University of Tennessee Athletics
Bennett, Dickie To Make Outdoor Debuts At Yellowjacket Invite
April 05, 2001 | Women's Track
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomores Kameisha Bennett and Sharon Dickie, the University of Tennessee women's track and field team's two competitors at last month's NCAA Indoor Championships, will make their outdoor debuts on Saturday as the Lady Vols travel to Atlanta, Ga., for the Yellow Jacket Invitational at Georgia Tech's George C. Griffin Track.
Bennett, from Dayton, Ohio, is slated to log her first 800m race since running in the prelims at the national meet and will also supply a leg of UT's 4x400m relay. Dickie, of Grand Blanc, Mich., is also running competitively outside for the first time in 2001 and is entered in the 1500 meters. She picked up the first track and field All-America honors of her career in March when she placed eighth in the NCAA 5000 meters in Fayetteville, Ark.
Another sophomore, Christy Baird of Knoxville's West High School, is anxious to make her first appearance all season. The distance standout has been sidelined since the fall with bursitis in her hip. She will join Dickie, freshman Jessica Southers (Ashland, Ky.) and sophomore Rebecca Collins (Loveland, Ohio) in the 1500m.
Freshman Christina Clark (Madison, Wis.) will utilize the meet as a mini-heptathlon in preparation for next weekend's Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville. On her agenda this weekend will be the javelin throw, the high jump, the 100m hurdles and the 200m dash.
Also competing will be Amber Ayub (Knoxville, Tenn.) in the 400m hurdles, Sonya Bell (Charlotte, N.C.) in the discus, Keena Brooks (Temple Hill, Md.) in the 100m and 200m dashes, Samantha Coulson (Roswell, Ga.) in the 400m dash, Kelly Flowers (Westerville, Ohio) in the high jump, Erica Tittsworth (Racine, Wis.) in the long jump and Renn Watkins (Wake Forest, N.C.) in the 3000m steeplechase. It will mark Watkins' first foray in that event, which is in its first season as a women's event sanctioned by the NCAA.
The Big Orange will send only a 4x400m relay unit into battle. As mentioned, Bennett will comprise one fourth of that group, and she will be joined by Coulson, Flowers and junior Aoife Hearne (Waterford, Ireland).
As mentioned earlier, the Tennessee women and men will host the Sea Ray Relays on April 11-14 at UT's Tom Black Track. The heptathlon events will begin Wednesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. The distance carnival is slated for Thursday night at 6:30 p.m., while a full slate of activities run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and 9:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. on Saturday
