University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Merritt Races to Fourth at NCAA Championships
June 11, 2004 | Men's Track
June 11, 2004
AUSTIN, Texas - Freshman Aries Merritt put Tennessee on the scoreboard Friday night in record-breaking fashion in the 110-meter hurdles final at the NCAA outdoor championships on the fast track at Texas' Mike A. Myers Track Stadium.
Merritt grabbed his first All-America certificate of his young career with an overachieving fourth-place finish in a smoking 13.47 seconds. Merritt smashed his own freshman school record and moved to fourth on the Vols' all-time list of 110 hurdlers, a star-studded cast that makes vertical momentum up the ranks a tough proposition.
"I'm very excited for our freshman Aries Merritt," head coach Bill Webb said. "That's big news for us. When a freshman can come in here and run two lifetime bests to do what he did is really something. He had to run a lifetime best in the prelims to get here. Then he had to run another lifetime best in the finals from lane one [an unfavorable position]. Blake Sabo was in eighth going into the 400. He had a good, solid first four events including his second-best long jump ever and a season best in the 100. We're on the board."
With most of its scoring opportunities ahead on Saturday in the 800 and javelin, Tennessee stands tied for 16th courtesy of Merritt's speedy five-point contribution. Arkansas leads the team race with 25 points. Florida remains in the hunt at second with 23 points.
Running another clean and crisp race, Merritt's fourth-place, 13.47 time moved him to fourth on the school 110 hurdles list behind only Willie Gault (13.26), Jabari Greer (13.32) and Justin Gatlin (13.41). Merritt surpassed Tennessee hurdling stars Karl Jennings, Dawane Wallace, Matt Rush and Richmond Flowers on the list with his performance. Evidently a fan of the Mike A. Myers Stadium straightaway, Merritt smashed his own 13.62 school record from April at the Texas Relays, held on the same track. With just a 1.2 meter per second tailwind, Merritt's time easily ranks as wind legal.
"This is way better than I expected," Merritt said. "I'm happy for what I did. I thank God and Coach [Vince] Anderson for getting me here. I went over them [the hurdles] all pretty cleanly. Maybe I could have gotten my feet down a little quicker towards the end."
Merritt fulfilled his call of the Volunteer to perfection Friday. Tennessee's coaches call upon their charges to be at their best when the stakes are the highest, just like their historical namesakes. Merritt paved his way to the awards stand with just such an effort. A true freshman who had just finished running for Wheeler High in Marietta, Ga., a year ago, Merritt entered the NCAA championships with the 10th-best time in the meet and leaves as a fourth-place All-America honoree.
Blake Sabo authored a strong start to his decathlon before falling back a bit in the last event. Sabo stands 15th in a 26-man field with 3,884 points after five events. However, Sabo lies just 149 points out of fourth place in a tightly bunched field.
Sabo started off his decathlon day in the 100, where he ran the straightaway in a season-best 11.08 with a 2.7 meter per second tailwind to tie for 16th. The 2.7 wind measurement does not render the performance wind aided in the decathlon but would in any other event.
Jumping toward the north and the President Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Jones took advantage of a breeze from the south to land a season-best long jump 23-8 ? down the sand pit and place fifth. In the overall point standings, Sabo climbed to eighth after the long jump. In a rarity, the distances for Sabo's first and third jumps matched for a pair of season bests in half an hour. However, the wind for the first jump registered 2.4 meters per second, legal for the decathlon but no other events, less gusty than the 4.2 reading on the third attempt. Sabo stepped a little too far beyond the takeoff line which resulted in a foul on his second attempt. Despite a favorable forecast, a brief but heavy downpour arrived between his second and third jumps to wet the sand pit.
During the mandatory break between the decathlon long jump and shot put, another heavier and longer shower dowsed the facility as Texas-sized raindrops rode herd over the Austin skyline. The familiar drone of the gas-powered blowers hung over Mike A. Myers Stadium as event staffers tried to coax the puddles off the track and field event areas to get the facility ready for competition again. After about an hour delay, the decathlon shot put got underway.
Dropping slightly to ninth in the overall point standings following the shot put, Sabo's 44-9 ? also ranked ninth in the event. He improved each throw after fouling his first attempt. His second heave was good for 44-2 ? before adding seven inches on his third attempt.
Sabo tied for ninth with a 6-5 ? high jump effort. He entered the competition with a first-attempt clearance at 6-2. Sabo then passed until the bar rose to 6-4 ?, which he cleared on his second attempt. He cleared his final height of 6-5 ? on his first attempt before taking three misses at 6-6 ?. The approach for the high jump pits, placed in the infield inside the north curve, began on the soccer/infield for a few yards before competitors hit the track surface and accelerated. Sabo entered the 400, the last event of the decathlon's first day, in eighth place after regaining a little ground.
During the decathlon high jump, umbrellas in the stands were used for quite a different purpose than an hour before as the glaring sun replaced the rain. However, the wind from the south remained fairly constant throughout the first five events of the decathlon, as evidenced by the U.S. and omnipresent Texas flags flapping at half mast.
However, Sabo didn't finish the 400 with the exclamation point he wanted and dropped to 15th place with 3,884 points to close the first day. Sabo finished the 400 in 52.82 to rank 23rd. Rice's Ryan Harlan leads the decathlon with 4,232 points.
"I had season bests in the 100 and long jump but was really average in the shot put and high jump," Sabo said. "I was a little disappointed how I finished the day in the 400. I'll probably drop a few spots, but I'll be back [Saturday] to try to get them back. After the [rain/lightning] delay, I was a little too hyped up for the start of the shot. I fouled a big first throw but got back my composure."
Jak Taylor ended his season in the 400 prelims. Taylor circled the track in 46.87 to finish 18th. Although he missed out on a trip to the finals, Taylor's 18th-place finish stands better than his 23rd-place ranking entering the meet.
"I like how I got out in the first 200 [meters]," Taylor said. "In the last 100 it seemed like I was going in slow motion. I was right in the mix but ran out of gas."
Tennessee caps its season Saturday. Sabo tackles the last five events of the NCAA decathlon and his collegiate career Saturday afternoon to open the day for the Vols. Saturday also marks Leigh Smith's javelin final and a solid scoring opportunity. Tennessee fires its last bullet Saturday night as co-captain Marc Sylvester and Paul Cross line up in the 800 final for another shot at quality points.
TENNESSEE RESULTS
NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Austin, Texas
Friday, June 11, 2004
Decathlon (after five events)
1. Ryan Harlan, Rice 4,232
15. Blake Sabo, Tenn. 3,884
Decathlon 100m dash
1. Trey Hardee, Miss. St. 10.48
16t. Blake Sabo, Tenn. 11.08 SB
Decathlon long jump
1. Justin Youngblood, Texas-San Antonio 24-1 ?
5. Blake Sabo, Tenn. 23-8 ? SB
Decathlon shot put
1. Ryan Harlan, Rice 51-10
9. Blake Sabo, Tenn. 44-9 ?
Decathlon high jump
1. Donovan Kilmartin, Texas 6-9
9-t. Blake Sabo, Tenn. 6-5 ?
Decathlon 400m dash
1. Joe Detmer, Wis. 47.34
23. Blake Sabo, Tenn. 52.82
400m dash (preliminary)
1. Jerry Harris, TCU 44.92 Q
18. Jak Taylor, Tenn. 46.87
110m hurdles (final)
1. Josh Walker, Fla. 13.32
4. Aries Merritt, Tenn. 13.47 PR, FR
Q-qualified for event finals; SB-season best; PR-personal record/career best; FR-freshman school record.
