University of Tennessee Athletics
TRACK VOLS TO COMPETE IN VIRGINIA TECH CHALLENGE
February 14, 2007 | Men's Track
Feb. 14, 2007
The Tennessee men's track and field team will travel to Blacksburg, Va., this weekend for the Virginia Tech Challenge, which will serve as the Vols' final competition before the SEC Indoor Championships. This will be the Vols' second trip to Blacksburg this season, as they also competed in the Virginia Tech Invitational in January.
"This is our final chance to tune up and prepare for the conference meet," head coach Bill Webb said. "We have some individual needs that we are working on. The ultimate goal is to be ready for the SEC championships.
Tennessee will send all three of its pole vaulters to compete this weekend. Michael Hogue and Andy Lane, who both already have NCAA provisional-qualifying marks this season, will be joined by Brad Holtz in the pole vault competition. Brenard Wilson, who finished fifth in the high jump during his last competition at Virginia Tech, will be joined by Chris Helwick in the event. Helwick, one of Tennessee's tri-captains, will also contest the long jump and 55-meter hurdles to prepare to compete in the heptathlon at the conference championships.
Richard Wooten leads the Vols throwing corps into competition. The sophomore from Memphis, who won the shot put with a personal-best mark of 57-1 earlier this season in Blacksburg, will compete in the shot put and weight throw. Nick Panezich will also contest the throwing double, while Matthew Maloney, who recorded a personal-best throw at the Virginia Tech Invitational, will only compete in the weight throw.
Ben Lukowski and Steve Tobin will line up to start the 3,000. Tobin was one of only two Vol distance runners to compete at the first Virginia Tech meet. Junior Chris Platt will run the mile, while fellow junior Andrew Dawson is slated for 1,000 duty.
Rubin Williams will run the 200 two weeks after recording a provisional-qualifying time of 21.21 during the preliminaries of the event at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. Kyle Stevenson will be Tennessee's lone representative in the 55. The freshman from Memphis finished fourth in the event at the Virginia Tech Invitational. Freshmen Nathan Grace and John Hewitt will contest the 400.
Freshman Samdi Fraser, who won the 500 and ran the sixth-fastest time in school history in the event at the earlier meet in Blacksburg, is scheduled to compete in the 4x400 relay, along with Jacob Dennis, Evander Wells and Williams.
"We haven't had a meet in two weeks, so some of the guys need the competition before the conference championships," Webb said. "Several people competing this weekend are trying to make the travel team for the SEC championships. Other people just haven't competed in a while and needed to get some work.
The Virginia Tech Challenge begins Friday with the pole vault at 5 p.m., and continues through the 4x400 relay at 5:25 p.m. Saturday. Live results will be available throughout the weekend at utsports.com.
VOLS MOVE TO 14TH IN TRACKWIRE POLL
The Tennessee men's track and field team continues to improve its standing in the Trackwire poll. The Vols are ranked 14th this week and projected to score 14 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Chris Helwick is ranked third in the heptathlon, as he has been since the first poll of the season, in this week's Dandy Dozen rankings. Rubin Williams is ranked third in the 200 and 10th in the 60. Freshman Evander Wells, who recorded the eighth-fastest time in school history in the 60 two weeks ago, is ranked seventh in the event and is also ranked 10th in the 200.
Florida State took over the top spot this week with 48 points. Wisconsin is second with 43 points, followed by Texas with 42. Auburn has 38 points this week and ranks fourth, with Baylor's 31 points rounding out the top five. Arkansas (seventh, 27 points), LSU (15th-tie, 13 points) and Florida (23rd-tie, 9 points) are also ranked, giving the SEC five teams in the poll.
The Trackwire 25 projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions across the country. This projection is generated by scoring the Dandy Dozen, a power ranking of the top-12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.
The factors used to build the D12 include quantitative values that measure performances in past major competitions (such as conference championships, national championships and Olympic competition), durability and freedom from injuries, demonstrated ability to compete well in multiple rounds of competition, ability in other events, head-to-head competition with other top athletes, and personal or seasonal bests. The complete poll can be found at www.trackwire.com.
The Vols slipped one spot to 17th in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll after not competing last weekend.
Florida State, the defending outdoor champions, leads the rankings. SEC foe Auburn is ranked second, followed by Wisconsin. Texas is fourth and Arkansas ranks fifth. South Carolina is ranked 12th, LSU is 13th and Florida is 15th in this week's poll, giving the SEC more ranked teams than any other conference.
Thirty-five coaches, including one representative from each Division I conference, vote in the USTFCCCA Division I indoor poll. The complete poll can be found at www.ustfccca.com.
MERRITT HONORED AT AFRICAN AMERICAN IMAGE AWARDS
Aries Merritt added one more distinction following his amazing 2006 season as he was named Best Male Athlete at the first annual UT African American Image Awards last Thursday night.
The event, hosted by Student African American Brotherhood and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, recognized achievements from Tennessee students and faculty. It was based on the national African American Image Awards and the winners were presented with miniature Academy Awards.
Merritt finished the season undefeated in every 55-, 60- and 110-meter hurdles races he finished - 18 in all - and became the first athlete in UT's storied track history to win both the 60 and 110 hurdles national championship. He holds 14 total facility, school or meet records, including the NCAA and SEC championship meet record in the 110 hurdles, and earned seven All-America certificates while competing at Tennessee. He is currently ranked fifth in the world in the 110 hurdles after his first season as a professional.
Other finalists for the award were Chris Lofton, Arron Sears, Jonathan Wade and Rubin Williams. Lofton was named second-team All-America and first-team All-SEC last season after helping the Vols win the Eastern Division basketball championship. Sears, a first-team All-America selection, was named the Jacobs Award winner as the best blocker in the SEC. Wade earned second-team All-SEC honors on the football field and led the conference in passes broken up during the 2006 season. Williams anchored the Vols 4x100 relay team to a second-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and won the 55 at the SEC Indoor Championships.
