University of Tennessee Athletics
VOLS SEND DISTANCE RUNNERS TO INDIANA OPEN; HEPTATHLETES TO CLEMSON
January 25, 2006 | Men's Track
Jan. 25, 2006
Tennessee will take distance runners to compete in the Indiana Open Friday and Saturday. This will be the second time this season Tennessee has appeared in Bloomington, Ind., but the first time for the distance corps, which opened the season just last week. Senior Zach Sabatino is scheduled to run the 5,000. Juniors Andy Baksa and Ben Lukowski will compete in the 3,000. Sophomore Matt Piccarello will compete in either the 3,000 or 5,000. Junior Jeff Day will be the Vols' lone competitor in the mile. Junior Tyler DeVault and sophomores Yarrick Kincaid and Dusty Miller will run the 800 for Tennessee.
Tennessee will also be represented in Clemson, S.C., at the Clemson Heptathlon Championships Friday and Saturday. Newly named captain Chris Helwick, along with freshman Alex Dobranowski and sophomore Jangy Addy are scheduled to add another tint of orange to the Clemson Indoor Complex. This will be the first heptathlon of the season for the Volunteers, and the only one before the SEC Indoor Championships.
"They are obviously going there to get a good score, and maybe even get a qualifying mark for NCAAs. But, it is also a chance to compete and prepare for conference," head coach Bill Webb said. "I think it will take a score of about 5,350 in the heptathlon to qualify for the NCAA meet," Webb said. "Helwick is in a position to get that with a solid meet, and the other guys could too. There will be about 20 athletes from all around the Southeast competing in this meet.
The rest of the Volunteers will take a break from competition to prepare for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, scheduled for Feb. 3-4 in New York, N.Y.
"Most of the team is on a two-week training regimen," Webb said. "The New York meet is the most prestigious regular-season meet. It is the number one indoor collegiate track meet outside of conference and NCAA meets. We will concentrate on going up there and doing well.
VOLS RANKED SIXTH IN MOST RECENT RANKINGS
Tennessee is ranked sixth in this week's inaugural U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.
Arkansas is the top-ranked team in the nation, followed by Florida State and Texas. LSU and Wisconsin round out the top five. Florida (ninth), South Carolina (16th) and Auburn (17th-tie) join the Vols, Tigers and Razorbacks to give the SEC six teams in the poll, which recognizes the top 20. Complete rankings are available at www.ustfccca.com.
Tennessee is ranked sixth in the Trackwire 25 ranking for the second consecutive week. The rankings project the Vols will score 28 points at the NCAA indoor championships.
Florida State jumped Arkansas to take over the top spot this week, with 59 points projected for the Seminoles. Arkansas falls to second with 49 points. The rest of the top five looks the same as last week. Wisconsin is ranked third with 47, followed by Texas in fourth with 39 and LSU fifth with 29 points. Other ranked SEC schools include South Carolina (15th-tie, 15 points), Florida (19th, 13 points) and Auburn (21st, 11 points).
The Trackwire 25 rankings, available at www.trackwire.com, are based primarily on individual leader lists for each of the events contested in the NCAA indoor championships and other factors. The resulting formchart, the "Dandy Dozen," is used to predict team finishes at the NCAA indoor championships.
