Florida Gators

ORLANDO, Fla. – University of Florida track and field and cross country head coach Mike Holloway will be inducted into the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Wednesday (Dec. 14) night.
 
The induction ceremony for Holloway and the other five members of this year's USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame class will be held at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes Resort & Spa at 7:30 p.m. The event is part of the annual USTFCCCA Convention.
 
USTFCCCA.org will live stream the ceremony.
 
"It's just an incredible honor and something I never considered that might happen, not only when I started my coaching career but this far along in it," Holloway said following the USTFCCCA's initial announcement in August. "When I opened up the letter and saw my name, it was an overwhelming feeling. It means a lot to me. I'm grateful to be able to build upon a legacy that I already started and share all of this, not only with my former athletes, but current and future ones."
 
Holloway has been head coach of the men's team since 2003, and took over the women's team in 2008, when Florida became a combined program.
 
Here's a look at some of the astonishing success the Gators are enjoying with Holloway directing them:
 

• 6 men's NCAA Championships (indoor: 2010, 2011, 2012; outdoor: 2012, 2013, 2016)—most in the country since 2010
• 17 top-two finishes in 28 men's NCAA Championships appearances
• 15 top-three finishes in the last 16 men's NCAA Championships appearances, including eight in a row outdoors
• Nine Southeastern Conference titles (track and field)
• 2012 women's SEC Cross Country Championship title
• 52 individual men's and women's national champions (does not include five he coached as men's assistant coach/associate head coach)
• 145 individual men's and women's SEC champions (does not include 13 he coached as men's assistant coach/associate head coach)
• 559 men's and women's USTFCCCA All-America honors (does not include 76 honors earned as men's assistant coach/associate head coach)
• Four USTFCCCA Cross Country All-America honors

 
Of the 79 school record holders (including ties) in events currently contested at NCAA Championships, 54 of them wore the Orange and Blue during Holloway's time as head coach or were sprinters or hurdlers he oversaw as an assistant coach and associate head coach.
 
International success at the highest level has been deeply engrained into Florida's tradition during Holloway's tenure as well.
 
In addition to serving as the United States' sprints and relays coach for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Holloway was the head coach of Team USA at the 2013 IAAF World Championships.
 
At least eight Gators have competed at each of the last three Summer Olympiads, and a program-record 12 Gators took part in 2016 Olympic Games. This year's contingent set a single-Olympiad program records for gold medals (four) and total medals (six).
 
Below is a breakdown of the international achievements by Gators from the Holloway era:
 

• Seven Olympic gold medalists (includes 1988 alum Dennis Mitchell, who was coached by Holloway at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, and David Verburg, a former George Mason sprinter coached by Holloway in 2016)
• 17 total Olympic medals (nine coached directly by Holloway, including Mitchell and Verburg)
• Eight World Championships gold medals won by Holloway-coached sprinters and hurdlers
• World indoor 400 meters record held by Kerron Clement, who ran 44.57 at the 2005 NCAA Championships to break Michael Johnson's 10-year-old record

 
Prior to becoming head coach, Holloway was an assistant coach (1996-99) and associate head coach (2000-02) for the UF men's team. During this time, Holloway coached five individual national champions and helped the Gators amass 76 All-America accolades.
 
He also spent two years as a graduate assistant with the UF women's team from 1986-87. With his guidance, the Gators' 4x800 relay team of Sandra and Sonja Braasch, Chris Crowther, and Susan Nash to a world-record time of 8:29.35 and a U.S. National indoor title.
 
Before arriving at UF, Holloway was an assistant coach at Gainesville High School (1983-84) and the head coach at nearby Buchholz High School (1985-95). During his decade at Buchholz, the Bobcats won eight track and field and cross country team state titles.
 
In his final season with Buchholz, Holloway became the first coach in Florida high school history to win the boys and girls track and field Class 5A state titles in the same year.

 
Editor's notes: relays are counted as one honor in NCAA and SEC title totals; relay members are counted individually in All-America honor total; USTFCCCA Honorable Mentions are not counted in All-America honor total; Novlene Williams-Mills' Olympic medals from 2012 and 2016 are not included in the Olympic medal count, as she competed at UF prior to Holloway's first season as the women's head coach.
 
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