University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Prepare to Host 35th Sea Ray Relays
April 11, 2001 | Men's Track
KNOXVILLE, Tenn -- As surely as the white canopies of dogwood blossoms begin to grace the foothills of the Smoky Mountains each spring, Tennessee’s track and field squad will host another rite of spring this week in the Sea Ray Relays.
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| (Photo: Elizabeth Olivier) UT Head Coach |
The Volunteers will host the 35th Sea Ray Relays Wednesday through Saturday at Tom Black Track as the weather gets warmer and times get faster. The Sea Rays are certain to be the best meet in Knoxville this year as every NCAA event plus a handful of others will be contested.
The meet comes as the Vols continue their ascent up the Trackwire rankings. Tennessee stands a season-best third with 40 projected NCAA points, just behind co- leaders LSU and TCU with 52 points, in the April 10 edition of the Trackwire ranking. The Volunteers will be looking to shore up their ranking with additional qualifiers and improvements on previous season-best times.
"We have the biggest meet in the nation this weekend," head coach Bill Webb said. "The meet is the best it has been in four or five years. There is real competition in every event. Sea Ray has been a breakout event for Tennessee over the years. We hope that competing at home against great competition will bring out the best times and marks in our guys. If I wasn’t a coach, I’d be a fan in the stands for this meet."
The meet begins with the decathlon on Wednesday. Tennessee’s trio of decathletes will get their first competition of the season and appear to be among the favorites to win the event. Decathletes Stephen Harris, Kevin Thompson and Blake Sabo will be looking to qualify for nationals.
The distance events begin Thursday night and continue through the distance- oriented relays on Saturday. Distance coach George Watts says the overall quality of the distance events is up a notch this year. The most competitive distance event should be the invitational steeplechase on Friday night. Former Vol All-America Anthony Famiglietti, who flirted with breaking the four-minute barrier in the mile last Friday night at the Gatorade Track Classic in Knoxville, will compete against Ohio State’s Ian Connor, the 2000 NCAA runner-up in the steeplechase, and Wisconsin’s All-America Jared Cordes.
The 800M run should also be a good race as Cumberland College’s Anthony Kabara, Athenian Athletics’ Trinity Townsend and Florida’s Moise Joseph line up against Tennessee’s Jebreh Harris and Adrian Wheatley. The 1,500M run pits James Madison’s Jason Long and Ben Cooke against Clay Schwabe of Army and Tennessee’s Marcus Tanner and Ryan Demers (who will compete for Tennessee next season). In the distance relays, Tennessee will field a 4x800M relay team. Additionally, the distance medley relay field should be very competitive.
The field events begin Friday and continue through Saturday. In the field events, the strongest event looks to be the invitational hammer. Webb says that because of an extraordinarily strong field the meet record is in serious peril. Meanwhile, in the high jump, eight jumpers boast clearances of 7-2 or better. In the pole vault, Tim Mack, who cleared 19 feet last Saturday at the Gatorade Track Classic, is back to headline the vault at Sea Rays. Rocky Danners should be Tennessee’s strongest vaulter. Brad Snyder, a multiple NCAA champion, will be the favorite in the shot put with the top four shot putters in the SEC also scheduled to compete. Likewise, the discus features Auburn’s Gabor Mate, the No. 1 thrower in the NCAA, and the rest of the SEC’s top four, including Tennessee’s Lance Jauron and Tyler Garrett.
The sprints begin Friday afternoon and continue through the end of the meet on Saturday. Tennessee should fare well in the sprints, as well. Tennessee’s Leonard Scott,
Justin Gatlin and Sean Lambert are slated to compete in some combination of the 100M dash, 200M dash and 4x100M relay. Russell Frye is scheduled to run the 200M dash. However, more definite race assignments will be available Friday as sprint coach Vince Anderson finalizes the Tennessee strategy. Former Vol great Dawane Wallace looks to be the favorite in the 110M hurdles.
In the sprint-oriented relays, Tennessee stands atop the 4x100M relay competitor list. Georgia and Ohio State should battle for the 4x400M title. In two non-traditional relays, Seton Hall and Indiana State will vie for the sprint medley crown while Tennessee will battle SEC rival Florida and Indiana State for the shuttle hurdle relay victory.
