University of Tennessee Athletics
Gatlin Named SEC Track Athlete of the Week
January 31, 2002 | Men's Track
Jan. 31, 2002
Sophomore Justin Gatlin rated SEC Track Athlete of the Week for his role in prompting a Tennessee rally for a narrow win over Florida and four other conference foes at the SEC Eastern Division Challenge last Saturday. The award is the first for a Volunteer this season.
Gatlin went undefeated with two victories and two NCAA provisional qualifying times in the 200M dash and 4x400M relay. His 21.20 won the 200M dash, in his first time competing in the event this season, and stands as a strong provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Indoors. Additionally, with Tennessee down 4.5 points and needing a first-place finish in the 4x400M relay to win the meet, Gatlin ran the opening leg to propel the Vols to an early lead and eventual win. In Gatlin's first relay action this season, Tennessee ran a winning 3:09.68 to garner a strong provisional qualifier for the NCAA Indoors.
Top-Ranked Tennessee Extends Lead in Trackwire and Team Power Rankings
Tennessee stands on top of the Trackwire rankings for the third consecutive week. Trackwire projects the Vols to score 55 points in the Jan. 29, week three rankings.
The Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships could shape up to be the best meet in years as the top five teams in the rankings call the SEC home. Alabama (second, 40 points), LSU (third, 36 points), Arkansas (fourth, 29 points) and Florida (fifth, 28 points) round out the top five. Trackwire analyzes individual event leader lists for each NCAA Indoor event and looks at other factors each week and attempts to score the NCAA meet.
"The Trackwire rankings show the strength of the SEC as a conference," Webb said. "I don't know about a 15-point lead, however. We were pleased to get a half-point victory over fifth-ranked Florida last weekend."
Additionally, the Volunteers stand tops in the U.S. Track Coaches Association Team Power Rankings. The Team Power Rankings are designed to measure overall team strength and reward teams with depth across all events.
"We're pleased to be recognized by two national polls as No. 1," Webb said. "As I've said before, we'd rather be noticed by the polls than ignored, even though that doesn't score a point at SECs or NCAAs. Our focus is on each guy having great workouts and getting ready for the SEC Indoors, our first championship meet."
Tennessee returns to action Feb. 9 with a limited roster for the Armory Invitational in New York, N.Y.
