University of Tennessee Athletics
NO. 5 TRACK VOLS TO HOST SEA RAY RELAYS
April 10, 2007 | Men's Track
April 10, 2007
The fifth-ranked Tennessee men's track and field team plays host this weekend as the Sea Ray Relays return to Knoxville. The 41st edition of the meet, formerly known as the Dogwood Relays, will take place Wednesday through Saturday at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium.
"This has been a huge meet for us in the past," head coach Bill Webb said. "We have recorded a lot of lifetime bests and NCAA qualifiers. I like the fact that we had last weekend off, especially with the cold weather everywhere. We've been training for the past two weeks and everyone should be ready to go."
Team captain and six-time All-America Chris Helwick starts the competition for Tennessee. The senior from Greeley, Colo., who won the decathlon at last year's Sea Ray Relays, is the only Vol entered in the event this year. Helwick is also entered in the javelin, and he is currently ranked ninth on Tennessee's all-time performance list in that event.
Rubin Williams, the 2006 Tony Wilson Award winner, highlights Tennessee's sprint corps. The nine-time All-America is entered in the 100 and will also contribute on numerous relay efforts. Evander Wells, who earned SEC Track Runner of the Week honors for his performance at the Yellow Jacket Invitational, also will contest the 100 along with junior Matthieu Pritchett and freshman Kyle Stevenson. Senior Jacob Dennis and freshman Nathan Grace are entered in the 400 for the Vols. Capping Tennessee's sprint efforts will be Kris Fant, De'Lon Isom, Carjay Lyles and Brenard Wilson in the 110 hurdles and John Hewitt in the 400 hurdles.
Team captain Tyler DeVault leads the Vols in the middle-distance events. The senior from Fairmont, W.Va., who won the 1,500 at the Yellow Jacket Invitational while recording the second-fastest time in the conference so far this season, will join four other Tennessee athletes in the event this week. Steve Tobin, who is fourth on the SEC performance list, also is entered in the 1,500 along with Jeff Day, Chris Platt and Brent Smith. Yarrick Kincaid ranks second in the conference in the 800 and will compete in the event with junior Andrew Dawson and freshman Justin Hansen.
Michael Hogue, who ranks third in the nation on this season's performance list, will put his undefeated outdoor season on the line against of the best pole vault fields in the country. Senior Andy Lane also is entered in the pole vault after earning a regional-qualifying clearance at the Yellow Jacket Invitational. Freshman Brad Holtz rounds out Tennessee's competitors in the event.
Sophomores Matthew Maloney and Richard Wooten lead the Vols in the throwing events. Maloney, who ranks eighth on Tennessee's all-time list and third in the conference this season in the javelin, joins Helwick and senior Kevin Duffy in the event. All three throwers have regionally-qualified performances already this season. Wooten ranks eighth in school history in the hammer throw and will contest that event as well as the shot put. The Memphis native is regionally qualified in both events.
Tennessee has five runners entered in distance events this weekend. Seniors Andy Baksa and Ben Lukowski, along with junior Matt Piccarello and sophomore Denton Jones, will compete in the 10,000. Tobin stands as UT's only entry in the 5,000.
Team captain Jangy Addy, the SEC indoor heptathlon champion, is entered in the shot put and discus, along with sophomore Nick Panezich. Panezich and Maloney also will join Wooten in the hammer throw. Sophomore Akeem Hardnett is entered in the triple jump for the first time this season after placing second in the event at the SEC Indoor Championships. He also will contest the long jump for the second time this outdoor season. Hardnett will be joined in the triple jump by Lyles, who is the only Vol with a mark in the event so far this season. Freshman Brenard Wilson is scheduled to make his season debut in the high jump.
The Vols will also compete in numerous relays, but the order and relay participants will be decided the day of the race. Tennessee took top honors in last year's 4x100 and shuttle hurdle relays, the latter being UT's fourth consecutive Sea Ray title.
Indoor national champion Wisconsin highlights a talented field of 77 teams for this year's relays. Conference foes Kentucky, as well as nationally-ranked Louisville and in-state schools Middle Tennessee State and Memphis also will be competing. North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest will represent the ACC, and Michigan and Penn State will represent the Big 10.
National champion and NCAA meet record holder Aries Merritt highlights the field of former Vols returning to compete this weekend. Jebreh Harris, who ran on the American record 4x800 relay team last year, and Zach Sabatino, who ran in the World Cross Country Championships earlier this year, also will compete. Stewart Ellington, Patrick Gildea, Karl Jennings, Blake Jones, Tim Nguyen, Garland Porter and Jim Sexton round out the list of former Tennessee track athletes entered in the meet.
The Sea Ray Relays begin Wednesday with the decathlon, which will conclude Thursday. Friday and Saturday feature complete days of competition on the track and in the field events. Live results can be found throughout the weekend at UTsports.com. Admission to the Sea Ray Relays is free.
VOLS ENTER TOP FIVE IN TRACKWIRE POLL
Tennessee men's track and field team moved to fifth in this week's Trackwire poll. The Vols are projected to score 30 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Rubin Williams is ranked second in the 200 after finishing second at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships. Team captain Chris Helwick remained second in the decathlon. Freshman Evander Wells, who holds the fastest time recorded in the nation so far this season in the 200, is ranked fourth in the event. Wells and Williams are also ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, in the 100.
Two-time defending SEC indoor champion Michael Hogue, who finished fifth at the indoor national championship meet, is ranked sixth in the pole vault after winning his first two meets of the outdoor season. Sophomore Matthew Maloney, who is eighth on Tennessee's all-time performance list in the javelin, is ranked 12th in the event. The Vols 4x100 relay team remained in fourth.
Defending outdoor champion Florida State leads the rankings with 63 points. Auburn moved to second with 44 points this week, and Southern California ranks third with 40 points. Arizona remained fourth with 34 points this week. Arkansas (ninth, 25 points), LSU (10th, 23 points), Florida (18th-tie, 16 points), Georgia (18th-tie, 16 points) and Mississippi (23rd-tie, 15 points) are also ranked, giving the SEC seven teams in the poll, tied with the Pac-10 for the most from one conference.
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 open the year ranked fifth in the first U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll of the outdoor season.
Florida State, the defending outdoor champion, leads the rankings. SEC foe Auburn is ranked second, followed by Southern California and Arizona. Arkansas is ranked seventh, LSU is ninth and Florida is 12th in this week's poll, giving the SEC five teams ranked in this week's poll.
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.
