the weekend with 84 points, topping fellow Southeastern Conference opponents South Carolina and Georgia, who finished in second and third place, respectively.
The UF's men's team has finished in the top two of the East Regional every season since it began in 2003, but this is the first regional title for the men since 2004.
The 2009 SEC Champions and 16th-ranked UF women's track and field team placed fourth overall with 48 points, behind Florida State, Penn State and Miami.
"We are a very balanced group and that shows a lot about our program," UF coach Mike Holloway said following the SEC Championship. "If you want to be a national championship team, you need that balance."
Calvin Smith, who won the Commissioner's Trophy at the SEC meet, came in second place during the men's 400m finals at the Regional with a time of 45.30, breaking the facility record and earning him a spot in the NCAA Championships.
Junior Mariam Kevkhishvili, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation for women's shot put, won that event for the second straight year with a throw of 58-10.75/17.95m.
The regional competition gave the Gators 18 automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., June 10-13.
Those who earned automatic bids to the championships from the women's team include Evelien Dekkers (javelin) Kevkhishvili and Keely Medeiros (shotput), Natalie Moser (pole vault) and Shara Proctor, who qualified for both the long jump and triple jump.
The men's 4x100m relay and the 4x400m relay teams were automatic qualifiers as well. Other men's qualifiers include William Wynne (110m hurdles), Terrell Wilks and Jeremy Hall (100m and 200m), Smith (400m), Kallinka Pitt (110m hurdles), Carlos Phillips (800m) and Kemal Mesic (shot put).
There is a chance that more UF athletes will attend the NCAA Championships when at-large selections are announced later this week.
"Our goal was to qualify as many athletes as possible," Holloway said. "I think we were able to do that."
