Coach Mike Holloway and Florida’s bid to win a fourth straight NCAA Indoor Championship fell short on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.
But finishing second behind top-ranked Arkansas, Holloway was still pleased with the effort of his men’s team.
The Razorbacks’ performance was simply too much to match.
“That’s the most we’ve scored at the national championships since I’ve been here and to get beat by 15, I don’t know what to say,” Holloway said. “We came out here and competed well, had seasonal bests across the board. That’s what we train for, that’s what we live for, and we have nothing to hang our heads about.
“Of course we came here and wanted to win. We wanted to be national champions again. But being national runner-up and performing the way we did, we left our hearts and souls out here, and I couldn’t be more proud of these young men.”
Sophomore jumper Marquis Dendy and junior hurdler Eddie Lovett combined to account for 25 of the men’s 59 points during the meet.
Dendy leapt to a national championship — as well as new personal and school records — in the men’s long jump with a NCAA-leading distance of 8.28 meters on Friday.
“This track facility is a great place to jump,” Dendy said. “I felt really, really good here. I just had to do it like I did at [the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships].”
Said Holloway of Dendy’s performance: “I’m very proud of him. It’s his first NCAA championship, and it got us off to a great start.”
Lovett brought home a national title of his own in the men’s 60m hurdles. Clocking a time of 7.50 seconds — good for a personal record, a school record, an NCAA Indoor Championship meet record and the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history.
“I felt pretty good,” Lovett said. “It wasn’t the best start like I wanted, but I made it up at the end. I’m just happy. If I got my steps and technique right, it would all fall into place.”
Holloway added: “Eddie is the kind of guy where he could have a perfect start and still say it wasn’t. That’s just how he and (hurdles) coach (Erin) Tucker are.
“What I’ll tell you is watching his transformation … it’s always great when you can break that ice and watch him come around. He’s been focused like this since August when he started. I’m extremely proud of him.”
Both Dendy and Lovett set previous personal bests at the SEC Indoor Championships, which were also held in Fayetteville.
Although the women’s team placed 13th at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Holloway was pleased with several of his athletes’ results in individual events.
“We talked to the women about having more pride, and they came out and ran season’s best in the 4x4, season’s best in the mile for Agata (Strausa) and a new PR for Ciarra (Brewer),” Holloway said.
“The Gators left their mark on the building. Now we’re outside where we live and breathe, and we’ll see them in a few months.”
With the indoor season officially over, Florida looks to utilize the end results from the NCAA meets moving forward into the outdoor season. The men’s team aims to repeat as NCAA outdoor national champions in 2013.
“It’s going to help us be better outdoors. It’s a motivation, it’s a better purpose, a better focus,” Holloway said.
“Anytime we want to slack a little, I’ll just bring the trophy out to the middle of the infield at practice so they can see it and remember we got second indoors. We didn’t do anything wrong this weekend. Eddie Lovett, Omar (Craddock), Marquis (Dendy), Sean Obinwa … everyone did their absolute best this weekend.”
Sophomore jumper Marquis Dendy competes in the long jump at the SEC Indoor Track Championships on Feb. 23 in Fayetteville, Ark. Dendy qualified for the men's triple jump in next week's NCAA Outdoors Championships.
