University of Tennessee Athletics
2006 TRACK & FIELD SEASON IN REVIEW
January 10, 2007 | Women's Track
Head coach J.J. Clark is not a man who does a lot of talking about what he is going to do or what has been done. His modus operandi is to ignore the hype, do the work, execute in competition and let the chips fall where they may. In his book, "Actions Speak Louder Than Words."
In 2006, Tennessee's actions did not reflect a fairytale story as it did in 2005, when the Lady Vols claimed their first-ever NCAA Indoor National Championship. Instead, there was drama from the outset, as Tianna Madison, who swept NCAA and SEC Indoor and Outdoor long jump titles the previous year and went on to win an IAAF World Championship, opted to turn pro the week she was to begin her junior season at UT.
Not wanting to make excuses, Clark somewhat downplayed the loss of Madison, saying his team would respond and find ways to cover the loss of their departed star. The reality of the situation, however, was that the defending NCAA champions and preseason's top-ranked team lost not only a lock for 10 points at every championship meet but additional scoring in the sprint and relay events as well.
Despite Madison's departure leading up to the season-opening Tennessee All-Comers Meet on Jan. 6, the team managed to turn in a focused performance. The most noteworthy results came in the weight throw, where senior Ariel Brooks uncorked a school-record and NCAA provisional heave of 65 feet, 4 3/4 inches, and in the 55m dash, where sophomore Cleo Tyson grabbed second and secured an NCAA provisional mark behind unattached competitor Madison in a time of 6.85 seconds.
After the throwers' trip to the Virginia Tech Invitational on Jan. 13-14 resulted in another UT weight throw record by Brooks (67-0 3/4), the Lady Vols traveled to Gainesville, Fla., for the Gator Invitational on Jan. 21. Senior Patricia Hall's triumph in the 400 meters highlighted three victories and a trio of NCAA provisional marks. Her 53.76 readout was the nation's best at that point and the fastest by a Lady Vol that early in the season in 23 years.
Junior Carly Matthews, meanwhile, won the 3000 meters in a PR of 9:48.35, and the DMR unit of senior Brooke Novak, junior Leslie Treherne, sophomore Courtney Champion and junior Felicia Guilford surged to first place in 11:53.19.
Making the annual trek to "Happy Valley," the Lady Vols' made their appearance at the Penn State National Invitational on Jan. 27-28 another successful one. Tyson and redshirt freshman Celriece Law earned rave reviews for their contributions.
Tyson zipped to a career-best and NCAA provisional 7.29 to win the 60 meters on day one and added a runner-up finish and her second provisional in the 200 meters on day two with a 23.55 outburst. Law, meanwhile, uncorked an 8.36 count to take second in the 60m hurdles with the fastest time in that event by a Lady Vol in 21 years. Only 1984 U.S. Olympian Benita Fitzgerald ran faster.
UT also got victories at the meet from senior vaulter Jessica Reust and the Big Orange DMR lineup.
With Brooks adding yet another school-best toss of 70-3 3/4 in the weight throw at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., on Feb. 3, the rest of the squad was resting up for the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Feb. 10-11. The week off apparently helped them.
UT's DMR quartet of Novak, Champion, Treherne and freshman Sarah Bowman, who was making her collegiate debut, cruised to a season-topping and NCAA safety mark of 11:16.91 to register Tennessee's highlight of the meet. The 4x400m unit's 3:33.66 clocking was worth a mention as well, as that third-place output was just 16/100ths of a second off the automatic cut.
Individually, Hall lowered her 400m time to an automatic 51.96 to grab second and also provisionaled in the 200m in a career-best 23.60.
Warming up for the SEC Indoor meet, UT returned home for the Tennessee Indoor Classic on Feb. 17. Law twice shot down the Stokely Athletics Center 55m hurdles mark, running 7.78 in the prelims and 7.70 in the finals en route to victory. She moved to third on UT's all-time 55m hurdles performers list behind former Olympic medalists Fitzgerald and LaVonna Martin. Ever-improving sophomore Shanna Dickenson also added her name to the provisional list in the weight throw with a PR heave of 62-7 1/4.
The women in orange found that their 2005 SEC Indoor title was a tough act to follow when they headed to Gainesville for the 2006 conference meet at the O'Connell Center on Feb. 24-26. After enduring a slow start, the Lady Vols finally found their stride on the final day of the meet and tallied 78.50 points to tie for third place in the team standings.
"The expectations of people, myself included, are so high for this program where third is something that you shake your stick at, and it is not accepted," Clark said. "To take third in the best conference in America is not absolutely embarrassing, but we have higher expectations."
UT's 400m ace, Hall, was unquestionably the team's MVP at the meet, as she rolled to victory in her signature event (52.67), grabbed fourth in the 200m (23.59) and ran the opening leg on Tennessee's third-place 4x4 (3:36.61). Senior April Thomas also chipped in, unleashing a heave of 51-2 1/4 to surge to second in the shot put, while Brooks settled for third in the weight at 66-5 3/4 and rookie Bowman held on for a 4:52.21, third-place run in the mile after posting a career best of 4:46.17 in the prelims.
Thanks to those individual efforts and several earlier in the season, Clark's club found itself with eight representatives earning a trip to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville on March 10-11. As expected, Hall earned the Lady Vols' highest finish, charting a third-place result in the 400 meters at 52.28.
Tyson etched her name at the top of the UT record book once again, logging a 7.20 in the 60m dash prelims before finishing fifth in the final in 7.24. She also gleaned All-America acclaim in the 200m by finishing as one of the top eight U.S. athletes (ninth overall) and aided the Big Orange 4x400m relay to sixth in 3:31.82, the third-best mark in program history. Joining her were Hall, Champion and sophomore LaTonya Loche.
Tennessee, which most certainly would have finished among the top 10, and quite possibly the top five, had Madison been available to compete, finished in a tie for 18th place in the team standings with 13 points. It marked the 11th time the school had posted a top-20 result at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Lady Vols scored all 13 of those points on the final day, with 5,596 looking on at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
"Overall, we did some good things, Clark said. "But, hey, you have to remember that this is a national championship caliber team and our expectations are high. I am glad that we aren't settling on this performance. Everyone is healthy now, we're moving forward and this indoor season is history."
Glad to leave the first half of 2006 behind, Clark and his troops marched into the adidas Raleigh Relays to open their outdoor campaign on March 24-25. They did so in productive fashion, as Hall (53.31) and Loche (54.31) recorded NCAA regional qualifying times in the 400 meters, Guliford won the 5000 meters and the sprint medley relay team claimed victory as well on day one.
Day two saw more success stories, as Tyson, Loche and Champion went 1-2-3 in the 200 meters, with Tyson hitting the regional clip, and UT's 4x100m and 4x800m relays crossing the line first. Tyson joined Law, Champion and Loche on the regional standard-meeting 4x1, while Law clicked off a 13.83 count in the 100m hurdles to meet the regional standard and take fifth place in that event.
The momentum swung dramatically in Tennessee's direction the following weekend, as an April Fool's Day date at the Diet Pepsi Classic produced 13 regional qualifying marks, including 10 new ones. Novak, claiming victory, and Bowman grabbed regional berths in the 1500m, while Treherne did so in the 800m. UT also got three bids in the 200m from Tyson, Champion and Hall, in the 100m from Tyson and Champion as well as in the triple jump (Law), discus (Dickenson) and shot (Thomas). Also making the Mideast cut were the 4x1 and 4x4 relays.
"It was a good meet for us," Clark said. "We had some good quality national times from Cleo, Brooke, Sarah and LaTonya (provisional improvement). It was also good to see Courtney Champion qualify. The team as a whole really stepped up."
Tennessee also performed well at home in its next meet, as the Lady Vols joined the men in playing host to the annual Sea Ray Relays from April 12-15 at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium. The friendly confines brought out a total of 14 regional-worthy marks over the course of the meet.
Making the regional field in her second event was Bowman, whose 2:07.71 clocking in the 800m was good for second and gave her an optional event to the 1500m. Reust, meanwhile, earned her way to the Mideast meet in the pole vault, clearing 12-9 1/2 to finish fourth.
Tyson had another solid meet, placing second in the 100m in a wind-aided 11.23, finishing third in the invitational 200m in a windy 23.21 and aiding runner-up causes in the 4x1 and 4x4 relays.
The second-year performer would also play a role in the top performance at UT's next stop on the outdoor tour. She joined Champion, Hall and Bowman at Philadelphia's Franklin Field on April 27-29, as the Big Orange claimed victory in the sprint medley relay for the second time in three seasons at the Penn Relays. Their 3:45.16 effort ranks fifth-best in Lady Vol annals.
Bowman nearly had a hand in another victory in Philly, as she anchored the 4x800m relay unit to runner-up honors in 8:31.83, as the squad from Rocky Top was nipped at the finish line by the Longhorns of Texas by a mere 23/100ths of a second. Helping Bowman log the fourth-best clocking in school history were Treherne, Novak and junior Mindy Sullivan.
Tennessee also collected a third-place effort in the 4x200m relay, took fifth in the 4x100m relay and had top individual finishes of sixth in the shot put from April Thomas and seventh in the 100m hurdles from Celriece Law.
"We came in with four young ladies who have never run on a championship team at Penn Relays, and we got it done," Clark said. "That's very exciting. The sprint group did an absolutely great job in providing Sarah with a second or two cushion. I stressed to them how important it was for us to be in front, and they did their jobs well.
"Our freshman (Bowman) was a bit anxious and went out a little too quick (on the first lap), but she was able to hang on and run a good race. I was very proud of the team as a whole and also for a freshman to anchor with such poise."
After completing their stay in Philadelphia on Saturday and returning to Knoxville that evening, the Lady Volunteers were back on their home track on Sunday morning. In what amounted to a final tune-up prior to the SEC Outdoor Championships, the home team dodged rain drops and closed out the 2006 regular season slate.
Dickenson was the star of the day, taking the hammer throw at 171-3 and winning the discus at 162-6. She also added a personal record in the shot put, charting a heave of 45-10 to take second behind teammate Thomas.
Next, it was off to Fayetteville to christen the brand new John McDonnell Stadium and compete in the SEC Outdoor meet. With the women's field featuring a bevy of ranked schools, it was going to take a Herculean effort for the Lady Vols to match their third-place outdoor finish of 2005 or indoor outcome of 2006.
After the first three days, things did not look promising for the Orange and White. The Lady Vols stood in 11th place with nine points, buoyed only by a third-place and school-record clearance in the pole vault (13-7 3/4) from Reust and a sixth-place result in the discus (163-11) from Dickenson. They did, however, have the promise of 12 final events on Sunday in which they could generate points and move up the league ladder.
Climb, indeed, the Tennesseans did, as Clark's crew earned points in 11 of those 12 events. The result was a final tally of 69 points and an improvement to fifth place on the meet's scoreboard at the end of the four-day competiton.
Fueling that spree on Sunday were a pair of victors in Hall and Bowman. Hall became the first Lady Vol in history to sweep both the SEC Indoor and Outdoor 400m crowns, doing so in a career-topping 51.77 seconds as she held off runner-up Natasha Hastings of South Carolina. She moved to number four nationally with that time and rose to fourth on UT's all-time outdoor performers list in that event.
Bowman, meanwhile, became the first Lady Vol since Jasmin Jones in 1991, and the first UT freshman since Alisa Harvey in 1984, to claim an SEC Outdoor title in the 1500 meters. Her season-best clocking of 4:21.10 delivered 10 more huge points into the Big Orange ledger, while Novak kicked in six more with a third-place result of 4:25.74 which mimicked her bronze performance at the 2004 conference outdoor meet.
Treherne came oh-so-close to becoming Tennessee's third SEC champion of the day, dueling side-by-side with LSU's Tanya Osbourne over the final 50 meters before Osbourne out-leaned the UT runner at the line to win in 2:06.26 to Treherne's 2:06.28. The runner-up showing, though, deposited eight more points in the Big Orange pot.
Earlier in the day, the Lady Vols claimed eight points for a second-place finish in the 4x100m relay. The tandem of Champion, Tyson, Loche and Hall covered the distance in 44.23, crossing the line just behind the 43.81 effort of victorious South Carolina. It marked the second straight season UT earned runner-up distinction.
Other big point-getters for Team Orange were Tyson, who came home third in the 200m in 22.97, Thomas, who was fourth in the shot at 50-6 1/4 and the 4x400m relay, which took fourth in 3:38.63 with Loche, Champion, Treherne and freshman Kimarra McDonald handling the baton.
"We put a lot of points on the board and almost scored 70 on Sunday," Clark said. "We came from 11th place at the beginning of the day to fifth. I believe nearly everyone we brought to the track on the final day scored, so you can't be disappointed with that. We just have to score more points on the first three days.
"My hat is off to the team. We had some SEC champions, school records and some personal bests. If they are putting it on the line, that's all I can ask for."
Those types of performances were repeated two weekends later, as Tennessee hosted the NCAA Mideast Regional and wound up registering nine NCAA qualifiers at that meet. The home team also tallied 64 points to earn a hard-fought third-place finish behind LSU (95 1/2) and Auburn (77).
Heading the list was Hall, whose personal-record 51.52 readout in the 400m earned her the title of regional champion. The product of St. Ann, Jamaica, also earned a ticket to the national meet in the 4x400m and 4x100m relays, anchoring UT to second in 3:29.75 in the longer race and to third in the shorter one via a 43.77 count. Both of those times were season bests at that point.
Reust made her second NCAA Outdoor meet, tying for second in the vault with a flight over 12-11 3/4, while Bowman, Treherne and Tyson earned individual tickets in the 1500m, 800m and 100m/200m, respectively. Bowman and Treherne did so by virtue of third-place finishes in the 1500m (4:19.19) and 800m (2:06.04).
Tyson, meanwhile, grabbed third in the 200m (23.06) and fourth in the 100m (11.37) to earn a ticket to Sacramento, Calif., for the NCAA affair. It was her 100m performance in the prelims on Friday, though, that made the biggest splash. The sophomore erased Kelli White's 1999 NCAA effort of 11.20 with an 11.10 outburst to become the school's record holder in the straight sprint.
Also earning passes to the national meet were Law in the 100-meter hurdles (fifth, 13.50) and Dickenson in the discus throw (fifth, 165-0).
Said Clark, "We've had a very good meet." "Our momentum is getting better and better, and we are peaking at the right time.
"You look at the SEC meet, and it was a very good meet for us. We came back with another good performance. I am very happy our team is pulling together at the right time."
Riding a wave of positive feelings, Tennessee traveled to Sacramento in search of a big finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. While there were some very bright individual moments, there was not enough pop in the Lady Vol arsenal to hit the top-10 range. Instead, Team Orange settled for an 18th-place finish that mirrored its 2006 indoor result.
Still, the Lady Vols brought home a total of five outdoor All-Americans and pushed the squad's total to 15 All-Americans earning 74 honors during Clark's first four years in Knoxville.
Tyson boosted her tally of awards to 11 in two seasons, taking eighth in the 100m (11.62), 12th in the 200m (23.41, top eight U.S. finisher) and assisting the 4x1, along with Champion, Loche and Hall, to sixth in 43.68.
Closing out a fantastic senior campaign, Hall also grabbed fourth in the 400 meters in a personal-record 51.45. That time ranks her number two on the school's all-time outdoor performers list behind 2004 Olympian Dee Dee Trotter. Hall also anchored the Tennessee 4x4 to fourth in 3:29.00, along with Loche, Champion and Treherne.
Treherne, meanwhile, advanced through two qualifying rounds and charted an eighth-place finish in her first NCAA Outdoor 800m final with a 2:06.07 result.
"Overall, we gave it the best we could," Clark said. "We had some disappointments, but we also had some gut-wrenching, hard-fought points. We fought very diligently, and I believe we have some tools to be in the mix next year."
Some glimpses of those tools were seen during the summer months, as a handful of Lady Vols made noise on the international scene.
Tyson cast the longest shadow, representing the United States at the NACAC Under-23 Championships in Santo Domingo, D.R., winning a pair of gold medals, as she did at the Pan Junior Championships in 2005. This time around, she set a meet record in the 100m dash with an 11.25 trip down the track, and she ran the second leg as the U.S. women raced to glory in the 4x100m relay in 43.53.
Treherne was also at that meet, and she performed admirably as well, earning a fourth-place finish in the 800 meters in 2:05.74. Another summertime performer, freshman Rolanda Bell, made the finals of the AT&T USA Junior Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., charting a seventh-place and career-best time of 4:34.04 in the 1500 meters.
Those end-of-the-season performances, combined with flashes of talent seen in Tennessee's 13 other letterwinners who will return in 2007, give Clark hope as he puts his fourth season on The Hill behind him. But he also knows that the 2007 campaign will have to stand on its own merits.
The 2006 season will be a memory. Accomplishments of the past will be in the past. There will be no looking back, because "Actions Speak Louder Than Words."
