University of Tennessee Athletics
SEC and National Champions Honored at Annual Track Banquet
October 08, 2001 | Men's Track
Oct. 8, 2001
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee's 2001 track & field national champions, their families and special guests joined for the two-hour banquet at The Foundry in Knoxville.
With the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Trophy, the NCAA Outdoor trophy and the Sears National Championship Cup serving as a prominent backdrop for the first time in a decade, national coach of the year Bill Webb served as master of ceremonies and painted the accomplishments of the 2001 season while also providing a rosy prognostication for the coming campaign. Six standing ovations punctuated the celebratory nature of the banquet.
"We had 14 guys who won All-America honors outdoors," Webb said. "We have 49 of 50 points from the NCAA Outdoors coming back. We set a program record with 21 student-athletes on the SEC Academic Honor Roll last year and increased our lead over the rest of the conference on the list going back to 1996. We had a lot of community involvement on this team. Guys served as mentors for kids, visited schools, helped dedicate the track at Copper Ridge Elementary School, volunteered to coach Senior Olympians and helped out at the Race for the Cure."
"The team togetherness was more impressive than anything else," assistant head coach George Watts, the most senior member of the Tennessee track staff, added. "If you want to win championships, that's the main ingredient."
Webb opened the program with staff introductions and congratulations. Webb was presented his plaque for being the USTCA National Coach of the Year. Additionally, assistant coach Vince Anderson, the dean of Tennessee sprinting, was presented an award for tutoring both the indoor (Leonard Scott) and outdoor (Justin Gatlin) regional athletes of the year.
Webb also introduced some high profile Vol alums attending the banquet. Tim Mack, the 2001 Goodwill Games gold medalist in the pole vault, joined Anthony Famiglietti, the 2001 steeplechase champion at the World University Games, and Jose' Parrilla, the school record holder in the 800M run and two-time Olympian as honored former Vols in attendance.
Distributing the most eagerly awaited hardware of the evening, athletics director Doug Dickey then presented the 30 student-athletes who competed at the SEC Outdoor Championships with their SEC championship rings. The national championship rings haven't yet been completed and will be distributed to the NCAA Outdoor competitors when they arrive.
Webb then introduced the upcoming seniors and newcomers plus those returning from injury or redshirt seasons.
Watts followed with a cross country update/preview in the middle of the 2001 campaign. "I'm having more fun coaching these guys than any other team I've had in cross country," Watts said. "The cross country team is doing well and we're going to have a good time the rest of the season."
The distribution of awards followed with Webb, Watts and Anderson splitting presentation duties. Traditionally presented first with help from the Knoxville Track Club, the Will Pritchett Award, given to the most dedicated senior, was earned by javelin thrower Toby Colyer and 800M runner Jebreh Harris. Pritchett was a Tennessee letterman and longtime meet official who set the state pole vault record in the early 1930s with a bamboo pole.
Academic plaudits followed as decathlete Brett Frykberg took home the James Snow Award for the most outstanding academic performance by a freshman. Likewise, steeplechaser Joe Dickson, recent winner of the prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship and currently working on a doctoral degree, earned the Dr. Jack Chesney Award for the most outstanding academic performance by a senior.
Colyer and Hassaan Stamps were then presented with the Jon Young Captain's Award. Young was a speedster and a key cog in the foundation for Tennessee's storied relay tradition. Next, Scott (100M dash-10.05), the 4x100M relay-38.66 (Sean Lambert, Gatlin, Stamps, Scott) and 4x200M relay-1:20.90 (Lambert, Gatlin, Russell Frye, Scott) were presented awards for establishing school records. Most Valuable Freshman honors went to Gatlin and javelin thrower Leigh Smith who also rewrote freshman records in their respective events.
Steeplechaser Tim Kelly won the first Herb Neff Award, presented to a walk-on-type student-athlete who makes an important contribution. Herb's brother and longtime local meet official Bob Neff presented the award named for his brother. Herb Neff was a Vol walk-on track athlete who won the SEC high jump twice, in addition to playing basketball where he still holds the school record for most rebounds in a game with 36 against Georgia Tech in 1952.
The Comeback of the Year Award went to 400M runner Dwayne Bell, long jumper Camron Howard and 800M runner Adrian Wheatley for overcoming injuries to make sizeable contributions to the Vol track effort. Hurdler Karl Jennings and decathlete Blake Sabo took home Most Improved honors. The Volunteer Award for the toughest competitor went to Scott, who competed in the NCAA Indoors after an overnight hospital stay, and Lambert, who was a freshman but didn't run like one when the SEC and NCAA titles were on the line. Stamps grabbed the Ironman Award for his exploits in any event to which he was called, including the 110M hurdles, 400M hurdles, 4x100M relay and 4x400M relay.
Gatlin and NCAA runner-up decathlete Stephen Harris were awarded Most Valuable Track and Field Athlete, respectively. Gatlin also won the Ed Murphey Award for the most outstanding performance, traditionally the last award presented. Gatlin's dual 100M and 200M dash titles in the same day at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the first freshman to accomplish the feat since Auburn's Harvey Glance in 1976, sealed his Murphey Award bid. Murphey, a former Vol, was an All-America selection in 1956 as a miler. The award is also traditionally presented at the Tennessee-Kentucky basketball game.
The awards banquet began and ended with a highlight tape of the season's accomplishments with high points from a title run that spanned the nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific with the SEC Outdoor Championships in Columbia, S.C., to the NCAA Outdoor Championships at venerable Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. For the first time since 1991, Tennessee took the SEC Outdoor title with 153 points and rallied to take the NCAA title with 50 points, one ahead of second-place TCU.
| Awards |
| Will Pritchett Award (Most dedicated senior) - Toby Colyer and Jebreh Harris |
| James Snow Award (Most outstanding academic freshman) - Brett Frykberg |
| Dr. Jack Chesney Award (Most outstanding academic senior) - Joe Dickson |
| Jon Young Captain's Award - Toby Colyer and Hassaan Stamps |
| School records - Leonard Scott (100M dash), 4x100M relay (Sean Lambert, Justin Gatlin, Hassaan Stamps, Leonard Scott) and 4x200M relay (Sean Lambert, Justin Gatlin, Russell Frye, Leonard Scott) |
| Most Valuable Freshman - Justin Gatlin and Leigh Smith |
| Herb Neff Award (Walk-on who makes valuable contribution) - Tim Kelly |
| Comeback of the Year - Dwayne Bell, Camron Howard and Adrian Wheatley |
| Most Improved Athlete - Karl Jennings and Blake Sabo |
| Volunteer Award (Toughest competitor) - Sean Lambert and Leonard Scott |
| Ironman Award - Hassaan Stamps |
| Most Valuable Athlete - Justin Gatlin and Stephen Harris |
| Ed Murphey Award (Outstanding performance) - Justin Gatlin |
