University of Tennessee Athletics
No. 1 Track Vols Head to Big Apple
February 07, 2008 | Men's Track
The top-ranked Tennessee men???s track and field team travels this weekend to New York City for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, held at the historic Armory.
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???This meet has been one of the highlight meets of the year for us every year,??? head coach Bill Webb said. ???We have had great performances at this meet. It???s going to be as competitive as the NCAA in most events and our guys will really get tested. It will serve as a preview of what the NCAA and SEC Championships will be like with the competitive environment. This is one of the meets we point towards and want to do well since it is a team scored competition. I look forward to seeing the Tennessee Vols compete. If you can do it up there, you can do it anywhere.???
Defending SEC???champion Rubin Williams leads Tennessee???s sprinters traveling to New York. The 12-time All-America enters the 200-meter dash with the fastest clocking in the world this year and also contests the 60 after breaking the Penn State National Invitational meet record in the event last time out. Three-time All-America Evander Wells joins Williams in the 60-200 double as the sophomore enters the weekend with the fourth-fastest 200 time in the world that ranks second among collegians. All-Americas Matthieu Pritchett and Kyle Stevenson also are expected to compete in both the 60 and 200.
Two-time All-America Michael Hogue leads Tennessee???s field event corps. The team captain won the pole vault last week at the Rod McCravy Memorial and is joined in the event by junior Brad Holtz and freshman Joseph Berry. Juniors Richard Wooten and Nick Panezich handle the throwing events for Tennessee this weekend. Wooten won the shot put two weeks ago before taking last weekend off. Both throwers are
entered in the shot put and weight throw.
Tennessee sends five competitors into the 800, the most Vol entries in any event. All-America Yarrick Kincaid and senior Andrew Dawson lead the middle-distance Vols. Kincaid finished second in the event at the Big Ten-SEC Challenge in his only attempt at that distance this season, while Dawson enters the meet with the third-fastest 800 time in the SEC this season. Freshman Axel Mostrag, senior Paul Cross and sophomore Justin Hansen also are entered in the event.
Senior Chris Platt earns double duty this weekend as he is entered in the mile and the 3,000. Platt, the Tom Black Track and Tennessee freshman record holder in the 3,000, has lowered his indoor personal-best time in the event in his last two races and won the mile at the Clemson Opener. Senior Matt Piccarello, junior Andrew Press and freshman Michael Spooner are scheduled to join Platt in the 3,000. Sophomores Samdi Fraser, Nathan Grace and John Hewitt line up for the 400.
Team captain Jangy Addy is entered in the long jump and 60 hurdles as he continues to prepare for the heptathlon at the SEC Indoor Championships later this month. Addy is joined by fellow multi-event athlete Michael Ayers, as well as junior Akeem Hardnett, who also is entered in the triple jump, and freshman Charlton Rolle, in the long jump. Rolle and senior Kris Fant return to the 60 hurdles after each athlete lowered his personal-best time in the event last weekend. They are joined by sophomore De???Lon Isom.
The New Balance Collegiate Invitational is Tennessee???s only scored meet of the indoor regular season. Tennessee, which took home the team title in 2002, finished third last year. This year, the Vols face competition from third-ranked Arkansas, fifth-ranked BYU, seventh-ranked Oklahoma, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 12 LSU, No. 21 Texas A&M, No. 24 Cal State-Northridge and No. 25 Princeton in addition to conference foe South Carolina and defending outdoor national champion Florida State.
The Armory, which is also home to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, was built in 1909 as a training center for the National Guard and by the 1920s had become one of the nation???s premier track and field facilities. It continued to lead the way for track and field venues until 1987 when it was converted into a homeless shelter. Track competition returned to the Armory in 1993 and it continues to be one of the best indoor facilities in the nation.
The New Balance Collegiate Invitational begins Friday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time with the shot put and concludes Saturday afternoon with the 4x400 relay. Live results will be available throughout the weekend at UTsports.com.
