By Chris Chavez
June 10, 2023
The Florida Gators men’s track and field team won their second straight NCAA Outdoor Championship title. This is coach Mike Holloway’s fourth title in seven seasons with the men.
Here’s what you need to know:
– This is the 11th national title for the Florida men’s track and field program.
– Florida trailed Arkansas by just five points going into the last event. The Gators’ men’s 4x400m team closed out the championships with a 2:57.74 win – just ahead of Arizona State. The time is a new collegiate record.
– Florida recorded 57 points for the win. Arkansas was second with 53 points. Stanford was third with 44 points.
Other highlights from Day 3 of the NCAA Championships (Interviews Linked):
– Georgia freshman Will Sumner won the 2023 NCAA Outdoor 800m title in a stunning 1:44.26. He negative split the race with a 51-second final lap. You can read more about his victory here.
– Texas Tech's Courtney Lindsey was a bit of a surprise winning the 100m in a personal best of 9.89s ahead of LSU’s Godson Brume and Houston’s Shaun Maswanganyi.
– Stanford’s Udodi Onwuzurike moved to No. 3 on the world list with his 19.84 victory in the 200m. Lindsey finished second by .02s.
– There was some controversy in the relays as Texas Tech was disqualified due to an out-of-bounds exchange on the first handoff. Once DQ’ed, LSU came away with the win in 38.05s.
– Arizona State’s Turner Washington defended his NCAA discus title by heaving a season’s best of 66.22m. He celebrated by taking his shirt off but was warned by officials for unsportsmanlike conduct. He called it out in his postrace interview, rightfully so. We caught up with him afterward for more on his celebration plans.
– Arkansas’ Jaydon Hibbert claimed his first NCAA outdoor title by leaping 17.56m on his first attempt in the triple jump.
– Fellow Razorback Phillip Lemonious won the 110 hurdles in 13.24 seconds
– Florida got major points toward its win when Emmanuel Bamidele (44.24) and Ryan Willie (44.25) went 1-2 in the 200m.
– We also saw an Alabama 1-2 finish in the 400m hurdles with Chris Robinson (48.12) and Corde Long (48.53).
– Washington coach Andy Powell delivered in the 1500m as Huskies sophomore Nathan Green (3:42.78) beat defending champion and teammate Joe Waskom (3:42.93).
– BYU’s Kenneth Rooks won the 3000m steeplechase in 8:26.17.
– Stanford’s Ky Robinson followed up his 10,000m victory by winning the 5,000m in 14:04.77.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.