University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Gator Invitational
MERRITT BREAKS SCHOOL 55 HURDLES RECORD
January 22, 2006 | Men's Track
Jan. 22, 2006
Aries Merritt broke Tennessee's school 55-meter hurdles record Saturday after finishing his preliminary heat in 7.10 seconds at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. Merritt, a junior from Marietta, Ga., surpassed Jabari Greer's 7.13 SEC championship effort from 2003, also run at Florida's O'Connell Center.
"We got a chance to run on the SEC facility," head coach Bill Webb said. "It 's different from any other facility in which we compete, especially for the field events and sprints around the turns. We had some good results, but we have more work to do. We need some extra rest and more training more than we need another full-scale meet next weekend.
Merritt's 55 hurdles preliminary time of 7.10 seconds was also good for an NCAA automatic qualifier. Merritt did not run the final. He previously earned an automatic qualifier in the 60 hurdles, the hurdles event contested at the NCAA indoor championships, after running a 7.61 at the Hoosier Open two weeks ago. Merritt's 7.61 is still the second-fastest time in the world this year, going into this weekend's slate of meets. When his Saturday 55 hurdles time of 7.10 is converted to the 60 hurdles, by adding the standard 0.53 seconds for men, Merritt's Gator Invitational effort becomes 7.63, still plenty fast, but just short of his 7.61 at the Hoosier Open.
While Merritt broke the school 55-meter hurdles record, there are some 60-yard hurdles times by past Vols that rival his effort. The two distances--55 meters and 60 yards--are very close, though not exactly equivalent. In the 60-yard hurdles, Willie Gault's 6.95 from 1983, Richmond Flowers' hand-timed 6.9 in 1966 and `68 and Bill High's hand-timed 6.9 in 1970 would all cross the 55 hurdles finish line close to Merritt. However, because the distances are unique, Merritt holds the school 55-meter hurdles record.
Rubin Williams swept the sprints after breaking the tape first in both the 55 and 200, both in provisional-qualifying times. Williams won the 55 with a season-best time of 6.24, a provisional qualifier to compete in the 60 at the NCAA indoor championships. In the preliminaries, Williams ran a 6.31 to win his heat and rank third overall heading into the final. Williams won the 200 later in the day with a time of 21.09. On the season, Williams has won both 200 races he has entered. Though Merritt scratched from the 55 hurdles final, he still competed in the 200 later in the day, capturing fifth in 21.71.
Knoxville West grad Andy Lane remained undefeated on the season by winning his third consecutive pole vault. After setting his lifetime-best clearance and meeting the provisional standard last week, Lane jumped 16-6 3/4. Runner-up Chris Steddum, competing unattached, also jumped 16-6 3/4, but Lane smartly took the win based on previous misses. Freshman Brad Holtz tied his career-best clearance after jumping 15-7 to take sixth in the pole vault.
In other 55 hurdles action, Carjay Lyles finished 11th with a lifetime-best 7.79 time. In the prelims, Lyles finished 15th with a 7.83 time. Chris Helwick followed in 13th with a season-best time of 7.85 in the 55 hurdles final. In the prelims, Helwick ranked 17th with a 7.87 time. Damond Campbell finished 15th with an 8.05 finals time. Campbell ran a 7.68 time to rank eighth in the prelims. Heptathlete Alex Dobranowski ran a season-best 8.04 time to rank 20th in the 55 hurdles prelims but did not qualify for the final.
Tennessee sent a large contingent of throwers to the Gator Invitational. Jim Sexton led the weight throwers with a fourth-place, 59-feet, 11-inch measurement. Tim Nguyen followed in fifth with a 55-9 mark. Richard Wooten took sixth with a 55-5 mark. Ell Ash placed 15th after throwing the 35-lb. weight 47-4 1/2. Nick Panezich finished 16th with a 47-3 3/4 effort.
Panezich led the Vols' shot putters with a fourth-place, 53-6 1/4 mark. Wooten took fifth with a 53-3 3/4 measurement. Ash followed in sixth with a season-best shot put distance of 52-4 1/2. Dobranowski finished 12th with a season-best mark of 46-11 3/4. Helwick bookended the Tennessee shot put effort with a 13th-place, 44-5 1/2 mark.
In the horizontal jumps, Eric Pierce opened his season with a 50-2 3/4 mark in the triple jump to earn fourth. On top of his hurdling duties, Lyles finished sixth in the triple jump with a 48-10 measurement. In the long jump, Helwick won his flight but placed 11th overall with a 21-9 mark. Dobranowski finished 20th with an 18-8 leap.
In the 400, Jacob Dennis finished seventh with a 49.87 time. In the 800, Karns native Yarrick Kincaid placed eighth with a time of 1:54.97. In the high jump, James Jones finished 10th after clearing 6-4 3/4.
Assistant head coach George Watts accompanied a small group of his distance runners to Johnson City, Tenn., for ETSU's Niswonger Invitational. In the 3,000, Tyler DeVault opened his season by taking fourth in the 3,000 after running a lifetime-best 8:28.46. Matt Piccarello took ninth with an 8:40.85 time. Dusty Miller finished 13th in 8:50.60.
Farragut's Andy Baksa captured fifth in the mile with a lifetime-best time of 4:13.06.
Most of the Volunteers will train through next weekend. However, a small group of distance runners will travel to the Indiana Invitational. Tennessee's heptathletes are scheduled to compete at Clemson next weekend, as well.
| TENNESSEE RESULTS Gator Invitational, Gainesville, Fla. Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006 | ||
| 55 preliminaries | ||
| 1. | Ernest Wiggins, Unatt. | 6.27 q |
| 3. | Rubin Williams, Tenn. | 6.31 q |
| 55 final | ||
| 1. | Rubin Williams, Tenn. | 6.24 *, SB |
| 200 | ||
| 1. | Rubin Williams, Tenn. | 21.09 * |
| 5. | Aries Merritt, Tenn. | 21.71 |
| 400 | ||
| 1. | Keith Hinnant, S.C. | 48.37 |
| 7. | Jacob Dennis, Tenn. | 49.87 |
| 800 | ||
| 1. | Moise Joseph, Reebok | 1:47.74 ** |
| 8. | Yarrick Kincaid, Tenn. | 1:54.97 |
| 55 hurdles preliminaries | ||
| 1. | Aries Merritt, Tenn. | 7.10 q,SR,** |
| 8. | Damond Campbell, Tenn. | 7.68 q |
| 15. | Carjay Lyles, Tenn. | 7.83 q |
| 17. | Chris Helwick, Tenn. | 7.87 q |
| 20. | Alex Dobranowski, Tenn. | 8.04 SB |
| 55 hurdles final | ||
| 1. | David Oliver, Unatt. | 7.11 ** |
| 11. | Carjay Lyles, Tenn. | 7.79 PR |
| 13. | Chris Helwick, Tenn. | 7.85 SB |
| 15. | Damond Campbell, Tenn. | 8.05 |
| -- | Aries Merritt, Tenn. | Scratched |
| High jump | ||
| 1. | Keith Moffatt, Morehouse | 7-3 3/4 ** |
| 10. | James Jones, Tenn. | 6-4 3/4 |
| Pole vault | ||
| 1. | Andy Lane, Tenn. | 16-6 3/4 |
| 6. | Brad Holtz, Tenn. | 15-7 PR |
| Long jump | ||
| 1. | Michael Morrison, Fla. | 25-7 1/4 * |
| 11. | Chris Helwick, Tenn. | 21-9 |
| 20. | Alex Dobranowski, Tenn. | 18-8 |
| Triple jump | ||
| 1. | Mario Lowe, Unatt. | 51-8 1/2 * |
| 4. | Eric Pierce, Tenn. | 50-2 3/4 |
| 6. | Carjay Lyles, Tenn. | 48-10 |
| Shot put | ||
| 1. | Dorian Scott, Unatt. | 65-6 1/4 ** |
| 4. | Nick Panezich, Tenn. | 53-6 1/4 |
| 5. | Richard Wooten, Tenn. | 53-3 3/4 |
| 6. | Ell Ash, Tenn. | 52-4 1/2 SB |
| 12. | Alex Dobranowski, Tenn. | 46-11 3/4 SB |
| 13. | Chris Helwick, Tenn. | 44-5 1/2 |
| Weight throw | ||
| 1. | Eric Frasure, E. Carolina | 64-7 3/4 * |
| 4. | Jim Sexton, Tenn. | 59-11 |
| 5. | Tim Nguyen, Tenn. | 55-9 |
| 6. | Richard Wooten, Tenn. | 55-5 |
| 15. | Ell Ash, Tenn. | 47-4 1/2 |
| 16. | Nick Panezich, Tenn. | 47-3 3/4 |
| Niswonger Invitational, Johnson City, Tenn. Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006 | ||
| Mile | ||
| 1. | Anthony Famiglietti, adidas | 4:04.28 * |
| 5. | Andy Baksa, Tenn. | 4:13.06 PR |
| 3,000 | ||
| 1. | Corey Duquette, Va. Intermont | 8:16.65 |
| 4. | Tyler DeVault, Tenn. | 8:28.46 PR |
| 9. | Matt Piccarello, Tenn. | 8:40.85 |
| 13. | Dusty Miller, Tenn. | 8:50.60 |
| q-qualified for event final; SR-school record; SB-season-best mark; PR-personal record/career best mark; *-NCAA indoor provisional qualifier; **-NCAA indoor automatic qualifer. | ||
