University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE TO HOST 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF SEA RAY RELAYS
April 11, 2006 | Men's Track
April 11, 2006
The Tennessee men's track and field team returns to action this week for the Sea Ray Relays, held at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium. Widely considered one of the best early-season outdoor meets, the 2006 Sea Ray Relays mark the 40th anniversary of the meet, which was formerly known as the Dogwood Relays. Event organizers expect more than 2,000 athletes from 84 collegiate and 33 professional teams.
"This has been a coming-out meet for us," head coach Bill Webb said. "We always have a lot of season and career bests. This meet gives us a chance to compete at home, in front of our friends and family, and sleep in our own bed and eat our own food. We don't get the chance to do that often. People always look forward to coming to this meet, especially the northern schools that haven't seen warm weather like we are expecting this weekend.
The Scott Hartman Decathlon kicks off the meet Wednesday afternoon and concludes Thursday. Friday is the busiest day of competition, beginning with the women's open hammer throw at 8:45 a.m., continuing with the first track event at 12:20 p.m. and concluding with the men's invitational hammer throw at 9:20 p.m. Saturday features a 9:15 a.m. men's open hammer throw start, with the shuttle hurdle relay opening the track events at 12:40 p.m. and the 4x400 relay ending the meet at 5:45 p.m.
Tennessee's chase for a sixth-straight Sea Ray Relays win in the 4x800 relay will be an intriguing storyline to watch Saturday at 4 p.m. Kentucky, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Duke expect to have the best chance of ending the Vols ' five-year win streak. Jeff Day, Kenny Schappert, Tyler DeVault and Yarrick Kincaid are scheduled to carry the baton for Tennessee. Defending champion Corey Nowitzke from Eastern Michigan headlines the steeplechase field, and he is joined by 2004 NCAA champion and Eastern Michigan alumnus Jordan Desilets. Zach Sabatino, who finished third last year, and Doug Brown will be competing for Tennessee in the event, which is scheduled to start at 3:05 p.m. Saturday. The 800 is another event to watch, with six sections starting Friday at 6:35 p.m. Kincaid and Schappert will represent the Big Orange in the 800.
Olympic-record holder and 2004 gold medalist Tim Mack headlines the field events. He will be competing, along with Vol Michael Hogue, in the invitational pole vault Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The strongest field in the throws should be the invitational hammer throw, which starts Friday at 9:20 p.m. Spyridon Jullien and Mohsen Anani from Virginia Tech currently rank first and fourth, respectively, in the NCAA in the hammer throw. Co-captain Jim Sexton is the only Vol scheduled to compete in the invitational hammer throw. Tennessee co-captain Chris Helwick and sophomore Jangy Addy are entered in the decathlon. Helwick holds the school record in the heptathlon, and finished second at the NCAA indoor championships in March. Wednesday and Thursday will be the first decathlon of the season for both Helwick and Addy.
In the sprints, an interesting match-up is expected, as two indoor national champions will be competing in the 110 hurdles. Tennessee's Aries Merritt, the NCAA indoor champion in the 60 hurdles, is joined by Kedrieck Gibbons from Hinds Community College. Gibbons is the National Junior College Athletic Association indoor champion in the 60 hurdles, setting up an event which improbably features two reigning national champions. The 110 hurdles race is scheduled to start at 2:55 p.m. Friday.
The strongest overall field in the sprints is expected to be in the 400. Dennis will represent the Vols in that event, which is scheduled for Friday at 4:30 p.m. Tennessee assistant coach Norbert Elliott foresees the 100 and 4x100 as being good races for the competitors to reach regional-qualifying times. Rubin Williams is entered in the 100, which runs at 3:40 p.m. Friday. Tennessee's 4x100 team is projected to be Akeem Hardnett, Matthieu Pritchett, Merritt and Williams, and is scheduled to run Saturday at 2:55 p.m.
Admission to the Sea Ray Relays is free.
VOLS FALL TO 13TH IN TRACKWIRE POLL
Tennessee fell to 13th in this week's Trackwire 25 rankings, down from eighth last week. The rankings project the Vols will score 20 points at the NCAA outdoor championships.
Florida State remained in the top spot with 60 points, followed by Arkansas in second with 49 points. Texas jumped from out of the top five to third with 48 points. LSU is fourth with 47 points and UTEP, with 46 points, rounds out the top five. Florida (10th-tie, 23 points) and South Carolina (18th-tie, 13 points) are also ranked in this week's poll, giving the SEC five teams in the top 25.
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 outdoor championships and other factors. The resulting formchart, the "Dandy Dozen," is used to predict team finishes at the NCAA outdoor championships.
Tennessee has three athletes ranked in the Dandy Dozen this week. NCAA indoor champion Aries Merritt is ranked first in the 110-meter hurdles. Rubin Williams, who earned seven points for the Vols during the NCAA indoor championships, is ranked fourth in the 200 and 10th in the 100. Chris Helwick, Tennessee's school record holder in the heptathlon, is ranked fourth in the decathlon. In addition to the three individuals, Tennessee's 4x100 relay team of Akeem Hardnett, Matthieu Pritchett, Merritt and Williams, which boasts a season-best time of 40.12, is ranked ninth.
