While Willy Wonka’s Golden Tickets may have been hard to come by, the Gators track and field teams collected their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships as easy as stealing candy from a baby.
After 12 Gators had already advanced to Eugene, Ore., in the first two days of the NCAA Preliminary Round, nine more tickets were punched for a chance to win a championship.
The Gators ended the East Regional in Greensboro, N.C., with more great performances from the likes of Christain Taylor, Jeff Demps, Shara Proctor and Charlotte Browning.
Both Taylor and Proctor had already advanced in the men’s and women’s long jump, but on Saturday the two leading jumpers hopped their way to another potential championship by each qualifying in the triple jump. Taylor won the men’s triple jump and nearly broke his own school record.
Freshman jumper Omar Craddock placed third in the men’s triple jump and also advanced to Eugene.
Browning, the top women’s 1,500 meter runner in the Southeastern Conference, advanced to Eugene, while Julie Northrup, the second-fastest women’s steeplechase athlete in school history, also qualified for the finals.
A day after four of America’s fastest sprinters qualified individually, two of the top men’s relay teams in the country also advanced to Eugene. The defending NCAA Champion 4x100-meter relay team, anchored by Demps, notched the top qualifying time with a season-best time of 38.81.
The men’s 4x400-meter relay team, which entered the meet with the fastest time in the world so far this season, also clinched a spot in the finals.
In all, the Gators qualified for 21 slots and put themselves in prime position in bring more championships back to Gainesville.
“We talked before we got here about doing our job at this meet and getting as many of our scorers through to the NCAA meet as possible,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said.
“I thought we did a great job of that this weekend, and I’m very proud of our team’s focus and effort.
“A lot of times when you come in as the favorite, or you are expected to do certain things, you have a tendency to get complacent. I thought everybody did a wonderful job and that was a byproduct of our focus. The things we want to do in two weeks started Thursday. If we hadn’t done our jobs this weekend, we wouldn’t be able to score points in two weeks.”
The NCAA Outdoor Championships take place June 9-13 in Eugene.
