University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Joins Rivals for SEC Outdoor Championships
May 07, 2002 | Men's Track
May 7, 2002
Tennessee?s track and field squad opens the championship portion of its schedule full-throttle with the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships Thursday through Sunday in Starkville, Miss. The goliaths of collegiate track and field will line up against each other for the first time this outdoor season at Spencer Stadium/Maddox Track with the SEC Outdoor title on the line. Defending champion Tennessee will have its hands full if it wants to again carry home the trophy for the nation?s undisputed best track and field conference.
?I think we have four teams in the SEC that could win any conference in America,? head coach Bill Webb said. ?Tennessee, LSU and Arkansas should be battling for the title. Additionally, Florida won?t be too far behind if someone stumbles. We?ve been competitive in all kinds of situations this year. I?m looking for that same kind of effort. They will definitely know the Vols were there when the meet?s over.?
Tennessee?s coaching staff observed the last few practice sessions to make the final decisions about which Vols will don the orange at the SEC meet. After tight intersquad competition for the last few spots, Tennessee will declare its 30-man roster to the SEC Wednesday. The meet begins Thursday with the first five events of the decathlon. The decathlon concludes Friday. Meanwhile, the 10,000M run and hammer finals will also be contested Friday. Saturday is the day for prelims, with the exception of finals in the steeplechase, pole vault, long jump and shot put. Meanwhile, the meet will be won or lost Sunday with 14 event finals and the boatload of points accompanying them being sliced up.
?It takes a lot of luck in qualifying to advance and score,? Webb said. ?A point or two in the SEC meet can be huge. I predict it comes down to the 4x400M relay (the last event of the meet). I wish it didn?t. It would be nice to have it wrapped up and not have to run it hard. It?s just an ultracompetitive situation in our conference. We look forward to going back and attempting to defend our title.?
Tennessee won its conference-best 23rd all-time SEC Outdoor title, its first since 1991, last year in Columbia, S.C. The Volunteers have had mixed luck on Mississippi State?s track. Most recently, Tennessee won the SEC Quad meet in Starkville to open the 2001 outdoor season. Mississippi State hosted the SEC Outdoor meet twice previously in 1985 and 1992. The Volunteers won the SEC Outdoor title there in 1985, while taking second at the 1992 meet.
Tennessee Still Tops in Trackwire Rankings
As the championship portion of the schedule unfolds, the Volunteers still stand first in Trackwire?s weekly rankings. Trackwire projects Tennessee to score 91 points at the NCAA Outdoors in late May, slightly down from 93 points last week. However, SEC rival and NCAA host LSU?s 86 projected points put it in the thick of the fray. Tennessee has led the Trackwire rankings each week this year since the indoor projections began in January.
Arkansas is currently third with 39 points. Ninth-ranked Florida, 10th-ranked (tie) Georgia and Alabama and 13th-ranked (tie) Mississippi State and South Carolina give the SEC eight of the top 15 teams.
The Trackwire rankings are formulated by analyzing NCAA event leader lists and other factors to predict the team scores at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Baton Rouge, La., May 29-June 1.
Meanwhile, the Volunteers currently stand No. 1 in the Team Power Rankings sponsored by the U.S. Track Coaches Association. The Team Power Rankings favor teams with good depth across all events. Tennessee finished first in the rankings to conclude the 2002 indoor season.
