University of Tennessee Athletics
TRACK VOLS CAP SEASON WITH NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
June 05, 2006 | Men's Track
June 5, 2006
Complete NCAA Meet Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Nine Volunteers competing in eight events and the 4x100-meter relay will conclude the collegiate season Wednesday through Saturday at the NCAA outdoor championships in Sacramento, Calif. The nation's elite track and field athletes all race to Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium in the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex with dreams of writing their collegiate legacy on the NCAA's biggest stage.
"We are looking forward to going to Sacramento to continue a very solid season," head coach Bill Webb said. "We were fifth at the indoor national meet with only three guys. More people (competing) doesn't guarantee more points, but it's a positive sign for our guys and gives us greater potential. Our 4x100 relay team is kind of a sleeper. Those guys could match or exceed their third-place finish at last year's outdoor meet. Chris Helwick, Aries Merritt and Rubin Williams all competed at the indoor meet, and I know they will all perform at the highest level. I also expect some surprises from the other guys going. I think we are definitely a top-10 team.
Merritt leads the Vols westward. His time of 13.22 in the 110 hurdles leads the NCAA and is tied for the second-fastest time in the world this year, behind China's Xiang Liu at 13.21. Merritt is a perfect 13-for-13 in 55, 60 and 110 hurdles races he has finished this year and throughout his career has compiled 13 school, meet or facility records.
Williams is the only Vol qualified in more than one individual event. He finished second in the 200 and fifth in the 100 at the Mideast Regional to reserve his spot in the NCAA championship meet. He travels to Sacramento boasting the seventh-fastest time in the 200 and the 12th-fastest time in the 100.
Helwick, a junior co-captain, defended his SEC decathlon championship from 2005 by winning the 2006 SEC championship with 7,765 points. He also won the pole vault, finished third in the javelin and tied for sixth in the high jump to accumulate 28.5 points May 11-14 in Fayetteville, Ark. Helwick won the Commissioner's Trophy as the meet's highest individual scorer and hauled in the most points by a Vol at a conference championship meet since Justin Gatlin scored 30.5 in 2002 at Mississippi State.
Tennessee's 4x100 relay team of Matthieu Pritchett, Jonathan Wade, Merritt and Williams finished second at the SEC outdoor championships. The team's season-best time of 39.48 ranked eighth in the nation entering the Mideast Regional, but a dropped baton ended the Vols' hopes of qualifying for the NCAA outdoor championships automatically. After the regionals were over, Tennessee's time was 10th in the nation and the team was given an at-large bid to the championships. At last year's NCAA outdoor championship meet the Vols' 4x100 relay team of Jeremy Burton, Wade, Merritt and Williams ran 38.83, the third-fastest time in school history, and placed third.
"Jim Sexton and Eric Pierce are capable of upsetting some people, making the finals and possibly getting some points in the field events," Webb said. "Drew Brunson, Zach Sabatino, Tyler DeVault and Yarrick Kincaid all could pull an upset and contend for points on the track. I always remind our athletes that everyone checks their credentials in at the gate for this meet. Everyone has to perform at this meet in order to score points, no matter what they have done so far this season.
Kincaid, a sophomore from Knoxville Karns High School, finished third in the 800 in a personal-best time of 1:49.03 at the Mideast Regional to automatically qualify for the NCAA championships. He has lowered his personal-record time in the event three times this season, and it is now more than one second faster than his personal-best time entering the outdoor season. DeVault also ran to a personal-best time and automatic-qualifying finish at the Mideast Regional. His time of 3:45.69 in the 1,500 placed third and lowered his personal-best time by almost one second.
After earning All-America honors in the cross country season, Sabatino returns to the NCAA outdoor championships. His fifth-place finish in the steeplechase at the Mideast Regional punched his ticket to Sacramento. Sabatino earned his season-best time of 8:46.64 in the steeplechase on his way to a third-place finish in the championship section at the Penn Relays April 27.
Pierce earned the Vols' final automatic-qualifying performance of the Mideast Regional meet. As he lined up for his final attempt in the triple jump, Pierce was sixth but he leapt 51 feet, 1 1/2 inches to finish fifth and place himself on the list of contestants for the NCAA meet. Pierce's wind-aided season-best mark of 51-7 3/4 ranks 23rd in the nation, and his career-best mark of 51-3 3/4 stands ninth on Tennessee's all-time list.
Sexton, a senior co-captain from Knoxville Central High School, was fifth in the region entering the Mideast Regional meet, but his best effort of 201-8 in the hammer placed him sixth. His finish left him on the bubble and needing an at-large bid to go to California. Sexton got that bid and his season-best throw of 210-0 ranks 21st in the nation entering the NCAA championships.
Brunson recorded a wind-aided time of 13.70 during the preliminaries of the 110 hurdles at the Mideast Regional. His time of 14.06 in the finals placed seventh, but his season-best time allowed him to enter the field as an at-large. Brunson's season-best time of 13.70w ranks 14th in the country.
Tennessee has won five track and cross country national championships, with the last title being an indoor championship in 2002. The last time Tennessee won an outdoor championship was 2001 when the Vols defeated TCU 50-49 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Justin Gatlin, a true freshman at the time, was the meet's high-scorer with 22 points and the Vols' 4x100 relay team of Sean Lambert, Gatlin, Hassaan Stamps and Leonard Scott broke the school record with a second-place, 38.66 effort. Stephen Harris earned second place in the decathlon, freshman Leigh Smith took fourth in the javelin, Lambert earned fourth in the 100 and the Vols' 4x400 relay team of Jebreh Harris, Stamps, Adrian Wheatley and Dwayne Bell earned the championship-clinching point with an eighth-place finish.
Hornet Stadium, located in the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex and home to Sacramento State's track and field and football programs, is the largest in the Big West Conference and currently seats 21,000 people. Thanks to a generous donation by Sacramento businessman Alex G. Spanos, Hornet Stadium has seen more than $2 million in renovations since 1998 and has become one of the true centers of the track and field world. The venue has served as host to the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials, the 2001 National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships and the 2003 and 2005 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Hornet Stadium has also been awarded the 2007 NCAA Division I outdoor championships.
