University of Tennessee Athletics
TRACK VOLS WRAP UP 2006 SEASON WITH TEAM BANQUET
October 09, 2006 | Men's Track
Oct. 9, 2006
The Tennessee men's track and field team gathered Sunday at The Foundry at World's Fair Park in Knoxville to celebrate the 2006 season. About 160 people attended the hour and a half ceremony, including athletes, families, coaches and special guests.
The 2006 season saw Tennessee take second at both the SEC indoor and outdoor championships and the Mideast Regional. The Vols earned fifth place at the NCAA indoor championships, sixth at the NCAA outdoor championships and won the Team Power Rankings championship during the indoor season. Individually, six Vols earned All-America certificates during 2006.
Distance runner Jeff Day started the festivities with the invocation before dinner was served. After eating, head coach Bill Webb started the recognition portion of the ceremony by recognizing the special guests present. Associate head coach George Watts, assistant coach Norbert Elliott and volunteer coaches Jebreh Harris and Russell Johnson were also acknowledged. Pole vaulter Michael Hogue introduced his special guest, Dr. David Cassada, a vascular surgeon at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Cassada performed three surgeries over four days to remove a blood clot in Hogue's shoulder in December.
After the introduction of the special guests, master of ceremonies Dr. Buck Jones honored the former Vols currently competing professionally with the best track and field athletes in the world. Anthony Famiglietti, Justin Gatlin, Harris, Gary Kikaya, Leonard Scott and Leigh Smith were mentioned.
Following the professional athlete recognition, Webb listed highlights of the 2006 season, including individual SEC and NCAA champions, All-Americas and academic performers, before introducing the newcomers and seniors for the 2006-07 season.
Webb then honored long-time track contact Nathan Kirkham with a plaque and a gift from the team for his dedication and service. Kirkham, who served as the sports information contact for track and field for seven years, was honored by CoSIDA three different times for having the best media guide cover in the nation and twice won best overall media guide in the nation.
Dr. Jones took back the podium to recognize the winners of the athlete awards. Alex Dobranowski was presented with the James Snow Award as the team's most outstanding academic freshman. The decathlete and business major from Dundas, Ontario, earned a 4.0 GPA during the school year. Zach Sabatino won the Dr. Jack Chesney Award as the most outstanding academic senior. He graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in sport management and was one of 29 male athletes across the country to be awarded a $7,500 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
Sabatino was also given the Pritchett Award as the most dedicated senior. On the track Sabatino advanced to the NCAA outdoor championships after finishing fifth in the steeplechase at the Mideast Regional. He was named SEC Runner of the Week Feb. 1 after winning the 5,000 meters at the Indiana Open. Sabatino leaves Tennessee ranked third in the 3,000, ninth in the steeplechase and 10th in the 10,000 on UT's all-time performance list.
Co-captains Chris Helwick and Jim Sexton were recognized with the Jon Young Captain's Award. Tim Nguyen and Hogue each won the John Stuckey Lifter of the Year Award, given to the best pound-for-pound weightlifter on the team.
Richard Wooten was named the Most Valuable Freshman. The thrower from Memphis broke the school record in the weight throw with a toss that measured 60 feet, 5 inches at the Virginia Tech Invitational and improved his personal-best effort in the hammer throw by more than 10 feet at the SEC outdoor championships to earn seventh and place eighth on Tennessee's all-time list in the event.
The Herb Neff Award, given to a freshman or walk-on that makes the biggest contribution, went to James Jones. The redshirt freshman high jumper won his event at the Knoxville Invitational with a personal-best leap of 6-10 3/4 and matched that height two weeks later to finish third at the SEC outdoor championships.
Jeff Trembley earned the Comeback of the Year Award. Trembley battled back and hamstring injuries all season, but came on at the end of the season to earn a tie for third in the pole vault at the SEC outdoor championships in his last collegiate competition. He also tied for third in the pole vault at the Tennessee Indoor Classic.
Tyler DeVault and Yarrick Kincaid shared the Most Improved Athlete Award. DeVault lowered his personal-best time in the 1,500, mile, 3,000 and 5,000 during the season. He finished third in the 1,500 at the SEC outdoor championships and the Mideast Regional to earn a trip to the NCAA outdoor championships. Kincaid won the 800 at the Yellow Jacket Invitational, Sea Ray Relays and Vanderbilt Invitational. He finished fourth in the 800 at the SEC outdoor championships and third in the 800 with a personal-best time to also qualify for the NCAA outdoor championships.
The Volunteer Award, given to the toughest competitor, went to Hogue. Two months after multiple surgeries to remove a blood clot in his shoulder, Hogue won the SEC indoor championship in the pole vault with a 17-0 clearance. He also won the Knoxville Invitational and tied for third at the SEC outdoor championships.
Helwick and Rubin Williams were each given the Ironman Award. Helwick finished second in the decathlon at the NCAA outdoor championships and during that decathlon threw the javelin 213-7 to place ninth on UT's all-time list and second on UT's all-time list for a decathlon javelin throw. He was an All-America in the heptathlon and decathlon. Williams won the SEC indoor championship in the 55 and finished second in the 200. He won his first three 200 races of the indoor season and was the co-winner of the Tony Wilson Award as the Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Sea Ray Relays. He anchored the Vols' 4x100 relay team to a second-place finish at the NCAA outdoor championships with a time of 38.86 seconds, the fourth-fastest time in school history. Williams earned four All-America certificates during the 2006 season.
Sexton was recognized with the Career Achievement Award. The thrower from Knoxville ended his career ranked second all-time at UT in the weight throw and fourth in the hammer throw. He was named SEC Field Athlete of the Week March 27 after winning the hammer throw at the Disney World Invitational and again May 1 after launching a career-best hammer throw at the Penn Relays. He won the 2006 SEC championship in the hammer throw and finished third at the 2006 SEC indoor championships in the weight throw. Sexton qualified for the Mideast Regional in the hammer throw three years in a row and improved his finish each year, from 20th in 2004 to sixth in 2006. He was also given the Herb Neff Award at the 2004 team banquet.
Aries Merritt was named the team's Most Valuable Track Athlete for the second-straight year, with Helwick taking home Most Valuable Field Athlete honors. Merritt holds 14 total school, meet and facility records including the SEC, Mideast Regional and NCAA meet records. He was UT's Male Athlete of the Year and the school's nominee for the Roy F. Kramer SEC Athlete of the Year. He was named South District Indoor and Outdoor Athlete of the Year and also earned SEC Track Athlete of the Year honors April 3 after breaking the George C. Griffin Track Record and the Yellow Jacket Invitational Record in the 110 hurdles with his time of 13.33.
Helwick finished second in the decathlon with his 5,917-point performance at the NCAA indoor championships. He won the Commissioner's Trophy as the meet's highest individual scorer at the SEC outdoor championships with 28.5 points, the most by a Vol at an SEC meet since Gatlin's 30.5 points at the 2002 indoor championships. Helwick won the SEC decathlon title for the second-straight year, won the pole vault, finished third in the javelin and tied for sixth in the high jump to accumulate his 28.5 points. He broke the Sea Ray Relays decathlon javelin record with his throw of 208-8. Helwick finished second in the decathlon at the NCAA outdoor championships with 7,772 points.
Helwick and Merritt were both recognized for breaking school records during the 2006 season. Helwick's 5,917 points broke Chad Smith's heptathlon record of 5,891 from 1996. Merritt broke Tennessee records in the 60 hurdles and 110 hurdles. His time of 7.51 in the 60 hurdles at the NCAA indoor championships broke Jabari Greer's record of 7.55 from 2003 and Merritt's time of 13.21 in the 110 hurdles broke Willie Gault's record of 13.26 from 1982.
Merritt also took home the last plaque of the night, being given the Ed Murphey Award for Most Outstanding Performance for the second year in a row. Merritt earned the seventh All-America certificate of his career with his win in the 110 hurdles at the NCAA outdoor championships and broke the meet record of 13.22 set in 1978 by Hall of Famer Greg Foster of UCLA. Merritt also became the first athlete in UT's history to win the 60 hurdles/110 hurdles double at the NCAA championships in the same year. His time of 13.21 stands as the second-fastest time by a collegian, behind only collegiate-record holder Renaldo Nehemiah's time of 13.00 from 1979. Merritt lowered his personal-best time in the 110 hurdles to 13.12 this summer while competing in Europe after passing up his final year of eligibility to run professionally following the 2006 season.
LIST OF AWARDS
| James Snow Award (Most Outstanding Academic Freshman) | Alex Dobranowski |
| Dr. Jack Chesney Award (Most Outstanding Academic Senior) | Zach Sabatino |
| Pritchett Award (Most Dedicated Senior) | Zach Sabatino |
| Jon Young Captains Award | Chris Helwick and Jim Sexton |
| Lifter of the Year Award | Tim Nguyen and Michael Hogue |
| Most Valuable Freshman | Richard Wooten |
| Herb Neff Award | James Jones |
| Comeback of the Year | Jeff Trembley |
| Most Improved Athlete | Tyler DeVault and Yarrick Kincaid |
| Volunteer Award (Toughest Competitor) | Michael Hogue |
| Ironman Award | Chris Helwick and Rubin Williams |
| Career Achievement Award | Jim Sexton |
| Most Valuable Track Athlete | Aries Merritt |
| Most Valuable Field Athlete | Chris Helwick |
| School Records | Chris Helwick (heptathlon, 5,917 points) |
| Aries Merritt (60 hurdles, 7.51, 110 hurdles, 13.21) | |
| Ed Murphey Award (Most Outstanding Performance) | Aries Merritt |
