First long jump sweep in 30 years lifts Gators

Bates, Holloway duplicate success of Futch, Holmes last year along with Taylor, Claye in 2011 with 1-2 finish to keep Florida men in contention against Texas A&M on first day of NCAA finals

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

In the heavyweight battle expected to unfold in the men's competition at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships, Texas A&M might have struck the first blow with Ioannis Kyriazis winning the javelin.

But Florida responded with a historic and powerful 1-2 combination from junior KeAndre Bates and freshman Grant Holloway in the long jump Wednesday at Hayward Field.

Bates delivered a final-round jump of 26 feet, 5 inches (8.05m) to move ahead of Holloway, who had held the lead since the third round with a leap of 26-3 (8.00m).

"I'm happy that I was a part of it. I'm happy for myself and for my team. I'm happy that I came through," said Bates, who teamed with Holloway for 18 points to put Florida in third place overall.

"I'm glad I could do it for my team, that's what I'm really worried about. I was upset I wasn't coming through. I kept my composure and didn't give up because I knew it was a team effort."

It was the first time since 1987 that teammates had placed first and second in the long jump, when Texas Southern's Paul Emordi and Vernon George both soared beyond 27 feet in the final.

Eric Futch and T.J. Holmes went 1-2 last year for the Gators in the 400 hurdles, with Christan Taylor and Will Claye also accomplishing the feat for Florida in 2011 by sweeping first and second in the triple jump.

Bates followed former teammate Marquis Dendy, who won back-to-back titles in 2014-15, and Arkansas' Jarrion Lawson last year in sweeping indoor and outdoor long jump championships.

"Marquis and I have been talking about this since I was a freshman, the whole jump group has been talking about this, that somebody had to go 1-2," Bates said. "I'm glad Grant and I got to do it this time and Clayton and I are going to try to do the same thing Friday (in the triple jump) and I hope he gets both with the high jump.

"That's what we were really going for. That's the biggest part of this. It's just amazing getting 18 points."

It was an impressive redemption for Holloway, who didn't make the long jump final at the indoor championship meet in March. He became the first freshman to finish as high as second since Texas' Marquise Goodwin won the title in 2010, with nine freshmen capturing the championship since the event was first held at the outdoor final in 1921.

"I told the team and coach Holloway that my performance at indoor was not Grant Holloway, so I made a promise to myself and to coach Holloway that outdoor long jump would be a different story," Holloway said. "For me to come out and jump 26-3, basically a half-centimeter off my PR is a wonderful experience."

Holloway overcame fouls on his first two jumps two take the lead over Texas A&M's Will Williams -- who had a leap of 26-1.50 (7.96m) in the second round -- with the best jump by a freshman at the final since Goodwin's 26-9 (8.15m) seven years ago.

"For you to have a little bit of fun with your own teammate and just to have all the work you put in come out 1-2 at NCAAs, it's just an awesome experience," Holloway said. "To bring 18 points on day 1 of NCAAs is really big."

Holloway had an impressive first day overall, competing on Florida's 4x100-meter relay team that just missed qualifying for the final in 39.07.

He also ran a personal-best 13.41 in the 110 hurdles to qualify second overall and then concluded his schedule by contributing a 45.02 split for the Gators on their 4x400 relay that posted the third-fastest time of 3:03.38.

"I've been working hard since June and I got introduced to working with KeAndre around October," Holloway said. "We've just been grinding and working hard and staying in touch with one another and always building our team chemistry and it all just came into play (Wednesday)."

Kyriazis gave Texas A&M the overall lead with 21.5 points after winning the javelin with a second-round throw of 270-11 (82.58m). He still ranks fourth in the world this year at 288-9 (88.01m) from his season-opening throw in March at Texas Relays.

Kyriazis had taken only three throws entering the final -- one each at Texas Relays, SEC Championships and NCAA West Regionals -- but completed all six attempts at Hayward Field.

Following a fifth-place finish in 2015 and taking second last year, he became Texas A&M's first javelin champion since Sam Humphreys in 2013.

Virginia is in second place overall with 20 points, as Filip Mihaljevic repeated as shot put champion with a final-round effort of 69-10.75 (21.30m). Mihaljevic, who won last year at 67-11.5 (20.71), became the first Virginia athlete to repeat since Paul Ereng in 1988-89 in the 800.

Texas' Ryan Crouser was the last to win back-to-back shot put titles in 2013-14.

Although Rudy Winkler already has a U.S. national title in the hammer throw, the Cornell standout captured his first NCAA championship with a third-round mark of 243-2 (74.12m).

Winkler, who was second last year and eighth in 2015, captured the program's first title since Muhammad Halim in the triple jump in 2008.

Akron's Matthew Ludwig cleared 18-4.5 (5.60m) on his final attempt to win the pole vault title over Cincinnati's Adrian Valles (18-2.5). Akron, which had two championships in program history before 2014, has now won at least won one title four years in a row.

Annika Roloff secured the women's pole vault title in 2014, followed by Shawn Barber capturing the men's pole vault championship in 2015. Clayton Murphy became the Zips' first track champion by winning the 1,500 last year.