University of Tennessee Athletics
TRACK VOLS AIM FOR 25TH OUTDOOR CONFERENCE TITLE
May 08, 2007 | Men's Track
May 8, 2007
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The seventh-ranked Tennessee men's track and field team opens the championship portion of its schedule this weekend as the Vols travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala, for the SEC Outdoor Championships, to be contested Thursday through Sunday on the campus of the University of Alabama.
"This will be one of the best track and field meets in the world," head coach Bill Webb said. "I think the championship will be a three or four team battle, including Arkansas, LSU, Florida and Tennessee. Auburn is a tremendous team on the national level, but may not have the depth to compete at the conference."
The SEC outdoor championships traditionally rate as the most anticipated meet of the year for the Vols for good reason, as Tennessee has captured a league-best 24 SEC outdoor titles and 67 total SEC championships, 24 more than Arkansas in second place. Some think it's harder for a team to win the SEC title than the NCAA title.
Eleven conference schools, Vanderbilt doesn't have a men's team, meet in Tuscaloosa with hopes of claiming the title of champion in the nation's best track and field conference. With only three exceptions, SEC teams have won every men's NCAA outdoor title since 1989, including two by the Vols in 1991 and 2001. The SEC's national dominance appears most strikingly at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where the conference has placed at least three teams in the top-six every year since 1999. During this eight-year run the SEC swept the top-three positions in 2004 and 2005, placed five teams in the top-seven in 2003 and won six overall team championships.
Tennessee's coaching staff narrowed its travel squad to the mandated 30 athletes for the SEC outdoor meet. The Volunteers field the largest contingent in the 5,000, sending six runners into the race. Tennessee has at least one competitor in every event except the long jump.
"Tuscaloosa will be one of the places to be this weekend for great track and field," Webb said. "We would like to move up a spot after being second at the last three conference championship meets. There will be a lot of challenges, both for the elite guys such as Chris Helwick, Rubin Williams, Michael Hogue, Tyler DeVault and Yarrick Kincaid, as well as the rest of the team."
Tennessee sends three athletes to Tuscaloosa currently ranked first on the SEC performance list. All-America Hogue, the two-time defending indoor conference champion in the pole vault, leads the conference by almost four inches in the event. All-America Evander Wells, a freshman from Stone Mountain, Ga., also holds a top mark entering the conference championships as his 20.43 clocking in the 200 stands as the second-fastest collegiate time in the nation this season, trailing only four-time NCAA champion Walter Dix from Florida State. Team captain Helwick, last year's Commissioner's Trophy winner, leads the decathlon.
Team captain DeVault enters the conference championships with the second-best time in the 1,500, while fellow middle-distance runners Kincaid and Andrew Dawson are third and fourth, respectively, in the 800. Senior Jeff Day is third in the conference in the steeplechase. Freshman Kyle Stevenson stands fourth on the SEC list in the 200, while senior Andy Baksa has the fifth-fastest time in the 5,000 and 10,000. The Vols 4x100 relay team of Matthieu Pritchett, Wells, Stevenson and Williams is third.
Senior Andy Lane is currently third in the pole vault with his season-best clearance of 16-10 3/4. Freshman Brad Holtz earned a regional-qualifying mark of 16-6 3/4 and sits in a five-way tie for fourth in the pole vault. Sophomore Matthew Maloney ranks third in the javelin, followed by Helwick in fifth in the event. Sophomore Akeem Hardnett is third in the triple jump, and fellow sophomore Richard Wooten ranks fourth in the hammer throw and fifth in the shot put.
Team captain Jangy Addy enters the decathlon as the reigning conference indoor champion in the heptathlon. Addy was injured during the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships after recording a personal-best score of 5,688 points during the SEC championships. He has not competed in a decathlon this season, but did run a personal-best and regional-qualifying time of 14.06 in the 110 hurdles during the Smoky Mountain Twilight.
Pritchett, Stevenson, Wells and Williams are joined by senior Jacob Dennis and freshmen Samdi Fraser and Nathan Grace to comprise the Vols sprint corps. Freshman De'Lon Isom leads the hurdlers, which include Addy, juniors Kris Fant and Carjay Lyles and freshman John Hewitt. Lyles also is entered in the triple jump along with Hardnett.
Baksa, Dawson, Day, DeVault and Kincaid are part of a numerous contingent of runners competing in the middle-distance and distance events for Tennessee. The Vols are also sending senior Ben Lukowski, junior Matt Piccarello and sophomore Steve Tobin to round out the competitors in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000.
Regional-qualifiers Kevin Duffy and Nick Panezich join Helwick, Maloney and Wooten to complete Tennessee's throwing corps. Helwick and freshman Brenard Wilson are entered in the high jump. Helwick joins Hogue, Holtz and Lane as Tennessee attempts to bring home the pole vault title for the fourth consecutive SEC championship meet.
"We tell our guys at this time of the year that everybody checks their credentials at the door and starts from scratch," Webb said. "The teams that get surprises in the sixth, seventh and eighth places will prevail. We have a history of stepping up at the conference meet, and I feel good about where we are going into this meet."
The SEC Outdoor Championships begin Thursday at 2:30 p.m. CT with the decathlon. Action continues throughout the weekend until the 4x400 relay caps the meet at 8:35 p.m. on Sunday. Live results can be found at UTsports.com.
VOLS NOW SEVENTH IN TRACKWIRE POLL
Tennessee men's track and field team is now seventh in this week's Trackwire poll. The Vols, who were tied for sixth last week, are projected to score 25 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, where he has been ranked all season. Freshman Evander Wells, who holds the second-fastest time recorded in the NCAA so far this season in the 200, is ranked fourth in the event. Wells and Williams are also ranked 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 100.
Sophomore Matthew Maloney, who ranks sixth all-time in school history with his throw of 228-10 in the javelin, is ranked sixth in the event. Two-time defending SEC indoor champion Michael Hogue, who finished the outdoor season a perfect five-for-five in the pole vault, is ranked 12th in the event. The Vols 4x100 relay team remained in eighth.
Defending outdoor champion Florida State leads the rankings with 63 points. Southern California is second with 51 points, followed by Auburn in third with 32. LSU and Louisville are tied for fourth with 31 points. Florida (10th, 23 points), Mississippi (21st, 14 points), Georgia (24th, 12 points) and Arkansas (25th-tie, 11 points) are also ranked, giving the SEC seven teams in this week's poll which is more than any other 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.
