University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Travel West for Four-Meet Spring Break Trip
March 16, 2005 | Men's Track
March 16, 2005
Spring break will be anything but restful for Tennessee's track and field squad as the Vols spend the upcoming week on the road with four meets scheduled in Arizona and California.
Tennessee uncorks the outdoor season Friday and Saturday at the Baldy Castillo Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. After spending the next few days training, the Volunteer decathlon corps gets its first test of the season at the Arizona Invitational Decathlon in Tucson, Ariz., March 24-25. Assistant head coach George Watts and four Vol long distance men travel to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Invitational March 25. The Vols cap their whirlwind spring break trip March 26 at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Ariz.
"We're getting a number of things accomplished with our trip," head coach Bill Webb said. "We can have quality outdoor workouts and get in some good competitions on both weekends in a warm-weather environment. We also compete in a decathlon. Coach Watts will take a few distance guys to Stanford for a meet. We'll have an opportunity to spend a lot of time together as a team.
In addition to Tennessee, the Baldy Castillo Invitational field features host Arizona State, Dartmouth, Ohio State, Kansas State, Minnesota and Northern Arizona. The meet will be held at Arizona State's Joe Selleh Track at Sun Angel Stadium.
The meet gives the Vols their first chance to compete in a few events not contested during the indoor season. Doug Brown competes in one such event, the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Co-captain Robert Boulware, Damond Campbell, Cade Liverman and Drew Brunson try out the 110 hurdles, which replaces the indoor 60 hurdles. Jim Sexton, Garland Porter, Chris Martland, Alex Hritcu and Kevin Yeager take their turn in the discus circle. Sexton and Porter also try out the hammer throw. Anthony Immediate, Martland, Yeager and Hritcu also take the javelin runway for the first time of the season.
Tennessee will make its way to Tucson for its first multievent competition of the season Thursday and Friday, March 24-25 at the Arizona Invitational Decathlon. The senior members of Tennessee's decathlete corps, Hritcu, Yeager and Martland, will carry the flag for the Vols, as Chris Helwick and Jangy Addy plan to open their decathlon season at the Sea Ray Relays. On March 17-18, 1999, former Vol Tom Pappas broke the NCAA decathlon record with an 8,463-point score at the Arizona Invitational Decathlon.
At the Stanford Invitational Friday, March 25, Jeff Day and Tyler DeVault race the 5,000. Ben Lukowski and Zach Sabatino tackle the first 10,000 of the season. The 10,000 is not run indoors but is the longest event in collegiate track and field's outdoor season.
Tennessee returns to full-squad action Saturday, March 26 at Arizona's Jim Click Shootout. In addition to the Vols and host Arizona, Cal State-Northridge, UCLA, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Wyoming make up the Jim Click Shootout field.
At the Jim Click Shootout, Tennessee plans on running its first 4x100 relay, the sprint-friendly substitute at the SEC and NCAA outdoor meets for the indoor distance medley relay. Brown, Paul Cross, Ed Davis and Chris Platt also run the 1,500, a shorter substitute for the indoor mile. Matthieu Pritchett is scheduled to run the 100, the shortest race contested outdoors. Campbell and Jeremy Burton take on the 400 hurdles for the first time since May.
"We'll be concentrating on the outdoor events we've not had an opportunity to compete in yet," Webb said. "The guys in those events have been chomping at the bit. There will be good competition there. We'll see some different people than we normally see in meets close to home.
Editor's note: Because of the late finish and the two-hour time difference (results projected to arrive after midnight), Friday's results from the Baldy Castillo Invitational will be released Saturday night with the remainder of Saturday's events.
