University of Tennessee Athletics
Kawohl Wins Florida Relays Decathlon
March 23, 2000 | Men's Track
Kawohl's second-day rally included winning the 110M hurdles, the pole vault and the 1500M run to seal first place.
Tennessee claimed first, fourth and seventh-place honors from the 22 decathlete field. "This is a good start to the outdoor season for the decathlon," head coach Bill Webb said. "Boris is unquestioningly the leader in the NCAA so far this year. It was good for him to get his automatic qualifying mark in the first meet. Now we're looking forward to the SEC and NCAA decathlon."
Freshman Stephen Harris of Norcross, Ga., finished his first career decathlon in fourth place with 7,293 points. Harris' mark is the second-best decathlon effort all-time by a Tennessee freshman. The 7,293-point finish is also a NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Harris led the event through the first six events in his rookie decathlon performance. Harris set six personal records (shot put, 110M hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500M run) to fuel his fourth-place finish. Harris won the high jump and finished second in the 100M dash, the 400M dash and the 1500M run.
Kevin Thompson of Germantown took seventh with 6,978 points. Thompson's finish stands eighth all-time on UT's freshman decathlon list. Thompson won the 400M dash to close out the first day.
Pat Buckheit, a senior and 1998 All-America selection, did not finish the decathlon because of a slight injury. Webb said that the injury isn't serious and Buckheit should return to action soon. Buckheit stood 11th after the first day's events.
Tennessee athletes have won three NCAA decathlon titles since 1991 (Aric Long, Brian Brophy and Tom Pappas). The Volunteers will compete in the remaining events of the Florida Relays on Friday and Saturday. Results will be released late both nights.
FORMER VOL RUSSELL JOHNSON FINALIST FOR SEC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE
OF THE YEAR: Former Vol pole vaulter Russell Johnson is Tennessee's male finalist
for the H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. Johnson (1996-99)
earned All-America honors three times during his career. Johnson stands as the second-
best pole vaulter in Tennessee history with his career-best vault of 18-6 1/2. Johnson
won the SEC Indoor pole vault title in 1998. Johnson was named to the SEC Academic
Honor Roll three times.
Johnson received a $5,000 scholarship for post-graduate studies courtesy of being named a finalist. Each SEC school chooses one male and one female athlete to vie for the award. The SEC will choose one male and one female from the list of finalists to receive the award and a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship. The winner will be announced in June at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Fla.
