University of Tennessee Athletics
FORMER VOLS CONTINUE TO SHINE PROFESSIONALLY
May 01, 2006 | Men's Track
May 1, 2006
Three former Tennessee Vols, Anthony Famiglietti, Justin Gatlin and Leonard Scott, represented Tennessee and the United States well on the track this past weekend. Famiglietti finished third in the 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, held on the campus of Stanford University Sunday while Gatlin and Scott teamed up to win the 4x100 relay Saturday at the Penn Relays.
Famiglietti, a three-time All-America, finished third with a time of 27:37.74 in the 10,000 Sunday at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. The first and second finishers moved into eighth and ninth, respectively, on the all-time American list in the event. Famiglietti's time of 27:37.74 ranks 11th, just 29 hundredths of a second from the top 10. His time also ranks fifth in the world so far this year.
Famiglietti was an All-America in the steeplechase in 1999 and 2000 and gained another award as the anchor leg of the Vols' indoor distance medley relay team in 2000. In 2002, Famiglietti won the U.S. championship and was ranked first in the country by Track & Field News in the steeplechase. He followed that up with a second-place finish in the 2004 United States Olympic Trials to earn a trip to the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Last year he finished second in the steeplechase at the U.S. outdoor championships.
Sprint specialists Justin Gatlin and Leonard Scott were featured in the USA vs. the World competition held Saturday as part of the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. The 2006 edition was the 112th Penn Relays and broke the all-time meet attendance record by ushering 114,191 track fans during three days through the gates at Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania's campus.
Gatlin and Scott joined former NCAA champion Tyson Gay and Olympic gold medalist Shawn Crawford in the 4x100 relay on USA's blue team to circle the track in 38.33 seconds and cross the finish line first. The race was not without controversy, however, as it was announced that Scott's handoff at the end of the second leg to Crawford took place out of the zone and USA blue was disqualified. After an appeal, and a viewing of the tape, the decision was overturned and USA blue named the victor again.
"I thought I gave it (the baton) to him in the zone," Scott said. "I was so surprised. To me, it [the handoff] was a whole lot better than last year. I couldn't understand it. Whatever happened, the stick got around, and that's a big plus for us.
"It's wild and crazy," Gatlin said when asked about the record-breaking crowd. "On my leg, I'll stand in one section and hear cheers and in the next section I hear boos. One moment you're a hero, the next you're a villain. Life is like that. We did a great job and put on a great show. We ran good. It was fun. It feels good that we didn't drop the baton.
Gatlin won six consecutive NCAA championships in the 60, 100 and 200 starting with the outdoor season of his freshman year and continuing through the outdoor season of his sophomore year, after which he turned pro. Gatlin accumulated 12 All-America certificates in his two years as a Vol and ran the second leg on the 4x100 team that sits atop Tennessee's all-time record book with a 38.66 clocking. He won a complete set of medals, including gold in the 100, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and followed that performance by winning the 2005 world championship in the 100 and 200. He was named the winner of the Jesse Owens Award, the most prestigious award in U.S. track, in 2004 and 2005. Gatlin was ranked first in America in the 100 and 200 by Track & Field News in 2004 and number one in the world in 2005.
Scott collected 11 All-America certificates in his four years on Rocky Top and was the NCAA champion in the 60 his freshman year of 1999. He ran the anchor leg on the 4x100 relay team that set Tennessee's school record in 2001. Scott, a four-year letterman at wide receiver and member of the Vols' 1998 national championship, flirted with the NFL out of college but returned to track in 2004, finishing eighth at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Scott cemented his standing with the current track elite by winning the U.S. and world indoor title in the 60 earlier this year.
