Florida Track & Field and Cross Country News
The University of Florida is a national powerhouse in track and field and have had unparalleled success in the jumps with the likes of Christian Taylor, Will Claye, Omar Craddock, but never has a Gator won the prestigious Bowerman Trophy in the awards existence. That was until Thursday night when Marquis Dendy (pictured with female winner Jenna Prandini of Oregon) who has swept the long jump and triple jump at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships this year, took home the sport's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. See what he had to say following the win!
The rumor mill has been churning for quite some time that the FHSAA State Track & Field Finals will not return to UNF, it's home for the last four years. Multiple sources have confirmed that IMG Academy in Bradenton, which boasts a 5,000 seat state of the art track and field facility, is where Florida's best will be the first weekend in May.
There have been 12 Bowerman Award winners with the 13th and 14th winners to be announced LIVE Thursday December 17th. We decided to take a look back at the 12 winners and see who has been the best since winning the track version of the Heisman Trophy. (via FloTrack)
Chiles coach Scott Gowan is one of the winningest coaches XC and track coaches in state history, leading his girls team to the 3A state title in 2015 and his boys team to a runner-up title after the boys won in 2014 and the girls took second. This is his fourth state championship on the girl's side in his tenure at Chiles after leading the team to title wins in 2008-2010.
There aren't many female cross country coaches guiding boys teams around the state. That didn't deter Father Lopez coach Sue O'Malley. O'Malley, a runner in her own right who dove into unchartered waters for the Green Wave as they won their first district, regional, and state titles EVER in 2015 earning her Boys XC Coach of the Year honors as voted by the running community!
Northeast hurdler Damion Thomas has been coming to the Jimmy Carnes Youth Indoor Meet since 2013 when he was a freshman and hasn't lost a race in the 55m hurdles in three years at the event. Thomas, a two-time state champion in the 110m hurdles and 2015 Brooks PR Invitational champion will be the one to beat again in 2016.See which athletes are signed up for this year's edition of the Jimmy Carnes Youth Indoor meet. The only indoor event in the state of Florida always features can't miss competition!
The 11-day trip is over! Jojo and Dennis share their most memorable moments from covering NXN and Foot Locker.
Former St. Thomas Aquinas standouts Krystal Sparling and Diamond Spaulding competed in the first track meets of their college careers this weekend for Texas A&M at their host Reveille Invitational. See how the duo fared as well as Florida alumni throughout the country for the week of December 7-13, 2015.
See where each athlete landed at the end of the 2015 XC season.
Check out these 17 mind blowing stats from Foot Locker Nationals courtesy of John Sullivan.
Nike Cross Nationals and Foot Locker Nationals are in the books. See how the best athletes in the nation rank after both meets in the final update!
The 2015 Foot Locker Nationals did not disappoint! The races at Balboa Park capped off a thrilling cross country season. The MileSplit team was on site to bring you thousands of images to capture all the action from this weekend. Check out all the great albums by the MileSplit contributors below!
Re-watch the loaded Foot Locker Championship boys race including Florida's two finalists Steven Cross and Joshua Jacques.
Watch two-time qualifier Steven Cross of Merritt Island and Joshua Jacques the third runner in Lyman High School history compete against the nation's top runners at Foot Locker Nationals LIVE on MileSplit.
The Atkinson household has a total of four Foot Locker Nationals appearances between Brian and his wife Kayla (Hale). Hale, is the lone Floridian to make it to San Diego three times (2006-2008) while her husband made the trip in 2009. Isabel Hanewicz has the story of The Atkinsons: Foot Locker Finalists and married couple.
Lyman High School has produced some of the state's fastest distance runners for over two decades. Names like Teddy Mitchell, Nick Radkewich, Robert Saltman, Rob Evans, and the latest in line Joshua Jacques. Jacques added himself to the state championship list after winning the 4A Cross Country Finals in 2014 and qualifying as a 2015 Foot Locker Finalist.
The newest version of the popular New Balance 860, v6, is an overpronators dream.
Merritt Island senior Steven Cross is one of six Florida boys to make the Foot Locker National Finals more than once in the meet's 37 year history. After finishing 29th in 16:12.00, Cross knows what the meet entails, the style of competition he will face, and what it will take to earn All-American honors. We caught up with him to talk about the last cross country meet of his high school career and his training leading up.
Holy Trinity's Kayla Hale is the only Floridian to run at Foot Locker Nationals three times. Lyman athletes have made six trips between Teddy Mitchell, Nick Radkewich, and 2015 finalist Joshua Jacques. We breakdown all the Sunshine State history at this storied meet!
Who do you think peaked their team the best? Vote below among all of the championship winning coaches of this past season for Flrunners Girls XC Coach of the Year Award! Voting will close on Sunday, December 13th at 11:59 PM.
Who do you think peaked their team the best? Vote below among all of the championship winning coaches of this past season for Flrunners Boys XC Coach of the Year Award! Voting will close on Sunday, December 13th at 11:59 PM.
Not only does Ashley Brasovan own the fastest time of any Floridian at Foot Locker Nationals running 17:20, but she is the only athlete from the Sunshine State to win the prestigious event, taking home the title in 2007 over 2006 champion Kathy Kroeger. In 2008, Brasovan finished second behind Jordan Hasay who also won in 2005. See the fastest times ever by Floridians at both the Kinney Cross Country Championships and Foot Locker Nationals.
Former John I. Leonard standout and University of Oregon runner Ryan Pickering (pictured above( was 9th at the 2010 Foot Locker National Championship, two spots behind fellow Floridian Jimmy Clark (Creekside, University of Florida). Their times of 15:24 and 15:25 rank 7th and 9th all-time by Sunshine State athletes. We rank every Kinney Cross Country Championships and Foot Locker National finalist from Florida.
4A Cross Country Finals state champion and 4:17 1,600m runner Adam Bradtmueller recently announced he will be joining his former Sarasota teammate Zack Summerall at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. We caught up with Bradtmueller to talk about the recruiting process, his decision and future plans.
Two-time NXN qualifier Rafaella Gibbons of Park XC Club (Winter Park) gives us an inside look at her trip to Portland for the 2015 Nike Cross Nationals.
Entering the 2015 season the girls of Fort Walton Beach knew this would be their best shot at a podium finish with four experienced seniors at the front of the lineup. The Vikings, who ended up 7th at the Cross Country Finals lead our team scores for the class of 2016. See where your squad stacks up?
We've seen the depth of Belen Jesuit in our team scores by grade feature all week long, but how about LaBelle. The boys rank second behind Belen and finished 4th at the 2A Cross Country Finals with the help of four seniors including Omar Figueroa who finished 11th and Enrique Jimenez who was right behind in 12th. Who had the best teams based on the class of 2016? We rank them all!
South Florida friends Krysten Golden (St. Thomas Aquinas, USF) and Denise Spann (Boyd Anderson, Michigan State) reunite at the Grand Valley State University Holiday Invite in Michigan. See how Golden, Spann and the rest of our Florida alumni did in the opening week of the indoor season.
After NXN, Jojo and Dennis take a wrong turn leaving Portland and end up in Mexico. Hilarity ensues!