Florida men and Oregon women continue to reign in NCAA indoor track & field

NAMPA ? March brought Three-Peat Madness to the Jacksons Indoor Track.

The Florida men, the Oregon women, Florida sprinter Jeff Demps and Oregon pentathlete Brianne Theisen won their third straight national championships Saturday at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.

The Gators overcame a challenge from Arkansas and a groin injury that knocked their star heptathlete, Gray Horn, out of the competition.

Florida scored 52 points; Arkansas, which beat the Gators in the Southeastern Conference meet, scored 47.

?We?re fighters,? Florida triple jumper Omar Craddock said. ?We won?t give up and we can?t give up. ? (Horn) always kicks it off for us and I thank him for that. I texted him after I heard he was injured. I told him, ?I got your back, and we?ve got your back.? And that?s what we did.?

That was similar to the message Braddock delivered to his teammates during a meeting Friday.

He didn?t want anyone worrying about the team race.

?He told us basically just worry about yourself tomorrow and don?t worry about anybody else,? Demps said. ?They can handle their own. So just go out and do your job and at the end we?ll just come together and hopefully celebrate as a team with a victory.?

Demps (60 meters), Craddock and Tony McQuay (400) won national titles Saturday night to seal the team championship.

Craddock is the fourth straight indoor champion in the triple jump from Florida, following in the footsteps of former teammates Christian Taylor (2009-10) and Will Claye (2011).

?I was in their shadows for a long time,? Craddock said. ?To finally come out and have a (personal best) and do something better than I?ve been doing, it?s a great feeling.?

Demps won the 60 for the third straight year despite a slow start. He crossed the line in 6.56 seconds, one-hundredth ahead of Andrew Riley of Illinois.

?I don?t think I got out that good, but I was able to stay patient and accelerate down the track and come out with the win,? Demps said. ?? When I leaned, I kind of knew I pulled it off, but he ran me tough today.?

The Gators celebrated the team title by giving coach Mike Holloway a Gatorade bath ? even though winning this event has become predictable.

?We talk about this a lot ? we don?t take anything for granted,? Holloway said. ?? We preach (team) at Florida. We talk a lot about, ?Hold each other accountable. Hold each other up.? ?

Oregon, on the other hand, took a ho-hum approach to its title. The Ducks scored 49 points, easily beating surprise runner-up Kansas (30).

?As much as we don?t ever take a national championship lightly, we certainly really want to focus on having a great Pac-12s and Olympic trials and NCAAs (outdoors),? coach Vin Lananna said.

Theisen scored 4,536 points. She fell 19 points short of her own Canadian and collegiate record ? the equivalent of 1.33 seconds in the closing 800-meter run.

?Tough day at the office for me,? she said. ?I had trouble getting up for this meet. ? Once you?ve won once, it?s not as cool the other times.?

A SUCCESSFUL MEET

Boise State and the NCAA were happy with the two-day meet, which was staged in the West for the first time.

?Boise (State) staff, the Boise community, clearly showed that they know how to put on a first-class track meet,? said Liz Suscha, the associate director of championships for the NCAA. ?The attention to detail, the level of flexibility and handling, all the things that were part of the meet-planning process, they handled everything top notch. Really good crowd (Saturday night). The crowd has gotten into some really strong performances, which is always great because our student-athletes have done a really great job shining.?

The meet didn?t sell out, but Saturday?s crowd was close. Boise State and the Idaho Center partnered on the facility and the meet.

?It?s exceeded all expectations,? Boise State Associate Athletic Director Mike Sumpter said. ?We set out to put a meet together that the coaches and athletes thought set them up to be successful and from the feedback we?ve been getting, we?ve done that.?

Boise State previously hosted NCAA outdoor championships at Bronco Stadium in 1994 and 1999.

QUICK HITS

Late Friday, Brigetta Barrett of Arizona defended her title in the women?s high jump. She hit her first six jumps, winning at 6-5. Nobody else even cleared 6-1. The Olympic hopeful?s jump was the third-best in the world this year. ?I know they?re jumping high and jumping high early, so to be right there with everybody else and to be so young ? I just have to stand my ground and continue to work hard.? ? Ameer Webb of Texas A&M ran the fastest 200 meters in the world this year in the prelims Friday, 20.39 seconds. He also won the title.

Chadd Cripe: 377-6398

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