A traditional military fight song called “Oh, I Gotta Go” has become the Gators track and field teams’ unofficial anthem. This past weekend, the men’s team decided to write a new verse.
“Oh, I Gotta Go Finish the Mission.”
For the first time since 1987, the No. 3 men’s track and field team won the 2010 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championship. The men’s team came to Knoxville, Tenn., on a mission to finish what it couldn’t last year, and it didn’t disappoint. Sitting in fourth place on Sunday, ten points off the lead, the Gators were propelled to victory behind magnificent performances from sprinter Jeff Demps, jumper Christian Taylor and the men’s 4x400-meter relay team.
“I’m very, very proud of our men’s team for winning its first conference outdoor title in 23 years,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “It’s been a long journey and I’m really proud of the team for its determination and fight. The meet didn’t necessarily go as expected, but you have to be able to deal with adversity. Great teams are able to respond to adversity and we did that this weekend.”
Florida cruised to victory with a team total of 124 points, 24 points ahead of second place LSU. The men’s team could not have won the meet without stellar performances earlier in the weekend from athletes like thrower Kemal Mesic and decathlete Gray Horn.
In all, the men’s team collected four individual titles –Demps in the 100-meter dash, Taylor in the triple jump, Horn in the decathlon and Calvin Smith leading the charge in the 4x400-meter relay.
Taylor led the Gators with a huge weekend, placing second Saturday in the long jump, and having a monster Sunday winning the triple jump, a first for a Gator since 1976, and running on the 4x400 team.
“Winning the team title was the biggest goal for me,” Taylor said. “I’m happy that we could send people like Calvin (Smith) out – he’s a senior – with this win. I’m happy to get a ring and we’ll keep moving forward from here.”
The women’s team also did not disappoint but came up just short in defending last year’s outdoor title.
The No. 10 women’s team finished second behind No. 2 LSU, but claimed five individual titles in the meet.
“I thought our women had a great meet,” Holloway said. “We just got beat by a really talented LSU team that had a great weekend. We were a little dinged up coming into the meet, but I am extremely proud of how our women’s team performed this weekend.”
Shara Proctor won both the long jump and triple jump, becoming the first ever three-time winner in the women’s triple jump.
Senior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili won another shot put title, the third of her career, and the first time in over a decade a women’s shot putter in the SEC has won three championships in a career.
Two other Lady Gators that claimed championships during the weekend were runner Charlotte Browning in the 1,500-meter run and Evelien Dekkers in the javelin.
