University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols to defend SEC Title this weekend
May 14, 2008 | Men's Track
SEC Meet Notes (PDF)
The Tennessee men???s track and field team travels to Auburn, Ala., this weekend for the SEC Outdoor Championships in an effort to defend the program???s 25th conference outdoor title. The Vols scored 129.5 points last year in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to win the meet.???It seems like each year it just gets tighter and tighter at the top,??? head coach Bill Webb said. ???I see four teams battling (for the team title), with LSU probably in front. Arkansas, Florida and us are all within 10 points of each other. Any of the four teams can win it. I say every year that you have to check your credentials at the door because you never know how the points will shake out. Every event is important because you either get the points you projected or they get broken up, sometimes to your advantage and sometimes not. We are taking a tough, seasoned bunch and I feel good about the group going to SECs. No one cares that we are the defending champions. Everybody has pride.???
Tennessee???s 25 outdoor titles and 68 overall titles in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field lead the conference in both categories. The Vols have three more outdoor victories than LSU and 23 more overall SEC???titles than Arkansas, which ranks second with 45 overall team championships. In addition to their team title, the Vols have four individual crowns to defend this weekend. Senior All-Americas Jangy Addy, Michael Hogue and Rubin Williams, along with Tennessee???s 4x100 relay team, return to the conference championships looking to add another SEC title to their collection.
Addy won his first decathlon title at last year???s championships. The team captain from Norcross, Ga., put up a score of 7,461 that included a school-record decathlon shot put effort and a meet-record run in the decathlon 110 hurdles. Addy???s win was Tennessee???s third straight SEC???decathlon title. Hogue vaulted UT into the team lead as he cleared 17-1 3/4 and led four UT vaulters that finished in the top six. The Vols scored 24.5 points in the event to take the team lead that they would only briefly lose the rest of the meet. Williams lined up for the 200 one event after Tennessee fell behind in the team race by 1.5 points. The San Jose native took control and led a 1-2-5 UT finish in the event as he won in 20.60. Each of the three individuals have won their events indoors and outdoors at the last three SEC???championship meets. Tennessee???s 4x100 relay team of Matthieu Pritchett, Evander Wells, Kyle Stevenson and Williams passed the baton around the track in 38.91 to take the SEC crown in that event as well.
Tennessee???s biggest field is in the 100 and 200, as senior Blake Jones joins the 4x100 quartet for both events. The Vols travel to Auburn with at least one athlete entered in all 21 events.
The Vols have seven performances ranked in the top three on the SEC performance list. Freshman Joseph Berry, who tied Auburn???s Hutsell-Rosen Track record earlier this season, ranks second in the pole vault, and Addy enters the conference championships second in the decathlon. Freshman Michael Ayers is third in the decathlon, while senior Andrew Dawson is third in the 1,500, junior Akeem Hardnett is third in the triple jump and Williams checks in the third spot in the 200. The 4x100 relay has the second-fastest clocking in the conference this season.
Joining Berry and Hogue in the pole vault is sophomore Brad Holtz, who is tied for fifth on the conference performance list, and Ayers, who also attempted the multi event-pole vault double at SEC indoors. Ayers also is entered in the high jump, where he joins sophomore Brenard Wilson, who has the fifth-highest clearance in the conference this season. Wilson and fellow sophomore Jonathan Fluellen, who makes his conference championship debut this weekend, are expected to handle Tennessee???s long jump duties.
Dawson tackles the 1,500 one week after narrowly missing the school record in the mile. Dawson???s time of 4:00.51, which is 3:42.31 when converted to 1,500 meters, ranks second on Tennessee???s all-time performance list, just behind Ken Barbee???s school record of 4:00.19. Barbee and Dawson are the only two Vol runners to record a sub-4:01 mile. Dawson is joined by freshman Michael Spooner for the 1,500. Spooner also is expected to line up for the 5,000, along with seniors Matt Piccarello and Chris Platt. Freshman Chris Rapp is entered in the steeplechase and 5,000. Rapp lowered his personal-best time in the steeplechase while winning the event at the Smoky Mountain Twilight for his first collegiate victory. Piccarello is Tennessee???s lone entrant in the 10,000 after finishing ninth in the event at the 2006 SEC Outdoor Championships.
All-America Yarrick Kincaid leads three Tennessee runners in the 800. The Knoxville native has finished in the top five in the event at the last two SEC Outdoor Championships and ranks 10th on Tennessee???s all-time performance list in the 800. He is joined by All-America Paul Cross, the 2004 SEC outdoor champion in the 800 who ranks third on Tennessee???s all-time performance list, and freshman Axel Mostrag, who finished sixth in the event at the SEC Indoor Championships to earn All-SEC Freshman recognition.
Tennessee sends its junior throwing trio out to handle all four throwing events. Nick Panezich is entered in the discus, shot put and hammer throw. The Poland, Ohio, native has met the regional-qualifying standard in all three events and is the only Vol ever to qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships in three individual events, a feat he also accomplished last season. Richard Wooten is entered in the shot put and hammer throw. The Memphis native improved his standing in fifth on Tennessee???s all-time performance list in the hammer throw with his 208-4 effort at the Smoky Mountain Twilight last week. All-America Matthew Maloney takes on the hammer throw and javelin. He currently ranks fourth in the SEC in the javelin, an event he earned All-America honors in after finishing second at the SEC Outdoor Championships last season. The Barrington, R.I., native also ranks 10th on Tennessee???s all-time performance list in the hammer throw.
In addition to the decathlon, Addy also joins sophomore De???Lon Isom and freshman Charlton Rolle in the 110 hurdles. Addy has finished third in the 60 hurdles at the last two SEC Indoor Championships, but has not contested the 110 hurdles at an SEC meet. Isom finished eighth in the 110 hurdles last season to score his first conference points before finishing sixth in the 60 hurdles indoors this year. Rolle enters the meet with the fastest time of the trio. His 13.68 clocking from the Sea Ray Relays ranks fifth in the conference this season and 10th on Tennessee???s all-time performance list. Sophomore John Hewitt is Tennessee???s only entry in the 400 hurdles three weeks after running to a personal-best and regional-qualifying time of 52.42 at the Drake Relays. Sophomores Samdi Fraser and Nathan Grace make up Tennessee???s efforts in the 400.
???This is a fantastic conference, the best in the nation,??? Webb said. ???There are great events all over the board with the throws, sprints, hurdles and distances. This will be highly competitive and I just hope it???s a fair meet and everyone gets a chance. We hope our guys will rise to the occasion to meet and exceed expectations as usually has happened at SECs.???
Tennessee has earned 213 individual outdoor SEC championships, which ranks second all-time in the conference. Since the SEC began using the current 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring format in 1993, Tennessee has finished as the top Eastern Division team at the outdoor conference championship meet 10 times, including overall titles in 2001, 2002 and 2007. In 1997, the last time the SEC Outdoor Championships were held in Auburn, the Vols finished fourth with 88 points.
The SEC Outdoor Championships begin with the decathlon Thursday at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. The decathlon concludes Friday, with the first event of the day scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday feature complete days of competition, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Live results can be found throughout the weekend at UTsports.com. Fox Sports Net is scheduled to air a tape-delayed broadcast of the championships Sunday, May 25 from 7-9 p.m.
