University of Tennessee Athletics
Track Vols Top National Rankings to Open Indoor Season
January 16, 2002 | Men's Track
Jan. 16, 2002
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee's track and field squad begins the indoor season on top of the mountain as various experts weigh in on prospects for the coming indoor and outdoor seasons.
The Volunteers hold the No. 1 spot in the inaugural Trackwire rankings for the 2002 indoor season released Wednesday. The Trackwire ranking attempt to predict the score of the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 8-9 in Fayetteville, Ark.) by analyzing national leader lists in each event. Trackwire projects the Vols to score 44 points in the NCAA Indoors. Not surprisingly, the Southeastern Conference appears it will retain its position as the monster conference of collegiate track and field. Five of the top six Trackwire-ranked teams call the SEC home, as Alabama (second, 41 points), LSU and Arkansas (third-tie, 39 points), and Florida (sixth-tie, 25 points) join the orange clads on the list.
Meanwhile, in its January issue Track & Field News peered even farther into the future to offer its predictions for the NCAA Outdoor Championships (May 29-June 1 in Baton Rouge, La.). Track & Field News prognosticates Tennessee first with 64 points. The Vols won the 2001 NCAA Outdoor title in Eugene, Ore., with 50 points. The magazine believes homestanding LSU will take second with 59 points. Arkansas (fourth, 30 points), Auburn and Georgia (ninth-tie, 22 points) are other SEC teams in the title hunt. The magazine also picked winners in each event. The authors tabbed Justin Gatlin to repeat his 100 and 200 double at the NCAAs and picked to Vols to take the 4x100M relay title.
"It's always nice to be recognized by people who follow track and field, but there's so much season left before the NCAA Championships," head coach Bill Webb said. "But I'd rather have us looked at by the national polls than be ignored."
Tennessee's newcomers also drew praise in the January issue of Track & Field News. Tennessee's 2002 recruiting class rated fifth nationally behind Michigan, Indiana, Arkansas and Texas Tech. The magazine offers "The reigning NCAA champs bolstered their squad nicely." Last year, despite one of the most productive freshman classes in school history which ended up scoring more points at the NCAA Outdoors than any other school, the Vols rated honorable mention in the Track & Field News recruiting roundup in a tribute to the inexact science of recruiting.
"We've worked hard to make up for losses from last year's team," Webb said. "I'm pleased with our recruiting class."
Meanwhile, the track and field Vols fared well in the academic realm during the fall semester. The squad boasted a 2.8 team GPA according to Webb. Additionally, 20 team members posted a 3.0 GPA or better. While the SEC Academic Honor Roll won't come out until spring, Tennessee leads the conference with 78 selections to that list in the Webb era (1996-2001).
"The team appears to be focused on individual excellence in all facets," Webb said. "Assistant coaches George Watts and Vince Anderson are working hard. I'm pleased with the academic semester we had in the fall. I'm also equally pleased with our increased off-the-field presence in the community. For instance, Justin Gatlin (a sophomore sprinter and double NCAA champion from 2001) voluntarily attended every one of our eight community service opportunities since April. We have several guys who have been very involved in helping out where they can."
| Note: Justin Gatlin attended the following track and field community service activities. |
| *April 11 - Boys and Girls Club Play Day |
| *April 17 - Spoke to students at East Knox Elementary and gave them motivation and track pointers |
| *Aug. 31 - Helped dedicate the new track at Copper Ridge Elementary School and ran the dedication lap with students |
| *Sept. 1 - Met with children and signed autographs at Volunteer Village prior to the Tennessee-Syracuse football game |
| *Oct. 2 - Met with fans and signed autographs at Volunteer Athletic Scholarship Fund Day |
| *Oct. 20 - Helped with race operations and supported runners at the Race for the Cure, a race for those affected by breast cancer. |
| *Oct. 29 - Played with students and helped organize field day activities at the Caswell Boys and Girls Club |
| *Nov. 3 - Helped clean up the area with the Emerald Youth Foundation at their Trash-A-Thon |
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