University of Tennessee Athletics
CROSS COUNTRY VOLS CELEBRATE 2006 SEASON WITH BANQUET
December 06, 2006 | Cross Country
Dec. 6, 2006
The Tennessee men's cross country team gathered Wednesday night at the Italian Market & Grill to hand out awards and look back on the 2006 season, which saw the Vols post fourth-place finishes at the SEC and South Regional championships.
Seniors Tyler DeVault and Jeff Day shared Most Valuable Runner honors. Both athletes earned All-SEC and All-Region acclaim for their performances during the championship portion of the schedule. DeVault, the team captain, competed in four races for Tennessee and led the team in two of them, including the SEC championship. He scored in every race in which he competed and only finished lower than 14th overall once. Day, a senior from Springfield, Va., ran in five of the Vols' six races this season and scored in four. He led the team at the 8K Greater Louisville Classic and the NCAA South Regional, finishing 17th overall on UT's home course.
Yarrick Kincaid earned the Most Improved Runner award. After only running in two races for the Vols during his first two years, the junior from Knoxville made significant strides this season. Kincaid, a graduate of Karns High School, scored in Tennessee's first race of the season, finishing fourth on the team and 13th overall at the 5K Chattanooga Invitational. At the end of the season he had competed in four races for the Vols, including the 8K SEC championship.
Sophomore Denton Jones took home the Vega-Watts Volunteer Award. The award is sponsored by former teammates and Vol distance greats Sal Vega (1977-79) and head coach George Watts (1976-78). The Vega-Watts Volunteer Award is given to the individual who makes the greatest sacrifice to compete for the team. After sitting out the 2005 season, Jones returned to the team and scored in four of the Vols' six races. Jones led the team with his sixth-place overall finish at the season-opening 5K Chattanooga Invitational and also scored at the NCAA South Regional, finishing 31st overall and fifth on the team.
DeVault also received the Captain's Award for his services this season. The senior from Fairmont, W.Va., was elected team captain during a preseason vote by his teammates.
The 10 members of UT's travel squad for the SEC championship lettered this season. Day, DeVault, Nate Jansen, Jones, Kincaid, Ben Lukowski, Dusty Miller, Chris Platt, Matt Piccarello and Greg Thomas all earned letters for their efforts during the 2006 season.
Watts invited former distance star Tony Cosey to address the team about his experiences running for Tennessee. Cosey earned back-to-back cross country All-America honors in 1994 and 1995, the last Vol to accomplish that feat, and earned four All-America certificates on the track in 1995 and 1996. He also competed for the United States in the steeplechase at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
