Finally - 2012 NCAA Outdoor National Champs

Florida men's track team wins NCAA outdoor championship in dramatic fashion

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-06-09/sports/os-college-notes-ncaa-track-0610-20120609_1_jeff-demps-ncaa-outdoor-championship-florida-gators

This team went from being a mortal lock to win to virtually no chance to surprise national champs all in a matter of 2 weeks. We were in position to run away with the thing until Gray Horn (decathlete) got arrested for drunk driving and was kicked off the team. He would likely have finished anywhere from 3rd to 6th in NCAA meet. Then, Jeff Demps withdrew from the prelims with a tight hamstring. That cost us the #1 seed in the 100M and eliminated our 4x100 team (2nd in the nation to that point). In total, that was about 20 points down the drain. We got off to a rough start when Stipe Zunic (seeded 3rd) only finished 7th and Marquis Dendy failed to score in the LJ, seemingly killing what little chance we had. From that point on, every athlete met or exceeded expectations. Omar Craddock won the TJ, Tony McQuay obliterated the field in the 400M, Jeremy Postin finished 2nd in the hammer (up from the 4th seed), Dwight Barbiasz overperformed to finish 3rd in the HJ, Eddie Lovett finished a very surprising 5th in the 110H, and the 4x4 (seeded 5th) ran the world's fastest time to win the event and clinch the title over LSU by 2 points.

Tony McQuay is a freak. He will make the olympic team in the 400m, even though that is probably the US' strongest event. With McQuay in the 400 and the 4x4 and Christian Taylor and Will Claye virtually locks to make the team in the TJ (Taylor is the defending world champ), a strong Gator contingent in London. Maybe Kerron Clement can get his act together again in the 400H.

Congrats...I thought of you first when I saw UF won

Dave-O wrote:Congrats...I thought of you first when I saw UF won

It was pretty exciting. After all the close calls and choke jobs, they came through big time this year when most (including me) had counted them out. We have been blessed with some amazing athletes in that program recently. I think you could make a solid argument that Christian Taylor is the best athlete in UF history. In addition to be a multiple NCAA champion in the TJ and the defending world champ, he was a very good long jumper and ran well on both the 4x4 and 4x1 relays. McQuay is every bit as special. With a different schedule, he could challenge in the 200 as well. He's as good of an anchor as I have ever seen.