University of Tennessee Athletics
UT Enters SECs as Defending Champs
February 27, 2008 | Women's Track
SEC Meet Notes??
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- If the fourth-ranked University of Tennessee women???s track & field team is to repeat as champion at the 2008 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships this weekend, the Lady Vols will clearly have their hands full.?? UT will be severely tested in Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday and Sunday, as Head Coach J.J. Clark???s squad does battle against a field that includes six other ranked schools, including No. 1 LSU, at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
The Big Orange women, who won SEC Indoor titles in 2005 and 2007, must contend with a deep LSU squad that has been ranked No. 1 throughout the entire indoor campaign.?? UT, which has been stationed as high as second in the USTFCCCA Rankings this season, will enter the meet at No. 4, and will also be challenged by No. 9 Arkansas, No. 14 Florida, No. 15 Mississippi, No. 22 Kentucky and No. 25 South Carolina among the 12-team field.
???We???ve come a long way and gotten better every meet, and you can really see the times dropping and the team coming together,??? Clark said.?? ???I feel good about our team and believe we are mentally in position to do well.?? We know it???s going to be a tough meet. There are always two or three teams that can win, and we have to be prepared to do our best.
???Consistency is the key.?? Everyone has to do their part, be consistent throughout the meet and try to achieve their goals.?? If they do that, then we???ll be fine.???????????????????????
Tennessee returns 14 scorers from a year ago who combined to tally 86 of the Lady Vols??? victorious 120 points.?? Georgia was the runner-up last season with 103 points, followed by LSU (101), Arkansas (83) and South Carolina (52) rounding out the top five.?? Among UT???s returnees is the team???s top scoring athlete from the 2007 meet, junior Sarah Bowman (Warrenton, Va.).?? As a sophomore, she won the mile and 3000m in Lexington, Ky., and anchored the Big Orange to a come-from-behind triumph in the distance medley relay that clinched the squad???s third-ever indoor team title (1984, 2005, 2007).
Bowman enters the meet ranked number one in the conference in the mile at 4:36.51 and anchors the league???s No. 1 distance medley relay unit, as well, joining freshman Brittany Sheffey (Bellport, N.Y.), Brittany Jones (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and Phoebe Wright (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) to fashion a top time of 11 minutes, 7.89 seconds this season.?? Bowman???s mile clocking and the DMR???s effort rank them second and third nationally, respectively. She has yet to run a 3K in 2008.
Also owning the best time in the conference in an event is junior Katie Van Horn (Glendora, N.J.), whose 16:24.28 performance in the 5000 meters at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville two weekends ago stands at the top of the league heap.?? That mark is the third-best in school history and places Van Horn seventh on the NCAA qualifying list.?? She also will run the 3000m, in which she ranks fourth in the conference at 9:35.97.
Other middle distance point hopefuls include Wright, who ranks fourth in the 800m at 2:07.19, as well as Sheffey and junior Rolanda Bell (Laurelton, N.Y.) in the mile in seventh (4:49.07) and ninth (4:50.20).
In the sprint area, seniors Courtney Champion (Lawrenceville, Ga.), LaTonya Loche (Bastrop, La.) and Cleo Tyson (Huntsville, Texas) have each scored on six difference occasions at the SEC Indoor meet during their careers.?? Champion was second in the 60m and third in the 200m in 2007, Tyson has scored three straight times in the short sprint at this meet and Loche has produced points three league indoor meets in a row, as well, in the 400 meters.
Going in, Tyson ranks third in the 60m (7.25) and eighth in the 200m (23.75), while Champion is sixth (7.32) and seventh (23.73) in those events. Loche, meanwhile, stands sixth in the 400m at 53.75.
Bolstering their efforts in the sprints, relays and jumps will be junior Celriece Law (Denver, Colo.), sophomore Lynne Layne (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and freshmen Jeneba Tarmoh (San Jose, Calif.) and Jones.?? Tarmoh ranks No. 2 in the 200m (23.27) and No. 7 in the 60m (7.34) in the SEC this season, Law is fifth in the 60m hurdles (8.37) and Layne is in the top 10 of the 60m (7.37), 200m (23.80) and long jump (19-1 1/4). They and Jones are also capable of contributing to UT???s 4x4 unit, which ranks No. 3 in the league with a readout of 3:36.89 posted by Champion, Loche, Jones and Tyson.
In the field events area, Tennessee is strong in the throws with senior Shanna Dickenson (Cincinnati, Ohio) as the returning runner-up in the weight throw and a scoring threat in the shot put.?? She has a top throw of 64-1 1/4 in the weight this season, which ranks her second in the SEC.?? Freshman Annie Alexander (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago) has demonstrated the ability to be a big point producer in the shot put, as well, as she enters the meet with the No. 2 mark in the league at 55 feet, 5 inches.?? Also back is senior Amara McKell (Nashville, Tenn.), who finished eighth in 2007 with heave of 45-8 1/2 in the shot put.
The Lady Vols also have a talented pole vaulter to contend with, too, as Alicia Essex stands fourth on the SEC performers list this season at 12-11 3/4.?? She placed fifth a year ago at this meet with a clearance of 12-4 1/2.??????????????????????????
???It???s always good to go into these types of meets with people who know how to win,??? Clark said. ???The seniors and some of the others have been here, and they know how to win. It???s always good to have that foundation in your program. I look forward to taking them out there and having them help the team complete its mission, which is to do the best we can at this SEC meet.???
Action begins on Friday with the women???s pentathlon at 4 p.m. Central.?? Tennessee???s first women???s action will be on Saturday, beginning with the pole vault at noon CT, while action winds down around 6:30 p.m.?? The final day slate runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.??
| SATURDAY, MARCH 1 EVENT (NCAA DIV. I QUALIFYING MARKS) |
| Pole Vault (Auto: 4.20, Prov: 3.95) Noon CT |
| Alicia Essex |
| 60mH Pre. (Auto: 8.14; Prov: 8.43) 1:30 p.m. CT |
| Celriece Law |
| 60m Pre. (Auto: 7.26; Prov: 7.44) 2:30 p.m. CT |
| Cleo Tyson Courtney Champion Jeneba Tarmoh Lynne Layne |
| Long Jump (Auto: 6.35, Prov: 6.10) 3 p.m. CT |
| Lynne Layne Celriece Law |
| Mile Pre. (Auto: 4:40.00; Prov: 4:48.00)b 3:10 p.m. CT |
| Sarah Bowman Brittany Sheffey Rolanda Bell |
| 400m Pre. (Auto: 52.40; Prov: 54.40)b 3:50 p.m. CT |
| LaTonya Loche |
| Shot Put (Auto: 16.90, Prov: 15.20) 4:10 p.m. CT |
| Annie Alexander Shanna Dickenson Amara McKell |
| 800m Pre. (Auto: 2:05.00, Prov: 2:09.00)b 4:30 p.m. CT |
| Phoebe Wright Kimarra McDonald |
| 200m Pre. (Auto: 23.20, Prov: 23.90)b 5:20 p.m. CT |
| Jeneba Tarmoh Cleo Tyson Courtney Champion Lynne Layne |
| 3000m Fin. (Auto: 9:15.00; Prov: 9:34)b 6:15 p.m. CT |
| Katie Van Horn Sarah Bowman |
| SUNDAY, MARCH 2 EVENT (NCAA DIV. I QUALIFYING MARKS) |
| Wt. Throw (Auto: 21.00, Prov: 18.75) 10 a.m. CT |
| Shanna Dickenson |
| Triple Jump (Auto: 13.30, Prov: 12.65) Noon CT |
| Celriece Law |
| 60mH Fin. (Auto: 8.14; Prov: 8.43) 12:35 p.m. CT |
| TBA |
| 60m Fin. (Auto: 7.26; Prov: 7.44) 12:55 p.m. CT |
| TBA |
| Mile Fin. (Auto: 4:40.00; Prov: 4:48.00)b 1:15 p.m. CT |
| TBA |
| 400m Fin. (Auto: 52.40; Prov: 54.40)b 1:35 p.m. CT |
| TBA |
| 5000m (Auto: 16:08.00, Prov: 16:45.00)b 1:55 p.m. CT |
| Katie Van Horn |
| 800m Fin. (Auto: 2:05.00, Prov: 2:09.00)b 2:15 p.m. CT |
| TBA |
| 200m Fin. (Auto: 23.20, Prov: 23.90)b 2:35 p.m. CT |
| TBA |
| DMR (Auto: 11:09.00; Prov: 11:30.00)b 3:15 p.m. CT |
| Lineup TBA |
| 4x400mR (Auto: 3:33.00, Prov: 3:40.00)b 3:45 p.m. CT |
| Lineup TBA |
| KEY |
| b - Banked Track Qualifying Standard, dnf - Did Not Finish, dnr - Did Not Run, f - Facility Record, fts - Flat Track Qualifying Standard, m - Meters, mr - meet Record, nm - No Mark Recorded, p - Prelims, s - School Record (Indoors), u - Undersized Track Qualifying Standard, * - NCAA Automatic Qualifier, + - NCAA Provisional Qualifier, ! - Personal Record (Indoors), ^ - Oversized Track Qualifying Standard |
