University of Tennessee Athletics
Gatlin Wins SEC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year Honors
July 01, 2002 | Men's Track
July 1, 2002
After the dust settled on a record-breaking 2002 campaign for Tennessee's track and field team, super sophomore Justin Gatlin was chosen by a vote of the league's coaches as the SEC Male Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. The nod as the SEC's most outstanding outdoor track athlete gives the Pensacola, Fla., native bookends, as Gatlin was also chosen as the winner for the indoor season, as well. Gatlin also won the conference's outdoor designation for his rookie breakout season last year.
Gatlin won four NCAA sprint titles in 2002. He took the 60M dash and 200M dash indoors en route to Tennessee's first NCAA indoor team title. Gatlin also swept the 100M and 200M dashes earlier this month at the NCAA Outdoors, as he also did last year. The last person to win the NCAA outdoor sprint double in consecutive years was Abilene Christian's Bobby Morrow in 1956-57. Gatlin was undefeated in the sprints throughout the indoor and outdoor season. Gatlin now owns six consecutive NCAA sprint titles, dating back to the 2001 NCAA Outdoors, a feat no other Vol has ever achieved. Gatlin has at least tied for high scorer honors in the last three NCAA meets and last two SEC meets in which he's participated.
South Carolina's Lashinda Demus doubled up with SEC Female Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and the award for best freshman of the outdoor season. Meanwhile, LSU's Bennie Brazell won the SEC Male Outdoor Track Freshman of the Year award. As for the coaches, former Florida coach Doug Brown and LSU coach Pat Henry shared the award for SEC Men's Outdoor Track Coach of the Year. Meanwhile, South Carolina's Curtis Frye took home the corresponding award for his mentoring of the Gamecock women.
However, the conference athletics directors saw matters a little differently in the vote for overall SEC Athlete of the Year. In this vote, Gatlin, Tennessee's designee as its top male athlete in 2001-02 in any sport, lost out to long/triple jumper Walter Davis of LSU as the top male athlete in the SEC. In a tribute to the dominance of the SEC in the sport, four schools chose track and field athletes as their male nominees--Gatlin of Tennessee, Davis of LSU, hurdler Ron Bramlett of Alabama and distance specialist Daniel Lincoln of Arkansas. The SEC Female Athlete of the Year award went to Alabama gymnast Andree' Pickens.
2002 SEC OUTDOOR TRACK AWARD WINNERS (as voted on by track coaches)
SEC Male Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year -- Justin Gatlin, Tenn.
SEC Female Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year -- Lashinda Demus, S.C.
SEC Male Outdoor Freshman of the Year -- Bennie Brazell, LSU
SEC Female Outdoor Freshman of the Year -- Lashinda Demus, S.C.
SEC Men's Outdoor Track Coach of the Year (tie) -- Doug Brown, Fla. (formerly) and Pat Henry, LSU
SEC Women's Outdoor Track Coach of the Year -- Curtis Frye, S.C.
2002 SEC ATHLETES OF THE YEAR (as voted on by athletics directors)
SEC Male Athlete of the Year -- Walter Davis, LSU, track and field
SEC Female Athlete of the Year -- Andree' Pickens, Ala., gymnastics
