University of Tennessee Athletics
NO. 6 TRACK VOLS SPLIT SQUAD FOR WEEKEND COMPETITION
April 18, 2007 | Men's Track
April 18, 2007
The sixth-ranked Tennessee men's track and field team will split this weekend and travel to Nashville for the Vanderbilt Invitational and Auburn, Ala., to compete in the Auburn Invitational.
"I'm looking forward to this weekend," head coach Bill Webb said. "We are going to take our throwers to Auburn because the Tigers have the top-two hammer throwers in the conference and that is a better situation for our guys. We will have a number of events represented in Nashville and a few guys chasing regional qualifiers. We won't run any relays and a lot of other guys will use this weekend to rest before Penn Relays (April 26-28).
Sprinters Matthieu Pritchett and Kyle Stevenson will each chase their second regional-qualifying mark of the season in Nashville. Pritchett is running the 200-meter dash this weekend after earning a regional-qualifying time in the 100 last weekend. Stevenson will be doing the opposite, as he is already entered in the Mideast Regional in the 200 so he will contest the 100.
Team captain and six-time All-America Chris Helwick, who automatically qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the decathlon with his 7,732-point performance at the Sea Ray Relays last weekend, is entered in the 110 hurdles, pole vault, shot put and discus.
All-America Michael Hogue, who is ranked fourth in the NCAA on this year's performance list, puts his undefeated streak on the line once again in the pole vault. The junior from Germantown is a perfect three-for-three in pole vault competitions so far this outdoor season and has the highest clearance in the SEC this season. Senior Andy Lane is also qualified for the Mideast Regional and will look to improve his mark this weekend. Freshman Brad Holtz, who cleared a season-best height of 16-0 3/4 at the Sea Ray Relays, rounds out Tennessee's vaulting corps.
Junior Chris Platt and sophomore Steve Tobin will run the longest distance for the Vols this weekend. Both runners are entered in the 3,000 and will contest the event for the first time this season. Also, Platt and Tobin are scheduled to run the 1,500, along with Andrew Dawson and Brent Smith. Tobin enters the meet boasting the eighth-fastest 1,500 time in the conference this season. Dawson, ranked ninth in the SEC in the 800, will run the event with freshman Justin Hansen.
Senior Jacob Dennis enters the 400 with a trio of freshman teammates. The Queens, N.Y., native is joined by Samdi Fraser, Nathan Grace and John Hewitt in the event. Hewitt also is entered in the 400 hurdles. Freshman De'Lon Isom, after recording a personal-best time last weekend, joins juniors Kris Fant and Carjay Lyles in the 110 hurdles. Brenard Wilson is scheduled to contest the high jump for the second time this season after opening at the Sea Ray Relays and finishing in a tie for fourth.
Javelin throwers Kevin Duffy and Matthew Maloney travel to Auburn after watching their main event get cancelled last weekend because of lightning and strong rain. Richard Wooten, who recorded the fifth-longest hammer throw in school history in front of the home crowd at the Sea Ray Relays, is entered in the hammer and shot put. Sophomore Nick Panezich and Maloney will join Wooten in the hammer throw, and Panezich will also contest the shot put and discus.
The Vanderbilt Invitational is being held at the Vanderbilt Track, while the Auburn Invitational will be at Hutsel-Rosen Track.
"Both facilities give our athletes the chance to earn good marks," Webb said. "Hopefully we can add to our list of regional qualifiers this weekend and continue to prepare for the SEC championships in three weeks.
Competition in Auburn and Nashville begins with limited events on Friday night, and both meets conclude Saturday evening. Live results from the Auburn Invitational will be available at AuburnTigers.com. Results from the Vanderbilt Invitational will be available following each day of competition at VUcommodores.com.
