NCAA Championship Men's Review

Part 2 of Championship Review (NCAA)


The University of Florida went through a roller coaster of emotions to claim their title. The Gators truly displayed why they are heavy favorites and how much amazing depth they have. The Gators Tony McQuay tweaked his hamstring at the end of the 400 and it was on display in the 200 meter preliminaries. McQuay was the only athlete the Gators had in the 400 and 200, and was ranked in the top 2 in both events and is a heavy factor in the 4x400 relay. McQuay was only part of the problem on day 1, Terrell Wilks ranked in the top 6 in the 60 meter dash does not qualify and SEC Champion freshman in the 60 meter hurdles Eddie Lovett does not qualify. With all of that the Gators were still able to win by 12 points.


Jeff Demps was part of the solution for the Gators. After having an average start in the preliminaries that placed him in lane 3 Demps scorched the track clocking in at 6.53 to win the event. In the race Michael Granger of Ole Miss looked to be in great shape to beat Demps with another phenomenal start. Demps was able to close strong to claim the title.

Mookie Salaam of Oklahoma was a non factor in the 60 meter dash after stunning the crowd with his performance on Day 1 in the 200. Salaam ran a 20.39 in the preliminaries to run a 20.41 in the finals to claim the title over Maurice Mitchell of Florida State. Unfortunately began to cramp up at the end of the race.

With McQuay down in the 400, Kirani James of Alabama was free to dominate the 400. However in the second section of the event James was tripped up, fell and did not complete the race. Demetrius Pinder of Texas A&M took the title in a time of 45.33. Pinder like Beard rode the back of a great crowd at Texas A&M.

Fred Samoei of Alabama claimed the title in the 800 with a time of 1:48.33. Michael Rutt of Connecticut led most of the race and Samoei played a bit of cat and mouse to beat Rutt down the stretch.

Miles Batty of BYU won the distance medley relay with his teammates Brian Weirich, Chris Carter and Justin Hedin with a time of 9:29.28 to set a facility record. Batty who anchored a great mile leg on the relay claimed the individual mile title clocking in at 3:59.49, one of two guys who broke the four minute mark in the finals of a great race.

Stanford junior Elliot Heath claimed the title in the 3,000 meter race clocking in at 8:03.71.

Leonard Korir of Iona defeated favorite Sam Chalenga of Liberty to break a facility and meet record and claim the title in 13:26.01. Chalenga has been one of the better long distance runners in collegiate history, big win for Korir.

In the field events the Gators were well represented but the problems did not stop there. Top shot put thrower Kemal Mesic injured his hand prior to the meet and did not allow for the Gators to score points in the event. Leif Arrhenius of BYU took the title with a toss of 65-4 1/2.

In the weight throw favorite Walter Henning of LSU continued his winning ways with a mark of 72-8 1/2. Henning was the only thrower to surpass 70 feet.

The jumps was an area in the Gators could truly count on. In the triple jump there was no 1-2-3 sweep, however there was a 1-2 finish. Two time national champion Christian Taylor fell to teammate Will Claye who leaped to 56-10 to claim the title. Claye was also a big factor in the long jump finishing 2nd to Ngonidzashe Makusha of Florida State. Makusha had a winning mark of 26-8 1/2.

In the pole vault Scott Roth of Washington and Ben Patterson of Minnesota both reached the same height but Roth in fewer misses. Roth leaped 18-0 1/2.

In the high jump defending champion Derek Drouin of Indiana had to deal with the hype of Eric Kynard of Kansas State and Ricky Robertson of Ole Miss. Going into the meat defending Drouin was not even considered the favorite. Drouin blocked all that out to reach a height of 7-7 1/2 to take down both talented sophomores and win the title along with setting a facility record.

In the heptathlon what a great battle between seniors Miller Moss of Clemson and Lars Rice of Missouri. Rice led after day one between the two however Moss put together a solid day two to surpass Rice for the title. Gray Horn moved from 7th to 4th in the event to contribute 5 points to the Gators.


What a great indoor season, one of the best in a while. I like many of you are ready for the Outdoor Season. Our next post will be a preview of one of the BCS Conferences (PAC-10).