Back-to-Back NCAA Champs: Gators Capture 7th Team Title
This is the seventh overall national title, and fourth outdoor national title in history for the men's program.
Photo By: Tim Casey
Friday, June 9, 2017

Back-to-Back NCAA Champs: Gators Capture 7th Team Title

Zach Dirlam
The UF men's track team rose to the occasion on Friday night, winning its second consecutive NCAA Outdoor national championship.
EUGENE, Ore. – Behind four individual national champions, Florida's men won their second consecutive NCAA Outdoor Championships team title Friday night at Historic Hayward Field.

This is the Gators' fourth outdoor national title in the last six seasons, as well as the program's seventh indoor or outdoor national title in school history. Florida has won all seven of its NCAA titles since 2010, leading all Division I programs by two titles during that span.
 
Florida also won the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2012, 2013, and 2016, in addition to its three straight victories at the NCAA Indoor Championships from 2010 through 2012.

 
Gators' NCAA Championships Team Notables
  • Florida's title also marks their 19th top-2 finish in 30 NCAA Championship meets under head coach Mike Holloway, who became the men's head coach in 2003
    • No other program has more than nine top-2 finishes in that time frame
  • Florida posted its ninth consecutive top-3 finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, tying Arkansas (1992-2000) for the third-longest streak in meet history
    • Only USC (1933-43, 1946-56) put together a longer streak
  • The Gators are the second Division I program since 2000 to win four outdoor national titles in a six-year span
  • Florida has finished in the top three at 17 of the last 18 NCAA Championship meets, and 21 of the 30 NCAA Championship meets with Holloway as head coach
  • Mike Holloway is the seventh head coach in Division I history to win seven men's NCAA Championships
    • Holloway is also one of four coaches to win at least seven since 1970
 

 
Fifth-year senior Eric Futch became the eighth man in Division I history to successfully defend his 400 hurdles title. The Darby, Pa. native crossed in 48.32 seconds, a half-second personal best that made him the No. 10-ranked 400 hurdler in collegiate history. Futch's second crown, which he won by a mere hundredth of a second, is the fifth in school history.  
With his victory Friday, Grant Holloway became the first freshman in Division I history to win both the indoor 60-meter hurdles and outdoor 110-meter hurdles national titles. Holloway is also the third freshman to win the 110 hurdles title since 1976, the first year it ceased being the 120-yard hurdles. The Chesapeake, Va. native's title was the third in school history, with Josh Walker (2004-05) being the only other Gator to win the crown.
 
Holloway then came back to split 43.89 seconds on the anchor leg of Florida's 4x400 relay, which needed a fifth-place finish to clinch the title and wound up with a fourth-place finish. Senior Nick Uruburu led off the relay, followed by Futch, TJ Holmes, and Holloway. Their time of 3:02.16 makes them the No. 10 quartet in school history.  
Junior KeAndre Bates, who won the long jump Wednesday (June 7), completed the 11th sweep of the horizontal jumps in Division I history. Bates was the seventh man to complete the sweep.  
Senior Andres Arroyo scored four crucial points for the Gators in the 800 meters. The 2016 Olympics semifinalist was in contention for a podium finish until a fall on the turn of the final lap wreaked havoc on the race.
 
Holmes, the 400 hurdles runner-up last year, took sixth to add three points for the Gators.
 
Junior Jhonny Victor stole 1.5 points in the high jump, clearing a personal best of 2.13 meters (6 feet, 11.75 inches). Victor's second-run clearance at that height earned him a tie for seventh on countbacks. The Orlando, Fla. native was the last man to qualify out of the NCAA East Preliminary, and this week was his first-ever national meet.

Passion, Pride, Family: Gators Defend TItle As One
 

Gators' Individual Notables
  • Grant Holloway, who was second in the long jump Wednesday is the fifth man since 1976 (when the 110 hurdles ceased being the 120-yard hurdles) to score in both the long jump and 110 hurdles, and he's the only man to finish in the top 2 of both events
  • Holloway joined Oregon's Devon Allen (2014) and San Jose State's Dedy Cooper (1976) as the only other freshmen to win the 110 hurdles
  • KeAndre Bates and 2015 The Bowerman winner Marquis Dendy are the only Gators in history to sweep the horizontal jumps at NCAA Outdoors. Dendy accomplished the feat in both 2014 and 2015
  • Eric Futch joined Washington State's Jeshua Anderson (2008-09), Gator Great Kerron Clement (2004-05), UCLA's Kevin Young (1987-88), Iowa State's Danny Harris (1984-86), Auburn's James Walker (1978-79), BYU's Ralph Mann (1969-71), and Michigan State's Bob Steele (1966-67) as the eighth man in Division I history to successfully defend his title
 
A full listing of men's results is below. The final day of NCAA Outdoors will see the women's team champion crowned, and a listing of live broadcast windows is below. See the "day two recap" for Thursday results and Saturday's schedule.
 

HEARING OUT (COACH) HOLLOWAY
Head coach Mike Holloway on the biggest obstacle the Gators overcame this weekend…
"We don't look at anything as an obstacle. We just talk about coming in here and performing at the level we have all year long. We pride ourselves in being ready for this competition. I just challenged them all week long to engage in the party, so to speak. There was a great competition going on here. We had to match the intensity and passion of the other teams here. That's what we did."
 
Coach Holloway on some of the highlights of the team title…
"Anyone who had a Gator uniform on this weekend was a highlight. We didn't have one guy that laid down and didn't do their best. There wasn't one person or one performance. We're a team, we're a family, and we got this done as a team and as a family."
 

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP NOTABLES
  • University of Florida is one of four athletics programs to win at least one national team title each of the last nine seasons
  • This is the Gators' 17th national title in that span, and their 38th overall national title (see end of story for complete listing)
  • Florida has won two NCAA team titles in the last 17 days, as the Gators took the women's tennis title on May 23. This is the 10th season Florida has won multiple team titles.
 
NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern)  
Wednesday, June 7 (only finals listed; see Day One Recap for full results)
Event Place (Points), Gator – Time/Mark [Wind] | Notes
LJ (M) 1 (10). Bates – 8.05 meters (26-5) [-1.1] | Second NCAA Championship this year; third NCAA Outdoor long jump title in school history
2 (8). Holloway – 8.00 meters (26-3) [-0.5] | Fourth freshman since 1987 to finish second or higher in long jump
Friday, June 9 (all events are finals)
Event Place (Points), Gator – Time/Mark [Wind] | Notes
800m (M) 5 (4). Andres Arroyo – 1:47.28
110mH (M) 1 (10). Grant Holloway – 13.49 [-2.0] | Third title in school history; third freshman since 1975 to win title
400mH (M) 1 (10). Eric Futch – 48.32 | No. 10-ranked 400 hurdler in collegiate history; eighth man in history to win consecutive titles; fifth title in school history
6 (3). TJ Holmes – 49.98
4x400 (M) 4 (5). Nick Uruburu-Futch-Holmes-Holloway – 3:02.16 | No. 10-ranked time on UF's All-Time Outdoor Top 10
HJ (M) t-7 (1.5). Jhonny Victor – 2.13 meters (6-11.75) | Personal record
t-9. Clayton Brown – 2.13 meters (6-11.75)
TJ (M) 1 (10). KeAndre Bates – 16.76 meters (55-0) [+2.4]
11. Brown – 15.82 meters (51-11) [-1.2]
Top 5 Men's Teams
Place Team – Points
1. No. 2 Florida – 61.5
2. No. 1 Texas A&M – 59.5
3. No. 12 Virginia – 36
4. No. 5 Arkansas – 33
5. No. 7 Auburn – 24
 
Florida's National Title Teams
SPORT YEAR NATIONAL TITLES
Men's Outdoor Track & Field
Women's Tennis                     
 2017
2017		 NCAA Championships
NCAA Championships
Men's Outdoor Track & Field 2016 NCAA Championships
Softball 2015 NCAA Championships
Women's Gymnastics 2015 NCAA Championships
Softball 2014 NCAA Championships
Women's Gymnastics 2014 NCAA Championships
Men's Outdoor Track & Field 2013 NCAA Championships
Women's Gymnastics 2013 NCAA Championships
Men's Outdoor Track & Field 2012 NCAA Championships
Women's Tennis 2012 NCAA Championships
Men's Indoor Track & Field 2012 NCAA Championships
Women's Tennis 2011 NCAA Championships
Men's Indoor Track & Field 2011 NCAA Championships
Women's Swimming 2010 NCAA Championships
Men's Indoor Track & Field 2010 NCAA Championships
Football 2008 BCS/Associated Press
Men's Basketball 2007 NCAA Championships
Men's Basketball 2006 NCAA Championships
Football 2006 BCS/Associated Press
Women's Tennis 2003 NCAA Championships
Men's Golf 2001 NCAA Championships
Women's Tennis 1998 NCAA Championships
Soccer 1998 NCAA Championships
Women's Tennis 1996 NCAA Championships
Football 1996 Associated Press/Coaches'
Men's Golf 1993 NCAA Championships
Women's Indoor Track 1992 NCAA Championships
Women's Tennis 1992 NCAA Championships
Women's Golf 1986 NCAA Championships
Women's Golf 1985 NCAA Championships
Men's Swimming 1984 NCAA Championships
Men's Swimming 1983 NCAA Championships
Gymnastics 1982 AIAW Nationals
Women's Swimming 1982 NCAA Championships
Women's Swimming 1979 AIAW Nationals
Men's Golf 1973 NCAA Championships
Men's Golf 1968 NCAA Championships
 
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