VOLS THIRD AFTER SECOND DAY OF SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Saturday, February 25

Gainesville, Fla.

All Day

University of Tennessee

SEC Indoor Championships

February 25, 2006 | Men's Track

Feb. 25, 2006

Complete Results in PDF Format
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Tennessee's track and field squad stands third with 23 points after a mixed bag of results Saturday at the SEC indoor championships in Gainesville, Fla. Heptathlete Jangy Addy led the Volunteers and lit up the scoreboard with a lifetime-best, second-place score of 5,410 points at Florida's Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

While Jim Sexton and Tim Nguyen finished third and eighth in the weight throw, and Zach Sabatino took fourth in the 3,000, the Volunteers missed out on maximizing precious points in the heptathlon and weight throw. However, the Volunteers countered the loss of scoring opportunities Saturday with a solid qualifying effort in the preliminaries, which will offer Tennessee more chances to score in Sunday's finals.

"We had an up and down day," head coach Bill Webb said. "We had some disappointments. That's the way it always is at the conference meet; you have to deal with adversity.

Favorite Arkansas took the lead on the last event of the night, the 3,000, after securing the top-three spots to sum 24 points. The Razorbacks have tallied 40 points through the first two days. South Carolina ranks second with 27 points. Fourth-place Florida stands a single point (22) behind third-place Tennessee (23).

The Volunteers figured to score between 18-20 points in the heptathlon after holding the first, second and fifth positions after four of the seven events. Tennessee ended up scoring 11 points in the event, not as much as the coaching staff wanted but still enough to rank as the Vols' best event of the meet after two days.

Sophomore Addy led the way with an NCAA indoor provisional-qualifying score of 5,410 points to earn silver, moving from 10th to sixth on Tennessee's all-time top-10 list in the event. The total stands as a 261-point improvement to his lifetime best heptathlon score and betters his fifth-place finish at last year's SEC championships. Though he's a stronger first-day heptathlete, Addy held on to his second-place finish from Friday and contributed eight points to the Vols' coffers. Addy won the heptathlon 55-meter hurdles in 7.61 seconds. He finished eighth in the pole vault with a 12-feet, 2 3/4-inch leap. Addy finished the heptathlon with an eighth-place, 2:57.90 time in the 1,000.

Chris Helwick finished sixth in the heptathlon with 4,881 points. Helwick finished third in the 55 hurdles with a season-best 7.79 finish. In one of the most surprising turns of the day, first-day leader Helwick, one of the best vaulters in Tennessee's proud multievent history, no-heighted in the pole vault. While it's customary to exit the competition after a no height because the loss of points in the event takes one out of contention, co-captain Helwick decided to go ahead and run the 1,000 to scrap for Tennessee points. He finished sixth in the 1,000 with a 2:52.77 time, moving himself back up to sixth place overall and unselfishly adding three points to the Vols' total. Helwick owns a 5,644 provisional score from the Clemson Heptathlon and will qualify for the NCAA meet.

Freshman Alex Dobranowski pulled out of the second day of heptathlon after sustaining a leg injury.

"Jangy did a nice job for us in the heptathlon," Webb said. "Jangy's score will go to nationals. Helwick's no height in the (heptathlon) pole vault was really strange. He took one for the team and came back and ran the (heptathlon) 1,000 to score some points. I'm sure he'll do a nice job in the (open) pole vault (Sunday).

Tennessee scored seven points in the weight throw courtesy of Sexton and Nguyen. Knoxville Central grad Sexton rallied in the final to capture third with a season-best 62-8 mark. Co-captain Sexton scored six points, and his 62-8 mark trailed his lifetime-best measurement by just three-quarters of an inch. A first-time SEC scorer, senior Nguyen added a point by finishing eighth with a 56-8 1/2 effort. Freshman Nick Panezich took 12th with a 53-6 1/4 weight throw. After a season of much improvement, Richard Wooten fouled his throws.

Sabatino continued his fine senior campaign with a fourth-place time of 8:04.72 in the 3,000, just about two and a half seconds off the winning time. Sabatino added five points to the Tennessee score with the effort.

"Jim averted disaster in the weight throw," Webb said. "He barely made the final but pulled it out for third. I'm proud of Yarrick Kincaid, another local guy. He qualified strong in the 800. Zach Sabatino held his own with a group of Arkansas guys in the 3,000. I'm pleased we qualified well in the 55, 55 hurdles and the 200.

Tennessee's Aries Merritt and Drew Brunson posted the first and third-best prelim times in the 55 hurdles to reserve two lanes in the final. Merritt's 7.14 easily stood as the day's fastest preliminary time and gave the junior yet another time faster than the NCAA automatic-qualifying cutoff. Brunson's third-place prelim time of 7.40 also qualified for the final. Damond Campbell 's 10th-place, season-best 55 hurdles time of 7.50 missed qualifying for the final by one-hundredth of a second.

The Vols also reserved two lanes in the 55 final, courtesy of Rubin Williams and Matthieu Pritchett. Williams' prelim time of 6.28 ranked as the day's fourth fastest. Pritchett's 6.31 tied his lifetime best in the 55 and took seventh in the prelims. Williams clocked the second-fastest 200 prelim of the day, a provisional-qualifying 21.11, to stake his lane in the final. However, Merritt finished 13th in the 200 prelim after running a non-advancing 21.79.

Karns grad Kincaid made his first SEC 800 final after stopping the clock at 1:51.92 in the prelims. Kincaid's time ranked as the seventh-fastest of the day. He finished 19th in the 2005 SEC outdoor 800 prelims.

In the day's other final, Vol Eric Pierce finished 11th in the long jump after putting a season-best 23-8 3/4 mark down the sand pit.

In the mile prelim, Knoxville West grad Dusty Miller clocked a season-best time of 4:14.22 to take 15th but did not qualify. Tyler DeVault finished 21st with a 4:20.77 time.

Jacob Dennis finished 20th in the 400 prelim after completing the two laps in 49.27.

Tennessee concludes the SEC indoor championships Sunday.

TENNESSEE RESULTS SEC Indoor Championships, Gainesville, Fla. Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006
Team scores (after four events)
1.	Arkansas	40
2.	South Carolina	27
3.	Tennessee	23
4.	Florida	22
5.	LSU	13
6.	Auburn	12
7.	Mississippi	11
8.	Alabama	8
Heptathlon
1.	Edwin Billot, LSU	5,504 *
2.	Jangy Addy, Tenn.	5,410 *, PR
6.	Chris Helwick, Tenn.	4,881
--	Alex Dobranowski, Tenn.	Did not finish
Heptathlon 55 hurdles
1.	Jangy Addy, Tenn.	7.61
3.	Chris Helwick, Tenn.	7.79 SB
--	Alex Dobranowski, Tenn.	Did not finish
Heptathlon pole vault
1.	Jimmy Duke, Ark.	16-6
8.	Jangy Addy, Tenn.	12-2 3/4
--	Chris Helwick, Tenn.	No height
Heptathlon 1,000
1.	Kayne Dokoski, Fla.	2:43.21
6.	Chris Helwick, Tenn.	2:52.77
8.	Jangy Addy, Tenn.	2:57.90
55 prelim.
1.	Kelly Willie, LSU	6.26 q
4.	Rubin Williams, Tenn.	6.28 q
7.	Matthieu Pritchett, Tenn.	6.31 q, PR
200 prelim.
1.	Kelly Willie, LSU	20.89 q, **
2.	Rubin Williams, Tenn.	21.11 q, *
13.	Aries Merritt, Tenn.	21.79
400 prelim.
1.	Xavier Carter, LSU	46.73 q, *
20.	Jacob Dennis, Tenn.	49.27
800 prelim.
1.	Peter Etoot, Ala.	1:50.47 q
7.	Yarrick Kincaid, Tenn.	1:51.92 q
Mile prelim.
1.	Said Ahmed, Ark.	4:05.79 q
15.	Dusty Miller, Tenn.	4:14.22 SB
21.	Tyler DeVault, Tenn.	4:20.77
3,000
1.	Josphat Boit, Ark.	8:02.23 *
4.	Zach Sabatino, Tenn.	8:04.72
55 hurdles prelim.
1.	Aries Merritt, Tenn.	7.14 q, **
3.	Drew Brunson, Tenn.	7.40 q
10.	Damond Campbell, Tenn.	7.50 SB
Long jump
1.	Michael Morrison, Fla.	25-9 1/4 **
11.	Eric Pierce, Tenn.	23-8 3/4 SB
Weight throw
1.	Cory Martin, Auburn	72-11 3/4 **
3.	Jim Sexton, Tenn.	62-8 *, SB
8.	Tim Nguyen, Tenn.	56-8 1/2
12.	Nick Panezich, Tenn.	53-6 1/4
--	Richard Wooten, Tenn.	Foul
q-qualified for event final; SB-season-best mark; PR-personal record/career best mark; -NCAA indoor provisional qualifier; *-NCAA indoor automatic qualifer.