Senior distance runner Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia) has been named the 2012 Southeastern Conference Co-Women’s Runner of the Year, announced by the conference office in Birmingham, Ala. on Friday. The Australia native shares the accolade with LSU junior Kimberlyn Duncan.

 

This is the first Outdoor Runner of the Year honor in the history of the Florida women’s program and only the second overall for the program, as Tiandra Ponteen earned the nod indoors in 2005. This is the second major accolade of LaCaze’s career, as she was also named the SEC Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year outdoors in 2009.

 

LaCaze etched her name in SEC history last weekend, as she became the first female in conference history to sweep the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, the women’s 1,500 meters and the women’s 5,000 meters. The senior scored 30 points over the meet, earning herself the 2012 SEC Commissioner’s Trophy.

 

She is the first Florida female to win the Commissioner’s Trophy outdoors since LaQuanda Cotton shared the honors in 2002 and ties as the highest point-scorer in Gator women’s track & field history alongside Shelly Steely in 1985. LaCaze is the highest scorer at the SEC meet on both the men’s and the women’s side since Georgia’s Hyleas Fountain in 2004.

 

LaCaze won the 3,000 meter steeplechase on Saturday evening and turned around on Sunday afternoon to compete in the finals of the women’s 1,500 meters. LaCaze ran a steady race and took charge the last 100 meters to take home her second title of the weekend, winning in 4:13.44, a new personal best.  

 

LaCaze then ventured into the women’s 5,000 meters, a race with 29 participants. The Australia native came into the event with adrenaline and momentum from her previous two victories and came out of it a champion, winning in 16:26.38, earning yet another title and another 10 points for the Gators. The senior ran personal bests this season in the 800 meters (2:07.70), 1,500 meters (4:13.44) and the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:55.44). The senior All-American also ran a season-best 16:26.38 in the 5,000 meters at the SEC Outdoor Championships.

 

LaCaze has five victories on the season, including the Pepsi Florida Relays 4x800-meter relay. She is sixth in the nation in the 3000-meter steeplechase and owns the only sub-10 3000m steeplechase time in the SEC this season.

 

Florida returns to action May 24-26, when it travels to nearby Jacksonville, Fla., to participate in the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds hosted by the University of North Florida.

 

For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/trackfield or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Florida track and field on Twitter at @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField. You can also find the Gators on Facebook.

 

2012 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Awards

Men’s Coach of the Year: Chris Bucknam, Arkansas

Women’s Coach of the Year: Dennis Shaver, LSU

 

Men’s Runner of the Year: Caleb Cross, Arkansas

Men’s Field Athlete of the Year: Andrew Irwin, Arkansas

Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Aaron Ernest, LSU

Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Andrew Irwin, Arkansas

 

Co-Women’s Runner of the Year: Genevieve LaCaze, Florida

Co-Women’s Runner of the Year: Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU

Women’s Field Athlete of the Year: Annie Alexander, Tennessee

Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Dominique Scott, Arkansas

Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Morgann Leleux, Georgia

 

Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Marvin Reitze, South Carolina

Co-Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Ellen Wortham, Tennessee

Co-Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tara Diebold, Arkansas

 

2012 SEC Outdoor Track and Field All-SEC Teams

Men’s First Team All-SEC

100m: Keenan Brock, Auburn

110m Hurdles: Barrett Nugent, LSU

200m: Isiah Young, Ole Miss

400m: Tony McQuay, Florida

400m Hurdles: Caleb Cross, Arkansas

800m: Aaron Evans, Georgia

1,500m: Duncan Phillips, Arkansas

Steeplechase: Matt Cleaver, Georgia

5,000m: Lane Boyer, Arkansas

10,000m: Eric Fernandez, Arkansas

4x100m Relay: Arkansas (Caleb Cross, Akheem Gauntlett, Neil Braddy, Marek Niit)

4x400m Relay: Florida (Dedric Dukes, Hugh Graham, Leonardo Seymore, Tony McQuay)

High Jump: Dwight Barbiasz, Florida

Pole Vault: Andrew Irwin, Arkansas

Long Jump: Raymond Higgs, Arkansas

Triple Jump: Omar Craddock, Florida

Shot Put: Stephen Saenz, Auburn

Discus: Andrew Evans, Kentucky

Hammer Throw: Jeremy Postin, Florida

Javelin: Stipe Zunic, Florida

Decathlon: Kevin Lazas, Arkansas

 

Men’s Second Team All-SEC

100m: Aaron Ernest, LSU

110m Hurdles: Eddie Lovett, Florida

200m: Aaron Ernest, LSU

400m: Torrin Lawrence, Georgia

400m Hurdles: Carson Blanks, Ole Miss

800m: Leoman Momoh, Arkansas

1,500m: Patrick Rono, Arkansas

Steeplechase: Luis Orta, Kentucky

5,000m: Brandon Lord, Georgia

10,000m: Solomon Haile, Arkansas

4x100m Relay: Georgia (Phillip Adams, Waymon Storey, Eric Harris, Justin Scott-Wesley)

4x400m Relay: LSU (Quincy Downing, Robert Simmons, Ade Alleyne-Forte, Riker Hylton)

High Jump: Marcus Jackson, Mississippi State

Pole Vault: Sam Kendricks, Ole Miss

Long Jump: Damar Forbes, LSU

Triple Jump: Kyron Blaise, LSU

Shot Put: Caleb Whitener, Georgia

Discus: Tavis Bailey, Tennessee

Hammer Throw: Justin Welch, Georgia

Javelin: Raymond Dykstra, Kentucky

Decathlon: Terry Prentice, Arkansas

 

Men’s SEC All-Freshman Team

100m: Aaron Ernest, LSU

110m Hurdles: Kyle Dunn, Arkansas

200m: Aaron Ernest, LSU

400m: Hugh Graham, Florida

400m Hurdles: Drew Branch, Georgia

800m: Patrick Rono, Arkansas

1,500m: Patrick Rono, Arkansas

Steeplechase: None

5,000m: Eddie Garcia, Florida

10,000m: JL Hines, Florida

High Jump: William LeBlanc, LSU

Pole Vault: Andrew Irwin, Arkansas

Long Jump: Jarrett Samuels, Mississippi State

Triple Jump: Marquis Dendy, Florida

Shot Put: Matthew Hoty, Tennessee

Discus: Tavis Bailey, Tennessee

Hammer Throw: Jeremy Tuttle, LSU

Javelin: Raymond Dkystra, Kentucky

Decathlon: Gunnar Nixon, Arkansas

 

Women’s First Team All-SEC

100m: Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU

100m Hurdles: Jasmin Stowers, LSU

200m: Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU

400m: Regina George, Arkansas

400m Hurdles: Ellen Wortham, Tennessee

800m: Charlene Lipsey, LSU

1,500m: Genevieve LaCaze, Florida

Steeplechase: Genevieve LaCaze, Florida

5,000m: Genevieve LaCaze, Florida

10,000m: Kristie Krueger, Georgia

4x100m Relay: LSU (Takeia Pinckney, Semoy Hackett, Rebecca Alexander, Kimberlyn Duncan)

4x400m Relay: LSU (Latoya McDermott, Rebecca Alexander, Cassandra Tate, Jonique Day)

High Jump: Taylor Burke, Florida

Pole Vault: Morgann Leleux, Georgia

Long Jump: Rachel Jenkins, Ole Miss

Triple Jump: Ciarra Brewer, Florida

Shot Put: Annie Alexander, Tennessee

Discus: Annie Alexander, Tennessee

Hammer Throw: Nikola Lomnicka, Georgia

Javelin: Allison Updike, Georgia

Heptathlon: Brittany Harrell, Florida

 

Women’s Second Team All-SEC

100m: Semoy Hackett, LSU

100m Hurdles: Ivanique Kemp, Arkansas

200m: Semoy Hackett, LSU

400m: Rebecca Alexander, LSU

400m Hurdles: Cassandra Tate, LSU

800m: Chanelle Price, Tennessee

1,500m: Cory McGee, Florida

Steeplechase: Grace Heymsfield, Arkansas

5,000m: Kristen Gillespie, Arkansas

10,000m: Dominique Scott, Arkansas

4x100m Relay: Auburn (V’Alonee Robinson, CeCe Williams, Kai Selvon, Nivea Smith)

4x400m Relay: Arkansas (Gwendolyn Flowers, Regina George, Tiffany Hines, Whitney Jones)

High Jump: Saniel Atkinson, Georgia     

Pole Vault: Tina Sutej, Arkansas

Long Jump: Brittany Porter, LSU

Triple Jump: Colleen Felix, Georgia

Shot Put: Hilenn James, Georgia

Discus: Hilenn James, Georgia

Hammer Throw: Brieanna Kennedy, LSU

Javelin: Annie Simoneaux, LSU

Heptathlon: Fabia McDonald, Ole Miss

 

Women’s SEC All-Freshman Team

100m: Keilah Tyson, Kentucky

100m Hurdles: Chalese Davis, South Carolina

200m: Keilah Tyson, Kentucky

400m: Erika Rucker, South Carolina

400m Hurdles: Tamera Harris, South Carolina

800m: Samantha Levin, LSU

1,500m: Carly Hamilton, Georgia

Steeplechase: Shannon Klenke, Arkansas

5,000m: Dominique Scott, Arkansas

10,000m: Dominique Scott, Arkansas

High Jump: Taylor Burke, Florida

Pole Vault: Morgann Leleux

Long Jump: Erica Bougard, Mississippi State

Triple Jump: Ciarra Brewer, Florida

Shot Put: Tori Bliss, LSU

Discus: Megan Rayford, Mississippi State

Hammer Throw: Nia Barnes, Alabama

Javelin: Allison Updike, Georgia

Heptathlon: Erica Bougard, Mississippi State