University of Tennessee Athletics
TRACK VOLS TRAVEL TO PENN RELAYS; HOST KNOXVILLE INVITATIONAL
April 26, 2006 | Men's Track
April 26, 2006
The Tennessee men's track and field team will be in Philadelphia this weekend, competing at the 112th Penn Relays Thursday through Saturday at historic Franklin Field. Sunday, the Vols will host the Knoxville Invitational at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium.
"It's a huge meet steeped in tradition," head coach Bill Webb said. "The Tennessee flag is one of a select few that flies over the stadium every year. I think we can win a relay or two this year. Texas Tech, on paper, is awfully good in the shuttle hurdle relay, but I like our chances. We have guys running individual distance events Thursday night and five different relays throughout the rest of the meet. We have had the most success in the shuttle hurdle relay, but we are also looking forward to the 4x100 and the sprint medley team looks good. It is supposed to be a nice weekend weather-wise, and, if it is, the crowd will be great. This will be a good dress rehearsal for the SEC meet."
Tennessee boasts 30 relay champions at the Penn Relays since 1966 and 66 overall champions since 1949. The Vols have won the shuttle hurdle relay 14 times, which is more than twice as many as any other school, and four times since 1999, including last year. This weekend's relay team will be Drew Brunson, Damond Campbell, Carjay Lyles and Aries Merritt. Brunson and Campbell are also entered in the 110-meter hurdles. Matthieu Pritchett, Jonathan Wade, Merritt and Rubin Williams will carry the baton together for the first time this season in the 4x100. Williams, Merritt, Jacob Dennis and Yarrick Kincaid are scheduled to run the sprint medley relay.
The distance medley relay is expected to feature Dusty Miller, Dennis, Kenny Schappert and Tyler DeVault for the Vols. Zach Sabatino, Miller, Chris Platt and Jeff Day plan to run the 4xmile relay. Sabatino and Day, along with Doug Brown, are also entered in the steeplechase. Platt, Ben Lukowski and Matt Piccarello will run the 5,000. Senior Matthew Lapp, a Coatesville, Pa., native, returns to his home state in the 10,000, which is scheduled for a 10:40 p.m. start Thursday.
Co-captain Jim Sexton leads Tennessee's throwers into the City of Brotherly Love. Sexton will throw the discus and the hammer. Freshmen Nick Panezich and Richard Wooten will both join Sexton in the hammer and compete in the shot put. Panezich is also scheduled to throw the discus. Senior Eric Pierce, Lyles and Akeem Hardnett will compete in the triple jump, with Pierce also entered in the long jump. Brunson is also scheduled to high jump.
Franklin Field, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, was opened in 1895 for the first running of the Penn Relays. The stadium, which also hosts the Quakers' home football games, is deemed by the NCAA the oldest stadium still operating for football games. It was the site of Vince Lombardi's only career playoff loss, a 17-13 victory by the Philadelphia Eagles over Lombardi's Green Bay Packers in the 1960 NFL Championship Game.
The Penn Relays is the largest track meet in the world, with 2,364 athletes, ranging from ages eight to 80 or older competing in 425 races during 33 hours of competition over three days. Competition starts at 10 a.m. Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. Saturday.
Tennessee will return to host the Knoxville Invitational Sunday afternoon. With more than 100 athletes entered from Virginia Tech, Virginia Intermont, Carson-Newman and Tennessee, the meet will be significantly smaller than the Penn Relays but will provide the Vols' athletes one more chance to polish their skills before the SEC outdoor championships May 11-14.
The Vols will focus mainly on field events at the Knoxville Invitational. Michael Hogue and Jeff Trembley are expected to pole vault, while James Jones and Chris Wilson are scheduled to compete in the high jump. Decathletes Chris Helwick, Jangy Addy and Alex Dobranowski will compete in multiple events in preparation for the SEC decathlon. The rest of Tennessee's lineup will be announced before the meet.
The meet starts with the women's hammer throw at 9:30 a.m. The first men's event is the long jump at 12:30 p.m., with the 100 at 2 p.m. serving as the first track event and the men's hammer throw at 4:30 p.m. concluding the schedule. Live results will be available at www.utsports.com or www.tenntrack.com throughout the day Sunday.
VOLS SEVENTH IN LATEST POLLS
Tennessee moved up one spot to seventh in this week's United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.
Florida State leads the rankings, followed by Arkansas in second place. LSU is ranked third. Texas jumped one spot to fourth, and UTEP dropped to fifth. Florida is ranked ninth in this week's poll, giving the SEC four teams in the top 10, more than any other conference.
The USTFCCCA rankings are determined each week by a panel of 38 college coaches representing each of the four regions of the country and will be updated on a weekly basis through the week of the NCAA outdoor championships in June.
Complete rankings can be found at www.ustfccca.com.
Tennessee climbed up to seventh in this week's Trackwire 25 rankings. The rankings project the Vols will score 26 points at the NCAA outdoor championships.
Florida State remained in the top spot with 58 points, followed by LSU in second with 52 points. UTEP moved into third place with 46 points, and Arkansas fell to fourth with 44. Texas, with 38 points, rounds out the top five. Florida (eighth, 25 points) and South Carolina (22nd-tie, 12 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 and outdoor regional qualifier Aries Merritt is ranked first in the 110-meter hurdles. Rubin Williams, who is qualified for the Mideast regional in the 100 and 200, is ranked third in the 200 and seventh in the 100. Chris Helwick, who scored 7,707w points at the Sea Ray Relays, is ranked fourth in the decathlon. Also, Tennessee's 4x100 relay team of Akeem Hardnett, Matthieu Pritchett, Merritt and Williams, which boasts a season-best time of 39.70, is ranked sixth.
