University of Tennessee Athletics
Track and Field Vols Face Another Weekend of Elite Competition
March 31, 2004 | Men's Track
March 31, 2004
The 77th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and Georgia Tech's Yellow Jacket Invitational offer the track and field Vols a full plate of high-quality action Friday and Saturday.
The Lone Star State and the famous Texas Relays are the destination for 10 Volunteers. Nearly 20 Tennesseans suit up for the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Atlanta, Ga. Both meets offer a stern early-season test for the men in orange and white.
In the 77th running, the Texas Relays stand as one of the most respected American track and field meets. The event runs Wednesday through Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium, though Tennessee only takes the track on Friday and Saturday. Nearly 5,000 men's and women's professional, collegiate and high school athletes will compete in 125 events at the Texas Relays, presented this year by Motorola. Olympic gold medalists Maurice Greene, Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams, Jerome Young and Charles Austin highlight the professional field.
The Volunteers send Sean Lambert and Jonathan Wade for duty in the 100m dash. Rob Cloutier and Dusty Miller race the 1,500m run. Aries Merritt and Robert Boulware are entered in the 110m hurdles. Tennessee also contests the sprint medley relay and distance medley relay. Lambert, Wade, Jak Taylor and Paul Cross pass the baton on the sprint medley relay. In the distance medley relay, Miller, Taylor, Marc Sylvester and Rob Cloutier take the track for Tennessee. Sylvester opens his outdoor season after missing the last couple of outings with an injury he suffered in the NCAA indoor meet. In the field, Leigh Smith represents the Vols in the javelin.
Tennessee must also face a strong field Saturday at Georgia Tech's Yellow Jacket Invitational. Tennessee meets Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Michigan, MTSU, South Carolina, Wake Forest and Western Carolina in Atlanta in individual competition. Tennessee won't contest a team-scored meet until the SEC outdoors May 13-16.
Jeff Day, who won the open steeplechase in his first attempt last weekend, laces up his spikes in the 1,500m run. Freshmen Blake Jones (100m and 200m dashes) and Jacob Dennis (200m and 400m dashes) are signed up for double duty in the sprints. Damond Campbell opens his outdoor season in the 400m hurdles.
Tennessee sends Jeff Trembley, Mike Yurcho and Jay Mandato, plus three decathletes, to line up on the pole vault runway. Garland Porter and Jim Sexton will try to notch Tennessee's first measurement of the season in the discus. Porter and Sexton join Josh Whisman and Steve London to form a Tennessee quartet in the hammer. Head coach Bill Webb has decathletes entered in the javelin, pole vault, long jump, high jump, shot put, discus, 110m hurdles, 100m dash and 400m dash as part of their training for the upcoming decathlon at the Sea Ray Relays.
