GAINESVILLE — Florida track and field coach Mike Holloway added another milestone to his championship résumé as the Gators women’s team entered rarefied air at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
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The Gators cruised to the team title to complete the program’s first triple crown since the 1996-97 season under the late Tom Jones, sweeping the conference’s cross country, indoor and outdoor championships.
The victory marked the 20th SEC team title under Holloway, who joined the Gators as an assistant in 1995, became the men’s head coach in 2002 and succeeded Jones in 2008.
“(Winning the triple crown) puts us amongst the elite,” Holloway said. “I want to give a shoutout to Coach Jones. His squad was the last one to do it, and it’s just a wonderful thing.
“I’m almost speechless.”
Winning their eight SEC outdoor championship, the Florida women finished with 107 points — their highest total since posting 112 in 2023 — and finished 20½ points ahead of runner-up Alabama. The Gators men placed third with 78 points behind winner Arkansas (110½) and Alabama (94½).
Alida van Daalen continued her dominance in the discus, capturing her third SEC title with a throw of 218 feet, 10 inches on her final attempt to break her own conference championship record.
Asia Phillips won the triple jump with a career-best leap of 44 feet, seven inches.
On the track, senior Gabrielle Matthews became the Gators’ first SEC champion in the 100-meter dash since Kyra Jefferson in 2016, winning in 10.97 seconds — second-fastest in school history. Matthews also finished four in the 200.
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In the 1,500 meters, Tia Wilson narrowly lost to Salma Elbadra of South Carolina by just .04 seconds after finishing in 4:09.84, while Claire Stegall finished third in 4:11.17, edging Kentucky’s Doricah Minsar Isoe by .01.
Layla Haynes of Barbados finished third in the 800 meters and set the national record with a time of 1:59.38. In the 5,000, Hilda Olemomoi also took third in 15:47.14.
“The ladies were just on a mission all weekend. It was wonderful; it was all outstanding,” Holloway said.
In the men’s 1,500, Oussama Allaoui finished second with a time of 3:43.72. Kelvin Cheruiyot place fourth in the 5,000 while setting a school record of 13:32.08, bettering the previous mark by more than 18 seconds.
The performances continued the Florida’s rise in distance events under assistant coach Will Palmer.
“Kudos to Coach Palmer for getting it done in the fall, and we all came together in the indoor season and got it done, and we came in here today and got it done,” Holloway said.
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Edgar Thompson can be reached at [email protected]