University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Tennessee Indoor Classic
WOOTEN SMASHES FRESHMAN SCHOOL RECORD IN WEIGHT THROW
February 18, 2006 | Men's Track
Feb. 18, 2006
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The track and field Volunteers split their Friday highlights between the Virginia Tech Challenge in Blacksburg, Va., and the Tennessee Classic in Knoxville, Tenn.
Redshirt freshman Richard Wooten rewrote the freshman school record, and Rubin Williams and Matthieu Pritchett qualified 1-2 in the 60-meter semifinals to grab headlines from Virginia Tech's Rector Field House. Jacksboro's James Jones won the high jump on the home track. In Knoxville, the pole vault marked the most exciting event of the night as Olympic record holder Tim Mack authored a season-best performance, staring at the world lead in the process, and Vol Michael Hogue returned from shoulder surgery.
Most of the Volunteer contingent competed at the Virginia Tech Challenge.
Wooten, a Memphis, Tenn., native, led the Tennesseans with a freshman school-record mark of 60 feet, 5 inches to take sixth in the weight throw. Wooten fairly shattered the previous freshman school standard of 57-9 set by Chris Leming in 1992. Wooten added nearly four feet to his previous PR as his 60-5 mark vaulted him to eighth on Tennessee's all-time list in the weight throw. Co-captain Jim Sexton finished eighth with a 59-0 3/4 mark. Tim Nguyen took 11th in the deep weight throw field with a 56-0 mark. Freshman Nick Panezich added more than three feet to his PR to finish 13th with a 54-1 1/4 effort. Ell Ash contributed a season-best 14th-place, 52-1 1/4 mark.
Tennessee set itself up nicely in Saturday's 60 final, as Rubin Williams and Matthieu Pritchett posted the day's fastest preliminary and semifinal times. Williams' lifetime-best 6.68 effort in the 60 semifinals stands sixth on Tennessee's all-time list in the event, behind such luminaries as Leonard Scott, Justin Gatlin, Sam Graddy, Sean Lambert and Terry McDaniel. Williams also ran the fastest prelim time, a 6.76. Pritchett clocked a season-best effort of 6.80 to rank second in the semifinal. Pritchett's 6.81 also stood as the second-fastest prelim effort. Both Vols will line up in the final Saturday.
Knoxville West grad Dusty Miller took third in the 1,000 with a time of 2:29.27, less than a second off the winning time. Miller's time barely missed the Vols' top-10 list in the event. The 1,000 is not run at the SEC or NCAA indoor championships, but falls between the contested 800 and mile. Jacob Dennis finished fourth in the 500, another event not contested at the SEC or NCAA level, after clocking in at 1:04.53.
In the field events at Virginia Tech, the Vols' high jumpers joined the weight throwers with competitive efforts. Drew Brunson took silver with a 6-8 3/4 clearance in the high jump. Halls grad Chris Wilson posted a season-best jump of 6-8 3/4, just one-quarter inch off his lifetime-best height, to finish third. Jangy Addy cleared a season-best bar of 6-4 3/4 to place sixth and further his training for the upcoming SEC heptathlon. Fellow heptathlete Alex Dobranowski took ninth with a 6-2 3/4 measurement.
Akeem Hardnett finished fifth in the triple jump after placing a 48-5 1/4 mark down the sand pit.
In addition to his high jump effort, Brunson reserved a lane in Saturday's 60 hurdles final after clocking an 8.21 to rank seventh in the semifinal, despite stumbling on the last hurdle. Earlier in the evening Brunson ran a 7.96 to post the fastest preliminary time of the day. Heptathlete Chris Helwick placed 14th in the semifinal with an 8.43 effort, after running an 11th-place, lifetime-best 8.42 in the prelims.
Though their numbers were few, the Volunteers competed in the high jump and pole vault at the Tennessee Classic Friday. Though he has jumped higher previously this season, Jones won the high jump with a 6-6 3/4 leap on the home track.
The pole vault marked the event with the greatest Tennessee presence as three Vols were entered. Former Vol and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Mack put on a show for the home fans. Mack won the event with a clearance of 18-8 1/4, the fourth-best mark by an American and tied for 12th best in the world this year.
Mack then requested the bar be moved to 19-1 1/2, which would eclipse former Vol teammate Lawrence Johnson's Stokely Athletics Center record of 19-0 3/4 and better the current 2006 world leader by a centimeter. However, after 14 jumps on the evening (including warm ups), Mack ran through the pit and wisely opted to save a special effort for the USA indoor championships next weekend, according to his coach, Jim Bemiller.
Hogue enjoyed a solid return after undergoing shoulder surgery in December. Hogue took second with a 16-6 3/4 leap, only six inches off his season-best NCAA provisional qualifier from December. Jeff Trembley and Brad Holtz tied for third after clearing 15-7.
While the number of Tennesseans competing in Stokely proved sparse, a contingent of former Vols provided some star power. In addition to 2004 Olympic champion Mack, two-time world champion (heptathlon and decathlon) Tom Pappas was in attendance, though not competing. Biding his time until the SEC championships, current Vol All-America Zach Sabatino did not compete in either meet, choosing instead to help the meet management crew stack hurdles instead of ticking off laps. Current NCAA 60 hurdles leader Aries Merritt was also on hand to watch his specialty. Merritt won the 55 hurdles in 7.12 at the Tennessee Classic last year to break the school record, a mark he has since dropped to 7.10.
Kentucky State's David Osborne won the 800 in a Stokely Athletics Center record time of 1:57.42.
Tennessee concludes the Virginia Tech Invitational Saturday.
TENNESSEE RESULTS
| Tennessee Indoor Classic Knoxville, Tenn. Friday, Feb. 17, 2006 | ||
| 55 prelims | ||
| 1. | Cameron Dayne, Morehouse | 6.38 |
| 55 final | ||
| 1. | Robert Malone, Alabama A&M | 6.42 |
| 55 hurdle prelims | ||
| 1. | Karl Jennings, Unatt. | 7.34* |
| 55 hurdle final | ||
| 1. | Karl Jennings, Unatt. | 7.26* |
| 400 | ||
| 1. | Damian Prince, Morehouse | 49.73 |
| 800 | ||
| 1. | David Osborne, Ky. St. | 1:57.42 SACR |
| 3,000 | ||
| 1. | Josiah Lagat, Morehouse | 9:07.87 |
| 4x400 relay | ||
| 1. | Morehouse | 3:23.93 |
| High jump | ||
| 1. | James Jones, Tenn. | 6-6 3/4 |
| Pole vault | ||
| 1. | Tim Mack, Nike | 18-8 ¼ ** |
| 2. | Michael Hogue, Tenn. | 16-6 ¾ |
| 3t. | Jeff Trembley, Tenn. | 15-7 |
| 3t. | Brad Holtz, Tenn. | 15-7 |
| Pole vault 'B' section | ||
| 1. | Jordan Knight, Emory | 12-11 1/2 |
| Long jump | ||
| 1. | Randall Flimmons, Morehouse | 23-3 1/2 |
| Triple jump | ||
| 1. | James Lemons, Unatt. | 48-8 |
| Shot put | ||
| 1. | Evan Lavin, Knoxville TC | 50-6 1/4 |
| Shot put 'B' section | ||
| 1. | Kenna Hudson, Ft. Valley | 42-7 ½ |
| Weight throw | ||
| 1. | Fred Stevens, Unatt. | 51-3 |
| Virginia Tech Invitational Blacksburg, Va. Friday, Feb. 17, 2006 | ||
| 60 prelims | ||
| 1. | Rubin Williams, Tenn. | 6.76 q |
| 2. | Matthieu Pritchett, Tenn. | 6.81 q |
| 60 semifinal | ||
| 1. | Rubin Williams, Tenn. | 6.68 q, PR,* |
| 2. | Matthieu Pritchett, Tenn. | 6.80 q, SB |
| 500 | ||
| 1. | Brent LaRue, Wake Forest | 1:03.87 |
| 4. | Jacob Dennis, Tenn. | 1:04.53 |
| 1,000 | ||
| 1. | Russell Neff, Va. Intermont | 2:28.42 |
| 3. | Dusty Miller, Tenn. | 2:29.27 |
| 60 hurdles prelims | ||
| 1. | Drew Brunson, Tenn. | 7.96 q |
| 11. | Chris Helwick, Tenn. | 8.42 q, SB |
| 60 hurdles semifinal | ||
| 1. | Mike Loyd, Wake Forest | 8.02 q |
| 7. | Drew Brunson, Tenn. | 8.21 q |
| 14. | Chris Helwick, Tenn. | 8.43 |
| High jump | ||
| 1. | Garrett Brickner, Unatt. | 6-10 3/4 |
| 2. | Drew Brunson, Tenn. | 6-8 3/4 |
| 3. | Chris Wilson, Tenn. | 6-8 3/4 SB |
| 6. | Jangy Addy, Tenn. | 6-4 3/4 SB |
| 9. | Alex Dobranowski, Tenn. | 6-2 3/4 |
| Triple jump | ||
| 1. | Mark Sturgis, App. St. | 51-7 ¼ * |
| 5. | Akeem Hardnett, Tenn. | 48-5 ¼ |
| Weight throw | ||
| 1. | Nick Owens, N.C. | 69-9 ** |
| 6. | Richard Wooten, Tenn. | 60-5 PR, FR |
| 8. | Jim Sexton, Tenn. | 59-0 ¾ |
| 11. | Tim Nguyen, Tenn. | 56-0 |
| 13. | Nick Panezich, Tenn. | 54-1 ¼ PR |
| 14. | Ell Ash, Tenn. | 52-1 ¼ SB |
q-qualfied for event final; SB-season-best mark; PR-personal record/career best; SACR-Stokely Athletics Center facility record; FR-freshman school record; *-NCAA provisional qualifier; **-NCAA automatic qualifier.
