University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Hosts 37th Annual Sea Ray Relays April 9-12
April 09, 2003 | Men's Track
April 9, 2003
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS| RESULTS | RECORDS
As surely as the white canopies of dogwood blossoms begin to grace the foothills of the Smoky Mountains each spring, Tennessee's track and field squad will host another rite of spring this week in the 37th Sea Ray Relays. The 2003 edition of the Sea Ray Relays boasts 1,524 men's and women's athletes lining up for 114 teams competing Wednesday through Saturday on newly-renovated Tom Black Track.
As numbers of competitors go, the meet will certainly be the biggest track and field spectacle in Knoxville this year. While the SEC Outdoor Championships hosted by the Vols in May features world-class competition in every event, the Sea Rays approach those talent-laden fields in several events. The meet could arguably be called the best in the nation during this competitive weekend.
"We have a rich tradition of our guys competing well at the Sea Ray Relays in front of their fans, friends and families," head coach Bill Webb said. "We're competing at a facility we're really proud of. We have a new video/scoreboard, the best track scoreboard in the world, and several other improvements. We have a number of lifetime-best performances in this meet every year, and we expect nothing less this year."
The meet opens Wednesday with the first five events of the Scott Hartman Decathlon beginning at 3:30 p.m. After kicking off the second set of five events at 2:30 p.m., the decathlon concludes Thursday night. In addition, the invitational sections of the men's 5,000 and 10,000m runs cap Thursday night with 7:50 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. start times, respectively. Friday bursts with both track and field action ranging from the men's open steeplechase at 1:20 p.m. to the last event of the day, the men's invitational hammer, beginning at 9:15 p.m. The Sea Ray Relays conclude Saturday with men's action from 9:15 a.m. to 5:40 p.m. Saturday's slate holds a full plate of relay action, from the lightning-fast 4x100m relay to the 4x1,500m relay's distance strategy to the unorthodox shuttle hurdles relay, plus a sprinkling of field events.
After going through the preliminary heat sheets, Tennessee's coaching staff picked several must-see events.
Starting off in the sprints, assistant coach Vince Anderson wouldn't miss the 100m dash, 200m dash and 4x400m relay. The Jon Young 100m dash (Friday, 3:50 p.m.) features Tennessee's Sean Lambert and Jonathan Wade plus East Carolina's Julien Dunkley, the NCAA Indoor 60m dash champion. The 200m dash (Friday, 5:25 p.m.) features a Tennessee trio of speed merchants in Gary Kikaya (who will run the 200m dash rather than his 400m specialty), Lambert and Wade, plus Dunkley and Kenneth Baxter of Purdue. Meanwhile, Anderson likes the 4x400m relay (Saturday, 5:40 p.m.), the meet-capping event, because of its quality depth across the field. Tennessee's quartet, including phenom Kikaya, squares off against top-notch squads from SEC foe South Carolina, East Carolina, Seton Hall and Georgetown.
Moving up into the middle distance/distance races, assistant head coach George Watts has the 800m run, 1,500m run and steeplechase marked on his meet schedule. In the 800m run (Friday, 7:45 p.m.), Watts hopes Tennessee All-America Marc Sylvester is over a bout of illness and ready to lace up his cleats against quality competition from former Vol Jebreh Harris, adidas' Anthony Kabara, Kentucky's David Freeman and Georgetown's Jesse O'Connell. Meanwhile in the 1,500m run (Friday, 8:30 p.m.), Villanova's Ryan Hayden looks to be the favorite. In the steeplechase (Friday, 7:10 p.m.), Jordan Desilets of Eastern Michigan returns to defend his 2002 title.
In the field, Webb notes the shot put, pole vault and high jump will be worth watching. The shot put (Saturday, 12:15 p.m.) headlines the list with Nike's Adam Nelson, the 2002 world leader on his meet record 72-8 mark from Sea Rays, promising to put on a show. Meanwhile, 2001 Sea Rays champ Brad Snyder of Nike, Reese Hoffa of Speed Dynamics and unattached Jeff Chakouian should also put some long marks down in the landing zone.
A staple at Tennessee, the pole vault (Saturday, 2:30 p.m.) offers a mix of world-caliber talent in former Vols Lawrence Johnson, the 2000 Olympic silver medalist; Tim Mack, the 2001 Goodwill Games champion and 2002 USA Indoor champion; and Tom Pappas; the 2003 indoor heptathlon world champion. In addition, top collegians entered include Tennessee's Rocky Danners, Allegheny's Jeremy Scott and South Carolina's Chris Steddum.
Webb also says four 7-5 plus competitors lead the high jump field (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.). Holyfield International's Jamie Nieto, currently first on the 2003 world list, stands out as the early favorite. Purdue's Shaun Guice, North Carolina's Adam Shunk and Tennessee captain Stephen Harris stand out as top collegians in the field.
