Charlotte Browning hasn’t had many chances to impress during the indoor track and field season. She has a big opportunity this weekend.
Browning, who holds the Southeastern Conference’s best time in the mile and sixth-best time in the 800, and the rest of the No. 4 men’s and No. 3 women’s track and field teams begin the 2010 SEC Indoor Championships on Friday.
The three-day event, featuring every team in the conference, will take place in Fayetteville, Ark., at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
On the women’s side, middle-distance events will be imperative for the Gators, as they try to hold off No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Arkansas and No. 9 Auburn for an SEC championship. No. 4 Tennessee, featuring one of the premier distance units in the country, may be UF’s toughest competition.
Browning will attempt to win the mile like she did in her only try in 2010 at the Husky Classic. She’ll also run the 3K for the first time this season and try to challenge UT’s Jackie Areson, who holds the best 3K time in the conference on the season at 9:07, about 23 seconds ahead of UF’s Rebecca Lowe, who holds the next-best time.
“Coach (Mike) Holloway is definitely setting us to peak at the right time,” Browning said. “I feel I’m ready to run my best at this point.”
Shot-putter Mariam Kevkhishvili is expected to win the women’s shot put title like she has in every other competition this season.
Her best throw in 2010 is nearly two meters better than the next-best mark in the SEC, and she is the only automatic qualifier shot-putter for the NCAA championships from the conference.
On the men’s side, UF will have to contend with No. 3 LSU and No. 6 Arkansas to pull out a conference championship.
Individually, Christian Taylor will be a favorite to win three gold medals at the SECs. The defending national champion in the triple jump will also compete in the long jump and anchor the 4x400 relay team.
