University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOLS CONFIDENT, FOCUSED AS THEY TRAVEL TO SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 08, 2002 | Women's Track
May 8, 2002
SEC Meet Notes in PDF Format
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
Arguably, there is no tougher league in the country for track and field than the Southeastern Conference. The University of Tennessee women's track and field team will get to see how it stacks up against that competition as the squad travels to Starkville, Miss., for the 2002 SEC Outdoor Championships at Carl Maddox Track on May 9-12.
While the meet actually begins on Thursday with the first day of the heptathlon, UT will not begin until Friday. The Lady Volunteers are without a multi-eventer this season, so Diane Slinden will lead off with the hammer throw at 1 p.m. CT. The Big Orange will also have entrants in the preliminary 800m run, 200m dash and 400m hurdles as well as the 10,000m run finals on day two of the meet.
Both junior Kameisha Bennett (Dayton, Ohio) and freshman Nicole Cook (Petersburg, Va.) are expected to make the finals in the 800m. Bennett ranks fifth in the SEC heading into the meet, while Cook was the SEC's third-place finisher indoors. Dee Dee Trotter, who was sixth indoors in the 200 meters, also has a strong shot to make the finals. Sophomore Jessica Southers (Ashland, Ky.), seventh indoors in the 5000m, is being counted on to break Tennessee into the scoring column in Friday evening's 10K, while sophomore Christina Billings (Madison, Wis.) will try to work her way into the picture in the 400m hurdles.
Saturday's finals include Kelly Flowers (Westerville, Ohio) in the high jump, Dee Dee Trotter (Decatur, Ga.) in the long jump, Elizabeth McCalley (Knoxville, Tenn.) in the 3000m steeplechase and Lindsey McFarland (Austin, Texas), Diane Slinden (Menomonie, Wis.) and Janine Tessarzik (Altamont, N.Y.) in the discus. Slinden is the league leader heading into the meet with a throw of 175-7. She was the runner-up in 2000 and fifth in 2001.
Prelim events on day three include the 100m dash (Karla Marshall, Detroit, Mich.; Toyin Olupona, Orillia, Canada), 400m dash (Antoinette Gorham, Glenarden, Md.) and 1500m run (Erin Anderson, Kent, Ohio).
In addition to the finals of the previously mentioned events being held on Sunday, several Lady Vols will be in action in other competitions. The 4x100m (Marshall, Olupona, Gorham, Trotter) and 4x400m (Gorham, Cook, Bennett, Trotter) relays will be contested as will the shot put (McFarland, Slinden, Tessarzik) and 5000m run (Sharon Dickie, Grand Blanc, Mich.; Anderson, McCalley, Southers). The 4x4 ranks number three in the league, while Dickie is fourth and hopeful of having a memorable performance after gradually putting shin injuries behind her this season.
"The squad is as healthy as it's been all year, and we've had the best practices in every event area that we've had all season heading into this meet," said field events coach Scott Bennett and cross country/distance coach Rodney Rothoff, who are jointly responsible for the program after the resignation of head coach Myrtle Ferguson on April 15. "The result of that is a high level of confidence, focus and energy from everyone on this team. You can't ask for more than that heading into a meet like this.
"The bottom line now is to go down there and execute the technical aspects or race plans and perform at or above our capabilities. If we do that, we will be able to attain some of the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year."
| EVENT (NCAA QUALIFYING MARKS) |
| FRIDAY, MAY 10 |
| Hammer Throw Fin. (Auto: 61.00, Prov: 56.00) 1:00 p.m. |
| Diane Slinden |
| 800m Pre. (Auto: 2:05.00, Prov: 2:07.50) 7:00 p.m. |
| Nicole Cook |
| Kameisha Bennett |
| 200m Pre. (Auto: 23.10, Prov: 23.60) 7:35 p.m. |
| Dee Dee Trotter |
| 400mH Pre. (Auto: 57.30, Prov: 59.20) 8:05 p.m. |
| Christina Billings |
| 10,000m Fin. (Auto: 34:10.00, Prov: 35:15.00) 8:35 p.m. |
| Jessica Southers |
| SATURDAY, MAY 11 |
| High Jump Fin. (Auto: 1.83, Prov: 1.79) 5:00 p.m. |
| Kelly Flowers |
| Discus Fin. (Auto: 54.50, Prov: 50.00) 5:00 p.m. |
| Diane Slinden |
| Janine Tessarzik |
| Lindsey McFarland |
| Long Jump Fin. (Auto: 6.50, Prov: 6.20) 6:00 p.m. |
| Dee Dee Trotter |
| 1500m Pre. (Auto: 4:19, Prov: 4:24.00) 7:00 p.m. |
| Erin Anderson |
| 400m Pre. (Auto: 52.40, Prov: 53.70) 8:00 p.m. |
| Antoinette Gorham |
| 100m Pre. (Auto: 11.30, Prov: 11.55) 8:40 p.m. |
| Karla Marshall |
| Toyin Olupona |
| 3000mSC Fin. (Auto: 10:00.00, Prov: 10:40.00) 9:10 p.m. |
| Elizabeth McCalley |
| SUNDAY, MAY 12 |
| Javelin Fin. (Auto: 51.50, Prov: 46.00) 11:00 a.m. |
| Denita Miller |
| Christie Elwin |
| Pole Vault Fin. (Auto: 4.15, Prov: 3.80) 4:00 p.m. |
| Christie Elwin |
| Mandy Bergey |
| 4x100mR Fin. (Auto: 44.00, Prov: 45.10) 6:00 p.m. |
| Karla Marshall/Toyin Olupona/ |
| Antoinette Gorham/Dee Dee Trotter |
| 1500m Fin. (Auto: 4:19, Prov: 4:24.00) 6:20 p.m. |
| Erin Anderson |
| 400m Fin. (Auto: 52.40, Prov: 53.70) 7:00 p.m. |
| Antoinette Gorham |
| Shot Put Fin. (Auto: 16.10, Prov: 14.90) 7:00 p.m. |
| Diane Slinden |
| Lindsey McFarland |
| Janine Tessarzik |
| 100m Fin. (Auto: 11.30, Prov: 11.55) 7:20 p.m. |
| Karla Marshall |
| Toyin Olupona |
| 800m Fin. (Auto: 2:05.00, Prov: 2:07.50) 7:40 p.m. |
| Nicole Cook |
| Kameisha Bennett |
| 400mH Fin. (Auto: 57.30, Prov: 59.20) 8:05 p.m. |
| Christina Billings |
| 200m Fin. (Auto: 23.10, Prov: 23.60) 8:25 p.m. |
| Dee Dee Trotter |
| 5000m Fin. (Auto: 16:08.00, Prov: 16:48.00) 8:45 p.m. |
| Sharon Dickie |
| Jessica Southers |
| Elizabeth McCalley |
| Erin Anderson |
| 4x400mR Fin. (Auto: 3:33.00, Prov: 3:39.00) 9:25 p.m. |
| Antoinette Gorham/Nicole Cook/ |
| Kameisha Bennett/Dee Dee Trotter |
KEY
* - NCAA Automatic Qualifier
+ - NCAA Provisional Qualifier
! - Personal Record (Outdoors)
dq - Disqualified
h - Hand Times
nm - No Mark Recorded
p - Prelims
sr - School Record (Outdoors)
w - Wind-aided
