University of Tennessee Athletics
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September 18, 2000 | Women's Track
2000 Season In Review
Head coach Myrtle Ferguson's Lady Volunteers embarked on "Star Track 2000", expecting that a combination of gifted returnees and talented newcomers would result in a metamorphosis for the program. The anticipated change was that those two forces would transform Tennessee into a contender within the stellar Southeastern Conference. In the end, however, those plans didn't materialize quite the way everyone had hoped.
In keeping with what has become expected during the Ferguson tenure, the Lady Volunteers began the indoor campaign by recording 12 personal bests, eight first-place finishes and one NCAA provisional qualifying mark at the Virginia Tech Classic in Blacksburg. Senior Heather Sumpter won both the 60m and 200m dashes, notching a personal record in the shorter sprint and demonstrating that off-season knee surgery helped restore range of motion lost due to a previous procedure done to repair a torn ACL. Classmate Lesly Love served notice that she had improved greatly in the pole vault, upping her PR from 10-9 to 12-0 in victory and charting a provisional mark.
The momentum continued the following week, as UT ventured to Lexington, Ky., to compete in the SEC Quad. With snow falling and the temperature frigid outside, the Lady Vols were the opposite inside, charting 16 PRs and placing four on the NCAA provisional list in a team victory. Victories by Sumpter in the 60m and 200m, Angie Pothier in the mile, Andrea Pappas in the shot put and Love in the vault helped the Big Orange tally 142 points to top Alabama (112), Kentucky (108) and Mississippi State (97). For her efforts, Sumpter was named SEC Track & Field Athlete of the Week.
After Pappas won the shot put at 49-5 and upped the school hammer throw record to 51-5 at the Gator Invitational, Tennessee headed back to Blacksburg for the Kroger Indoor Invitational. Love and teammate Beth Gehring tied former Lady Vol Tracy Carrington for the Rector Field House pole vault record at 12-6.75 and jumped to ninth on the NCAA list. Also faring well were Pothier, who won the 3000m in 9:56.15, and junior transfer Erica Tittsworth, who was fourth in the long jump with a career-best distance of 19-10.25.
Unfortunately, the promise of Tittsworth's performance didn't last long. She was diagnosed with a torn ACL after the Kroger meet and had to miss the remainder of the 2000 season. She joined distance runner Sharon Dickie and sprinter Tyangela Sanders on the UT disabled list and added to depth problems Ferguson had feared at the beginning of the season.
After tuning up for the SEC Championships at the Tennessee Indoor Classic, UT made the trip to Fayetteville, Ark., knowing that because of injuries, everyone who competed at the league meet had to provide a yeoman's effort for the squad to reach its goal of a top-five placing. That reality wasn't to be, as the squad clad in orange came back to Knoxville with a disheartening eighth-place total of 35 points.
On a positive note, freshman Christie Elwin and Gehring accumulated 14 of UT's 35 points in the vault. Elwin came through with a school-record height of 12-8 to take second and earn herself a trip to the national meet, while Gehring sailed over 12-4 to garner third-place distinction. Additionally, Pappas snared third in the shot for the second straight year, and Sumpter scored the first SEC individual points of her career, taking sixth in the 60 meters and fifth in the 200m.
Another major UT scoring threat, however, was dealt a crushing blow when Love was disqualified from the meet for inadvertently violating the SEC's "honest effort rule". As a qualifier for the 400m finals, she was obliged to run in the race even though she was in the midst of the pole vault competition at the time. Due to a communication breakdown between the UT staff and meet officials, Love was not in the starting blocks when the gun sounded. Therefore, she was disqualified from both the 400m and vault as well as the 4x400m relay she was to anchor later in the day. Incidentally, she had already cleared 12-0 in the vault with no misses.
"Lesly's disqualification was a huge blow to an already thin squad," Ferguson said. "We left the equivalent of 4 1/3 scholarships at home because of injuries and so forth, and we could not afford to have something like that happen. My hat's off to the people who performed well, such as Christie (Elwin), Heather (Sumpter) and our shot putters. With our situation, we needed everyone to be on, and that didn't happen."
A weekend later, Lady Vols could be found at two different last chance meets. The competition at the USATF Indoor Championships in Atlanta, Ga., and the Indiana USATF Meet in Bloomington, however, failed to yield any marks worthy of merit. So, Sumpter, with her 7.37 and 23.92 readings in the 60 and 200 meters, respectively, and Elwin, with her UT-topping height of 12-8 in the vault, were the lone Tennessee representatives scheduled to attend the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville.
With Elwin heading back to the site of her two-week-old school record, the UT staff hoped that the Australian rookie's familiarity and positive experience with the runway at Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center would provide a fertile environment for her to approach her PR of 13-1. That wasn't the case, however, as she settled for a 12-3.50 clearance to place 12th. Sumpter, meanwhile, posted times of 7.39 and 24.12 in the 60m and 200m, respectively, and did not advance past the prelims.
The outdoor slate would find its genesis in the desert heat of Tempe, Ariz., as the squad made a spring break pilgrimage to Arizona State University for a week of training, sandwiched between a pair of meets.
The trip opened with the ASU/USTCA Invitational, where Pappas won the shot and set a school record in the hammer throw. Additionally, Diane Slinden took the discus title, as UT finished fourth with 114 points in the scored competition behind Indiana (174), Southern California (166) and the 14th-ranked hosts (162).
The following weekend, Frenke Bolt started Lady Vol action at the Baldy Castillo Invitational in Tempe with a third-place effort in the heptathlon with an NCAA provisional point total of 5,212. Other standouts included Pappas, who improved her NCAA mark in the shot to 50-2 and established one in the discus with a PR heave of 169-9; and Sumpter, who was second in the 100m, fourth in the 200m, anchored the second-place 4x100m relay and ran the third leg of the runner-up 4x400m unit.
While most of the team stayed in Arizona for the second meet, a smaller contingent was in California to compete in the Stanford Invitational. Six Lady Vols would run at Cobb Track with Amy Bartosik providing the most noteworthy achievement. The senior from Kingsport would move to eighth on the UT all-time performers list with her 37:01.88 reading in the 10,000 meters.
A week later, Tennessee would face Florida, Kentucky and host Auburn in an SEC Quad outdoor encounter. Sumpter's victories in the 100m and 200m dashes at 11.71 and 23.89, respectively, and her anchoring of the first-place 4x100m relay would help propel UT to a third-place total of 153 points. Other winners were Love in the 400m, Pappas in the discus and Erin Rinear in the 400m hurdles.
After Slinden's solo excursion to Austin for the Texas Relays failed to produce better marks in the shot and discus, the team turned its focus toward the Sea Ray Relays at UT's Tom Black Track. Bolt again jump-started the team with a third-place effort in the heptathlon, raising her provisional point total to 5,248 despite competing on a 48-degree second day with a steady rain falling.
The weather was much better on Friday, and Sumpter utilized the improved conditions to finish as the top collegiate competitor in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Her 11.41 clocking in the short sprint was a PR and provisional improvement as she officially finished third in that race and fourth in the 200m.
On Saturday, the final day of action belonged to the relay teams. UT's quartets in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays took advantage of the strong field to earn spots on the NCAA provisional qualifying lists. Junior Rashida Dodson, Rinear, Love and Sumpter clicked off a 44.98 reading to take third in the shorter relays, while Love, freshman Kameisha Bennett, Sumpter and Dodson were second in the 4x400m race at 3:32.76. Prior to Sea Rays, the teams had done no better than 45.28 and 3:44.76.
After hosting its largest home meet of the season, the Big Orange was off to Philadelphia, Pa., for the nation's biggest track and field extravaganza, the Penn Relays. A final day crowd of 45,203 wasn't enough to scare Sumpter, who brought home UT's second consecutive 100m dash title from Franklin Field with an 11.61 trip down the track. Fellow Californian Kelli White had won the event in 1999 in her senior year as well. Sumpter would go on to earn Lady Vol Track & Field Athlete of the Year accolades and was chosen for the "No Guts, No Glory" Award by UT women's athletics director Joan Cronan.
Other noteworthy performances came from the 4x400m relay, which came back to win the consolation championship race after a subpar effort in the prelims, and Slinden, who uncorked a personal-best throw of 172-8 in the discus to place second and ascend the NCAA qualifiers list.
Elwin, who did not make the trip to Penn, instead geared up for Sunday's Knoxville Invitational. Field events coach Scott Bennett's strategy paid off, as the Aussie pole vaulter cleared a season-best 12-6 to place second and put herself on the NCAA's provisional list. Freshman Christy Baird followed up a PR run at Penn with another one at home, as she checked in at 4:34.01 to take sixth in what would be her best race of the season.
The SEC Outdoor Championships came next on the agenda and, as always, allowed everyone a true measuring stick of how good they were against the nation's best track and field programs. Ferguson's squad gave an honorable account of itself, scratching and clawing for every point it could get in improving two spots from indoors to sixth. In all, 11 personal bests were recorded, and nearly everyone else was primed for a season-topping effort.
For the second straight year, UT would bring home an individual conference title. Elwin would claim that distinction, following up Tracy Carrington's 1999 feat by tying the league record with a season-best clearance of 12-8.25. Senior Beth Gehring would keep her streak intact, as she scored for UT (fourth) in SEC indoor or outdoor competition for the sixth time in as many conference meets during her career.
Stepping up at crunch time were Slinden, who brought home second in the discus with a personal record toss of 176-7; Pappas, who took second in the shot at 50-7.25 and surprised many with her fourth-place and school-record mark of 171-1 in the hammer throw; and Bolt, who went into the heptathlon ranked fifth and came out third with her personal collegiate-best score of 5,449.
Love also merited special mention for using her diverse talents, as she produced points in four events for Tennessee. For the third straight season, she scored in the outdoor 400m, taking sixth. She also tied for eighth in the pole vault, where she had to compete after concluding a personal best reading of 53.74 in the prelims of the 400 meters. Additionally, she ran the third leg of UT's sixth-place 4x400m relay and anchored the 4x100m relay to third-place honors with a season-best result of 3:36.59 and helped Tennessee overtake Alabama for sixth in the team standings.
Additionally, seniors Angie Pothier and Mindy Watkins assisted the UT cause in any way they could, running admirably for interim distance coach Doug Molnar. Pothier scored in two events, taking sixth in the 1500m in a PR 4:32.96 and seventh in the 3000m in 10:02.80. Watkins, meanwhile, took sixth in the 10,000 meters, slicing through the heat and humidity of Baton Rouge, La., to score at the conference outdoor meet for the third straight year.
"I was pleased with individual performances and the way everyone competed at SECs," Ferguson said. "Compared to what we came in doing, every athlete was either right at or above her peak performance. That's what you want to happen. What it told me was that we just need to add more of what we have, and that's competitors."
Not only does UT have competitors on the track, it also has them in the classroom. Pothier and Watkins were named Scholar Athletes at the UT Honors Convocation. Pothier carried a 3.84 GPA in sociology, while Watkins maintained a 3.60 in psychology. They also joined Bolt, Dodson, Gehring, Love, Pappas, Rinear and Slinden on the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
With NCAA berths in the balance, UT closed out the regular season with back-to-back last chance meets. After seeing no improvements at the Gatorade Twilight Classic, the Lady Vols headed for the Georgia Tech/Reebok Invitational in Atlanta. As was the case in 1999, Pappas came up with a big throw to earn a trip to nationals in the shot put. Her 52-6 measurement was a career best and earned second place accolades. More importantly, however, it punched the Brookwood (Ga.) High School product's ticket to Durham, N.C.
Ferguson was hoping that Bennett would lower her career-topping time of 2:09.36 in the 800m to the provisional of 2:07.00, but it was not to be as the rookie experienced muscle tightness during the race and did not finish. Also taking a crack at qualifying were the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. In the longer race, UT's 3:37.37 output was not an improvement. In the 4x100m, the timing equipment malfunctioned, so what appeared to be a good race by Dodson, Rinear, Love and Sumpter was all for naught.
So, the season would come down to four athletes with invitations to the NCAA Championships, hosted by Duke University. Tennessee, unfortunately, would be unable to get on the board at Wallace Wade Stadium, as none of the athletes was able to record anything resembling a PR. It would mark UT's first scoreless meet in history.
The Lady Vols got their best finish from Pappas, who earned All-America honors for her ninth-place finish (seventh among Americans) in the shot put. Her top throw of 50-5.25 was well below her two-week-old personal record of 52-6. Next in line was Bolt, whose struggles in the high jump prevented her from a top-eight placing with a score of 5,341 in the heptathlon. Her 10th-place point total was down from her 5,375 count from a year ago and 108 points below her tally at SECs.
Slinden experienced a disappointing meet as well, as the sophomore charted a throw of only 150-9 in the discus to wind up 19th. Compounding her disgust, was the fact that she could have easily placed fifth at NCAAs with any of the efforts she had in four of her last five meets of 2000. Closing out the meet for Tennessee was Sumpter, who advanced to the semifinals with a time of 11.58 before bowing out in that round with an 11.56 result.
"I'd be fooling myself if I didn't say the NCAA meet was a letdown," Ferguson said. "Part of competing is being able to seize the opportunity when it presents itself. This was a year where it didn't take amazing performances to score. We had the chance to do well had people been on that day."
And 2000 for the Lady Vols was that kind of year. It started with season-ending injuries to returning NCAA competitors Dickie (hip) and Sanders (shoulder) and continued with Tittsworth's ACL tear. Sprinter Natalie Johnson continued to be shelved by an assortment of ailments. Because of those physical issues and the departure of some solid performers the year before, too great a dependence was placed on newcomers to quickly fill in the gaps.
"It was a season of overcoming obstacles and was a real learning experience for me," Ferguson said. "We lost Sharon and Tyangela right off the bat and then later Erica, so we became thinner in areas where we struggled with depth already. We had high hopes that the newcomers would be able to make an immediate impact, but that didn't happen as quickly as we would have liked, and therefore we really struggled indoors.
"We were thin already, and that gave us less tolerance for the development process. When you put all our problems together, it made it necessary for everyone to live up to their expectations for us to be competitive in the SEC. Even so, we also struggled to cover all the event areas and were giving up too many points. Doing a better job of filling those needs will help us down the road."
