University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
NCAA Indoor Championships
Lambert Qualifies for NCAA 60M Dash Finals
March 12, 2004 | Men's Track
March 12, 2004
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Co-captain Sean Lambert's 60m dash qualifier led the Tennessee quartet competing Friday night at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center.
Freshman heptathlete Chris Helwick is holding his own in 12th place in his first NCAA meet. However, freshman hurdler Aries Merritt's and 800m man Marc Sylvester's indoor season came to a close after gallant efforts Friday. While he missed out on a spot in the finals, Merritt broke a three-way tie with former Vol luminaries Justin Gatlin and Dawane Wallace for Tennessee's freshman 60m hurdles record. Tennessee didn't get a scoring opportunity Friday, but will have two or three Saturday.
The 60m hurdles was the Vols' only scoring opportunity Friday, and Merritt didn't qualify for the finals. Homestanding Arkansas leades after day one with 23 points. Texas and Florida stand tied for second with 21 points.
Lambert's 6.71 in the 60m dash preliminaries tied for the day's fifth-fastest qualifier en route to reserving a lane in Saturday's final. Smartly sprinting just one-hundredth of a second off his season-best time in the prelims, the senior chemistry major proved too wise to coast his way out of a qualifying spot for the finals. Lambert, known as a gutsy competitor and winner of the squad's Ironman Award last year, has already overachieved in reaching the finals. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native entered the meet 15th on the national 60m list, the lowest national ranking of the five Vols who qualified across all events. However, courtesy of his game preliminary effort, Lambert, barring a false start or injury, will earn his sixth career All-America certificate Saturday as one of eight scorers.
"I'm glad to have Sean Lambert in the finals," head coach Bill Webb said. "I feel bad for Marc Sylvester. He's had one thing or another happen to him at nationals. Outdoors last year he got sick, and now he gets hurt and can't finish the race. He's due some good luck. Aries Merritt didn't qualify for the finals, but he did run his fastest 60m hurdles time. Chris Helwick had a solid day up and down the line. If he has a good final day, he's not too far off from scoring a point or two."
Helwick wasn't flashy in his first day, and didn't lay waste to any personal bests. However, the freshman has shown a composed demeanor in his first NCAA meet, and currently stands 12th with 2,938 points. However, the top eight score, and Helwick stands just 108 points out of seventh on a tight leaderboard. The high jump proved to be his highlight of the day, as the Greeley, Colo., native cleared 6-5 to tie for seventh. In the other events, Helwick finished 13th in the 60m dash (7.38), 11th in the long jump (22-1.75) and 10th in the shot put (42-6).
Merritt, also competing in his first NCAA meet, clocked in at 7.85 in the 60m hurdles preliminaries to earn the 16th-fastest time of the day. With the scoreboard frozen at 7.85, Merritt surpassed Vol greats Gatlin and Wallace by one-hundredth of a second for the school freshman 60m hurdles record. While Merritt has run a faster 55m hurdles time, which in turn converts to a faster 60m hurdles time, Friday's 7.85 stands as the fastest 60m hurdles time of his career by one-hundredth of a second.
After battling injury throughout the indoor campaign, co-captain Sylvester couldn't escape bad fortune on Fayetteville's fast track. Looking sturdy through the first couple of laps according to Webb, Sylvester sustained a leg injury and was forced to pull out of the race. While he didn't get any good breaks at Arkansas Friday, the track there was the site of one of his greatest collegiate moments two years ago. As a true freshman, Sylvester raced to a shocking second-place finish in the 800m run on the Randal Tyson Track in his first NCAA meet. The eight points Sylvester earned from the finish provided a spark that keyed the Vols to their first NCAA indoor title in 2002, making Tennessee one of only five Division I schools to capture all three legs of the celebrated NCAA triple crown (titles in cross country-1972, indoor-2002 and outdoor track and field-1974, 1991 and 2001).
On Saturday, Tennessee concludes the indoor season with Garland Porter in the weight throw, Helwick in the final three events of the heptathlon and Lambert in the 60m dash finals.
VOL FINISHES
NCAA Indoor Championships
TOP FIVE TEAMS AFTER DAY ONE
1. Arkansas 23
2. Texas 21
Florida 21
4. Purdue 13
5. LSU 11
UCLA 11
60m dash-preliminaries
1. DaBryan Blanton, Okla. 6.60 Q
5. Sean Lambert, Tenn. 6.71 Q
800m run
1. Mike Inge, Kent St. 1:47.77 Q
-- Marc Sylvester, Tenn. DNF (Inj.)
60m hurdles-preliminaries
1. Antwon Hicks, Miss. 7.67 Q
16. Aries Merritt, Tenn. 7.85 PR, FR
Heptathlon (after four events)
1. Donovan Kilmartin, Texas 3,391
12. Chris Helwick, Tenn. 2,938
Heptathlon 60m dash
1. Mustafa Abdur-Rahim, Dartmouth 6.96
13. Chris Helwick, Tenn. 7.38
Heptathlon long jump
1. Donovan Kilmartin, Texas 24-2.25
11. Chris Helwick, Tenn. 22-1.75
Heptathlon shot put
1. Will Thomas, Conn. 50-9.25
10. Chris Helwick, Tenn. 42-6
Heptathlon high jump
1. Donovan Kilmartin, Texas 6-9.75
7t. Chris Helwick, Tenn. 6-5
Q - qualified for event finals; PR - career best/personal record; SB - season best; FR - school freshman record.
