GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida head coach Mike Holloway was named Women’s Coach of the Year as part of the 2012 Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Awards, as voted on by the league’s head coaches, announced by the league offices in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday.
Holloway, who led the Florida Gators women’s track and field team to the 2012 SEC Indoor Track and Field Championship, earned his fifth coaching honor by the SEC. Holloway was also named the Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2009, Women’s Indoor and Men’s Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2010, Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year in 2011, and now the Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year in 2012.
The No. 7 Florida women took home the 2012 SEC Indoor Championship with 132 total points, despite only winning one event over the three-day meet. The Gators used depth to capture their second SEC Indoor Championship in three years, as nearly every athlete scored points on the women's side courtesy of 12 seasonal bests.
“These ladies had a team-only meeting last April,” Holloway said after the women’s victory. “They made the decision that they were going to get better and get better in a hurry, and they were second at SEC Outdoors. They sat down in the fall and they talked about what we were capable of doing and how we were going to get it done, and I think what you saw…was a byproduct of that.”
The Gators are sending select athletes to Last Chance meets around the country before embarking to Nampa, Idaho for the 2012 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, March 9-10.
2012 SEC Indoor Track and Field Awards
Men’s Coach of the Year: Chris Bucknam, Arkansas
Women’s Coach of the Year: Mike Holloway, Florida
Men’s Runner of the Year: Luis Orta, Kentucky
Men’s Field Athlete of the Year: Ricky Robertson, Ole Miss
Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Patrick Rono, Arkansas
Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Andrew Irwin, Arkansas
Women’s Runner of the Year: Kristen Gillespie, Arkansas
Women’s Field Athlete of the Year: Tina Sutej, Arkansas
Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Erika Rucker, South Carolina
Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Erica Bougard, Mississippi State