University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Dominate Decathlon at Sea Ray Relays
April 13, 2001 | Men's Track
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| Kevin Thompson |
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee's decathletes filled the medal stand and posted personal bests late Thursday night to close out the two-day event at the 35th Sea Ray Relays on Tom Black Track. Stephen Harris won the soggy, rain-delayed decathlon with 7,804 points, a NCAA automatic qualifier and his career best. Additionally, Kevin Thompson took second (7,301 points) and Blake Sabo (third) to post NCAA provisional marks and complete the Vol sweep.
"I'm really proud of Stephen Harris, a sophomore, winning in some tough conditions," head coach Bill Webb said. "The rain affected about three events. It took a long time and a lot of energy sitting out there (during the rain delays). Kevin and Blake obviously are disappointed. They hoped to get a qualifying mark that would definitely send them to nationals. They cramped up and couldn't run the 1,500M run (the last event) like they wanted. They did a heck of a job all the way through the vault. I'm really proud of Alex (Hritcu) and Kevin (Yeager, a Farragut native), two freshmen who will probably redshirt. They'll be strong for us in the future."
Harris, who posted another personal best in his fourth career decathlon, wrote his ticket to the NCAA Championships and USA Championships with his 7,804 score. Harris also notched personal bests in the pole vault, an event he won, and discus.
| "In the decathlon, you can't dwell on bad events. You have to stay focused on the task at hand. I think I did that and it helped." |
-Sophomore Stephen Harris |
"I'm very happy with my PR," Harris said. "In the decathlon, you can't dwell on bad events. You have to stay focused on the task at hand. I think I did that and it helped. I think I'm capable of more points. Everything didn't go perfectly. I can get more out of it. For SECs, I've got a base to build on."
Thompson's 7,301 also stood as a PR and a provisional mark for NCAAs. However, he will probably need more points to make the NCAA cut according to Webb. In the second day, Thompson posted a winning PR in the discus. Sabo, in only his third collegiate decathlon overall and first competing for Tennessee, scored a career-best 7,256, a provisional score. He posted decathlon event PRs in all the second-day events.
The decathletes return to action at the SEC Championships May 10-13 in Columbia, S.C.
Brad Leach represented the Tennessee distance corps by lopping 10 seconds off his previous season-best time in the 5,000M run. Leach finished 13th with a time of 14:43.34.
The Sea Ray Relays continue with a 9 a.m.-9:15 p.m. slate of action on Saturday. The remainder of events, including a full slate of relays, will take place Saturday. Admission is free.
| VOL FINISHES | ||
| Note: In the decathlon, any wind reading of 4.1 meters per second or more is considered wind-aided. In other events, 2.1 mps or more is considered wind aided. | ||
| Decathlon (final standings) | ||
| 1 | Stephen Harris, Tenn. | 7,804 PR** |
| 2 | Kevin Thompson, Tenn. | 7,301 PR* |
| 3 | Blake Sabo, Tenn. | 7,256 PR* |
| 8 | Alex Hritcu, Unattached | 6,655 PR |
| 10 | Kevin Yeager, Unatt. | 2,878 |
| (Yeager only competed in five events) | ||
| 110M hurdles (decathlon) | ||
| 1 | Stephen Harris, Tenn. | 14.75 |
| 2 | Blake Sabo, Tenn. | 15.08 |
| 4 | Kevin Thompson, Tenn. | 15.42 |
| Discus (decathlon) | ||
| 1 | Kevin Thompson, Tenn. | 140-4 SB |
| 3 | Stephen Harris, Tenn. | 132-9 SB |
| 6 | Blake Sabo, Tenn. | 124-2 |
| Pole vault (decathlon) | ||
| 1 | Will Mizell, Fla. | 14-5 1/4 |
| Stephen Harris, Tenn. | 14-5 1/4 PR | |
| 3 | Kevin Thompson, Tenn. | 14-1 1/4 |
| 5 | Blake Sabo, Tenn. | 13-5 1/4 |
| Javelin (decathlon) | ||
| 1 | Blake Sabo, Tenn. | 181-11 |
| 3 | Stephen Harris, Tenn. | 165-7 |
| 6 | Kevin Thompson, Tenn. | 149-2 |
| 1,500M run (decathlon) | ||
| 1 | Stephen Harris, Tenn. 4:34.78 | 4:34.78 |
| 9 | Kevin Thompson, Tenn. | 5:14.19 |
| 10 | Blake Sabo, Tenn. | 5:24.23 |
| 5,000M run (invit.) | ||
| 1 | Alexis Sharangabo, Brevard | 14:13.73 |
| 13 | Brad Leach, Tenn. | 14:43.34 SB |
| 10,000M run (invit.) | ||
| 1 | Nick Cordes, Ashland | 30:04.04 |
| w - wind-aided mark PR - personal decathlon event record SB - season best * - NCAA Outdoor provisional qualifier ** - NCAA Outdoor automatic qualifier. | ||
