University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Kentucky Invitational
Boulware and Lambert Notch Provisional Qualifiers at Kentucky
January 17, 2004 | Men's Track
Jan. 17, 2004
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Tennessee's track and field squad cracked the list of NCAA Indoor provisional qualifiers for the first time this season courtesy of 60m hurdler Robert Boulware and 60m sprinter Sean Lambert. A handful of Vols opened up the season with lifetime bests to allow head coach Bill Webb to declare progress made during the trip to the Bluegrass State.
"It was a good start for us," head coach Bill Webb said. "I'm particularly pleased with Robert Boulware's and Sean Lambert's strong start. We integrated most of the new Vols, and had some competitive performances with Garland Porter, Dusty Miller, Paul Cross and Jak Taylor. We'll add more people next week."
Boulware's fourth-place 60m hurdles finish, first among collegians, put him in good stead, especially considering he missed fall training in service to the football squad. Boulware's finals time is unknown as the timing system malfunctioned for that race. However, his 7.88 to win his heat and tie for second overall in the prelims eclipsed the provisional standard of 7.95. Meanwhile, freshman Aries Merritt qualifed for the finals with an eighth-place, 8.09 in the 60m hurdles prelims. While his finals time is unavailable, Merritt moved his way up to the fifth overall and second collegiate finisher in the finals.
Lambert did have one outing under his belt at the Tennessee All-Comers Meet last weekend, but the senior sprinter picked up the pace to finish third with a 6.72 to match the provisional cutoff. Consistency is key in sprinting, and Lambert also put forth a good effort in the prelims--a second-place, 6.76 clocking. Also in the 60m dash, Jonathan Wade finished 12th in the prelims. He didn't qualify for the finals, but his 6.90 wasn't too far off the pace in his first work since the surgery that ended his football season.
Senior transfer Jak Taylor ran his first 400m dash as a Vol and came away with a fourth-place, 47.68 time, about four-tenths of a second off the provisional mark. Meanwhile Taylor authored a team-leading 47.0 split on Tennessee's second-place, 3:13.87 4x400m relay effort. Lambert, Alonzo Williams, Taylor and Merritt passed the baton for the Vols.
Tennessee also enjoyed some positive performances in the 800m run and 3,000m run. In the 800m run, freshman Paul Cross made a strong statement with his career-opening, third-place, 1:50.79 indoor lifetime-best effort--just about half a second off the provisional-qualifying pace. Junior Frank Francois took fifth in 1:51.76. Freshman Jeff Day finished 10th in a lifetime-best 1:54.36. Kenny Schappert bookended the Tennessee 800m quartet with his 12th-place, 1:55.88 finish.
In the 3,000m run, the longest event the Vols contested thus far, NCAA cross country qualifier Tim Kelly finished seventh in 8:24.65. Knoxville West grad Dusty Miller opened his collegiate track career with a lifetime-best time of 8:34.15 to finish 12th. Freshman Chris Platt took 15th in 8:39.64, a lifetime best. Matthew Lapp finished 22nd in 8:45.52.
After missing last season, Brett Frykberg earned third with a 6-8.25 high jump leap. Decathlete Chris Helwick cleared 6-2.25 to finish eighth. In the throws, Garland Porter took the team shot put lead with a 55-6.25 to earn seventh. Josh Whisman placed 11th with a season-best 50-8.25 throw. The Volunteers return to action Friday and Saturday at the Virginia Tech Invitational.
| Vol Finishes |
| 60m dash-preliminaries |
| 1. Mardy Scales, MTSU 6.68* Q |
| 2. Sean Lambert, Tenn. 6.76 Q |
| 12. Jonathan Wade, Tenn. 6.90 |
| 38. Kevin Yeager, Tenn. 7.26 |
| 48. Chris Helwick, Tenn. 7.57 |
| 60m dash-finals |
| 1. Mardy Scales, MTSU 6.63* |
| 3. Sean Lambert, Tenn. 6.72* SB |
| 400m dash |
| 1. Jonathan Fortenberry, S.C. 47.13* |
| 4. Jak Taylor, Tenn. 47.68 |
| 13. Alonzo Williams, Tenn. 49.28 |
| 800m run |
| 1. Sherridan Kirk, Auburn 1:49.18* |
| 3. Paul Cross, Tenn. 1:50.79 PR |
| 5. Frank Francois, Tenn. 1:51.76 |
| 10. Jeff Day, Tenn. 1:54.36 PR |
| 12. Kenny Schappert, Tenn. 1:55.88 |
| 3,000m run |
| 1. Ian Connor, Nike TC 8:10.34 |
| 7. Tim Kelly, Tenn. 8:24.65 |
| 12. Dusty Miller, Tenn. 8:34.15 PR |
| 15. Chris Platt, Tenn. 8:39.64 PR |
| 22. Matthew Lapp, Tenn. 8:45.52 |
| 60m hurdles-preliminaries |
| 1. Ron Bramlett, Nike TC 7.71* Q |
| 2t. Robert Boulware, Tenn. 7.88*Q PR |
| 8. Aries Merritt, Tenn. 8.09 Q |
| 16. Craig Sutherland, Tenn. 8.27 SB |
| 60m hurdles-finals |
| 1. Ron Bramlett, Nike TC NA |
| 4. Robert Boulware, Tenn. NA |
| 5. Aries Merritt, Tenn. NA |
| 4x400m relay |
| 1. Clemson 3:13.49 |
| 2. Tennessee 3:13.87 |
| (Lambert, Williams, Taylor, Merritt) |
| High jump |
| 1. Michael Massey, Ga. Tech 6-10.25 |
| 3. Brett Frykberg, Tenn. 6-8.25 |
| 8. Chris Helwick, Tenn. 6-2.25 |
| Long jump |
| 1. George Kitchens, Clemson 24-5 |
| 13. Chris Helwick, Tenn. 20-1.5 |
| Shot put |
| 1. Dan Taylor, Ohio St. 66-5.25** |
| 7. Garland Porter, Tenn. 55-6.25 |
| 11. Josh Whisman, Tenn. 50-8.25 SB |
| Q - qualified for event finals; PR - career best/personal record; SB - season best; ** - NCAA Indoor automatic qualifier; * - NCAA Indoor provisional qualifier. |
?
