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Florida Men Make a Run at Redemption - NCAA D1 Indoor Championships 2015

Published by
DyeStatCOLLEGE.com   Mar 10th 2015, 5:03am
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 Florida Men Make a Run at Redemption

 Published by Adam Schneider on March 9, 2015

The Florida men had one of the best performances (70 points) ever at the 2014 NCAA outdoor track and field championships. Unfortunately for the Gators they faced a record-setting performance (88 points) by the Oregon Ducks.  

During the 2014 outdoor season three Gators were on lists for the Bowerman. All are back this season. At the beginning of last year many thought that Arman (Geno) Hall  was the top athlete for the Gators along with Horizontal Jumper Marquis Dendy. During the outdoor season Dedric Dukes became their top athlete with a 19.97 performance at the Florida Relays that went along with a key relay leg on a near Collegiate Record performance in the 4x400 meter relay (2:59.73).  

After that meet Dukes did not compete much but he did qualify for the 200 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships by running well enough at the NCAA East Region Meet. On the final day of the NCAA championships in Eugene, Florida needed to have a perfect day to surpass the lead by the Ducks. They almost did it as Dukes moved past two teams to help the Gators win the 4x100 meter relay, then Marquis Dendy won the Triple Jump to go along with his Long Jump title from Thursday, and then Dukes won the 200 meters in a collegiate leading 19.91. Oregon surprised the prognosticators with a fantastic day and won the title.  

At the 2014 US Outdoor Championships Dukes could have won the 200 title. He won his heat and then revealed after the race that his hamstring was injured and he would have to withdraw from the meet.  At the end of the season Dukes and Dendy were Bowerman Award semi-finalists.

This year it looks like the Gators feel that they have unfinished business. None of their stars left early for the pro ranks. 14 of their 16 all-American NCAA indoor performers have returned. Dukes and Dendy have been on the early season Bowerman Watch Lists (ten make the list). Dukes, a senior,  just ran his first races of the season at the Tyson Invitational, and he was the last to start the year. Five-time all-American Dendy has already leaped 26-3 3/4 (ranked 2nd in NCAA) and an indoor pr 56-6 1/2 (ranked 1st in NCAA). 9 time all-American (6 relays and 3 times over 200 meters) Dukes, a senior , did not run that well at the SEC indoor meet but he did qualify for the NCAA meet as the 16th seed after a runner did not declare to race in the 200 meters.

Junior five-time all-American (2 in 400m and 3 for 4x400m Relays) Najee Glass is the top qualifier in the 400 meters at the NCAA meet with a mark of 45.34 to win the SEC indoor title. Junior 7-time all-American (five relay awards) Geno Hall is the #8 qualifier with a best of 45.97 this season.  9-time all-American (3 for 400m and 6 for relays) Senior Hugh Graham Jr has run 45.98 this year to qualify as the #9 seed and Sophomore 2014 4x400 meter relay all-American Nick Uruburu has run 46.31 as the #15 qualifier.  

The 800 has become a strong event for the Gators and outdoor runner-up Junior Ryan Schnulle is running well along with former top high school runner Andres Arroyo.  Arroyo is the #2 qualifier with a best of 1:46.78 and after a runner-up finish at the SEC indoor meet, he is looking for his first NCAA final.  2014 NCAA outdoor runner-up (and fifth at 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships) Schnulle has run 1:47.29 as the #7 qualifier for the NCAA meet. 2013 Cross Country All-American senior Mark Parrish is the #6 seed for the NCAA indoor 5,000 final (the top 16 declared performers qualify) and he will need to battle 3 Ducks that are qualified in the top 8.

Three-time all-American (once in the shot put) senior Stipe Zunic has improved steadily for the last few years and leads a close group of throwers as the #2 seed in the NCAA shot put with a best of 20.67 meters this year.

Last season at the Florida Relays the Gators almost broke the NCAA record in the 4x400 meter relay. Every member is back but the team is not as healthy now. Glass, Dukes, Uruburu and Hall will try to overcome top seed Texas A&M.  

Keandre Bates has joined the team as a freshman and has been one of the top NCAA Long Jumpers (7th ranked at 25-8 3/4) and Triple Jumpers  (52-8 1/4 is ranked 12th) all season long.

Florida was favored at both of last year’s NCAA Championship meets and finished third indoors and second outdoors. The Gators made a fantastic push to try and catch Oregon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and almost won. The key this year is the health of the competitors. Dukes barely made the meet in an event he ran under 20 seconds (19.91) twice last year outdoors. If everyone competes to their capabilities, the Gators will parlay their 14 entries into winning their fourth NCAA Indoor Championship title since the 2009-10 season.  

 



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