University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Finish 3rd at SEC Championships
May 18, 2008 | Men's Track
Results
The Tennessee men???s track and field team finished third with 97.5 points Sunday at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Auburn, Ala.
???We had a good meet,??? head coach Bill Webb said. ???There were so many places where we competed and scrapped for points. I???m proud of our guys. Arkansas and LSU are tough teams and the three of us battled. This was one of the toughest SEC meets at the top and we had to fight. Our guys ran fantastic races in the 100 and 200, but were beat in great races. The whole team competed right until the end. This conference is outrageously good. I don???t see the regional meet being any tougher.???
Freshman Joseph Berry won Tennessee???s sixth consecutive SEC pole vault title, continuing a streak that began at the 2006 SEC Indoor Championships. The Horsham, Pa., native cleared a personal-best height of 17-2 3/4 to earn his first conference title after taking runner-up honors to teammate Michael Hogue at this year???s indoor championships. Berry???s clearance also breaks his own Hutsell-Rosen Track facility record of 16-6 3/4 set earlier this season. Two days after recording a personal-best score of 7,360 and a third-place finish in the decathlon, freshman Michael Ayers vaulted over the bar at a regional-qualifying height of 16-6 3/4 and increased his personal-best mark by four inches to take fifth. Sophomore Brad Holtz scored an eighth-place finish with his 16-2 3/4 clearance.
Tennessee is the only school to win six straight SEC pole vault titles, a feat the Vols have now accomplished three times. The Vols won eight in a row from the 1993 indoor championships through the 1996 outdoor championships and won six in a row beginning with the 1967 outdoor championships and stretching through the 1970 indoor championships.
???It feels amazing to win the SEC championship,??? Berry said. ???Since Hogue didn???t compete, we really counted on the younger guys to step up and keep the winning streak. (Former Vols) Lawrence Johnson, Tim Mack and Adam Smith had eight in a row (from 1993-96), so that gave me a lot of motivation. All of our vaulters did a great job and we had a lot of support.???
Junior Akeem Hardnett finished second in the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 51-5 3/4 that extended his personal-best mark in the event by five inches and moved the Fayetteville, Ga., native to ninth on Tennessee???s all-time performance list in the event. Fellow junior Matthew Maloney also claimed runner-up honors as his javelin throw of 223-9 ranked second in the competition. The Barrington, R.I., native finished second in the javelin at last year???s conference championship meet on his way to All-America honors.
Fourteen-time All-America Rubin Williams finished second in the 200 with a season-best time of 20.41. Earlier in the day, Williams moved to 10th on Tennessee???s all-time performance list in the 100 with his fourth-place, personal-best clocking of 10.19. Four-time All-America Evander Wells ran to a third-place finish in the 200 in a season-best time of 20.50 after running a personal-best time of 10.25 to finish sixth in the 100. Senior Matthieu Pritchett finished ninth in the 100 with a season-best time of 10.40.
Pritchett, Wells, Kyle Stevenson and Williams teamed up to finish second in the 4x100 relay in a season-best time of 38.82. Tennessee???s 4x400 relay team of Samdi Fraser, Stevenson, Williams and Wells ran a season-best time of 3:06.51, the relay???s fastest time of the season by two seconds, and were led by Williams??? 44.8 split.
Senior Andrew Dawson finished fourth in the 1,500 with his time of 3:47.29 after running to a fourth-place finish in the 800 last year. All-America Yarrick Kincaid scored in his third straight outdoor meet and sixth consecutive SEC championship meet overall with his eighth-place finish in the 800 in a season-best time of 1:49.12.
Sophomore Brenard Wilson recorded the highest finish of his career at an SEC meet as he tied for fourth in the high jump with a season-best clearance of 6-8 3/4. Team captain and three-time All-America Jangy Addy ran to a seventh-place finish in the 110 hurdles, while freshman Charlton Rolle earned his first points at an SEC meet with an eight-place running in the 110 hurdles.
Junior Richard Wooten finished 11th in the shot put with a throw of 54-10 3/4, while fellow junior Nick Panezich placed 12th with his mark of 54-6. Seniors Matt Piccarello and Chris Platt finished the 5,000 in 14:32.54 and 14:58.64, respectively. Freshman Michael Spooner ran to a personal-best time of 15:03.44, and fellow freshman Chris Rapp clocked a personal-best time of 15:05.12.
Arkansas won the team title with 131.5 points. The Razorbacks were followed by LSU with 122 points. Florida and Auburn rounded out the top five behind the Vols with 80 and 78.2 points, respectively.
Tennessee finished as the highest Eastern Division team at the SEC Outdoor Championships for the 11th time, more than any other division opponent, since the conference began using the current 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring format in 1993. The Vols have finished in the top three at four consecutive SEC Outdoor Championships, including last year???s conference title, and eight straight overall conference championship meets.
Tennessee returns to the track May 30-31 in Fayetteville, Ark., at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships.
SEC Outdoor Championships, Auburn, Ala.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
| Final Team Standings | ||
| 1. | Arkansas | 131.50 |
| 2. | LSU | 122 |
| 3. | Tennessee | 97.5 |
| 4. | Florida | 80 |
| 5. | Auburn | 78.2 |
| 6. | Kentucky | 72 |
| 7. | South Carolina | 57 |
| 8. | Mississippi St. | 56.2 |
| 9. | Alabama | 46.2 |
| 10. | Georgia | 43.4 |
| 11. | Mississippi | 35 |
| 100 | ||
| 1. | Richard Thompson, LSU | 9.93* FR, MR |
| 4. | Rubin Williams, Tenn. | 10.19* PR |
| 6. | Evander Wells, Tenn. | 10.25* PR |
| 9. | Matthieu Pritchett, Tenn. | 10.40* SB |
| 200 | ||
| 1. | Richard Thompson, LSU | 20.23* FR |
| 2. | Rubin Williams, Tenn. | 20.41* SB |
| 3. | Evander Wells, Tenn. | 20.50* SB |
| -- | Matthieu Pritchett, Tenn. | DNF |
| 800 | ||
| 1. | Elkana Kosgei, LSU | 1:47.05* FR |
| 8. | Yarrick Kincaid, Tenn. | 1:49.12* SB |
| 1,500 | ||
| 1. | Felix Kiboiywo, Auburn | 3:45.81* |
| 4. | Andrew Dawson, Tenn. | 3:47.29* |
| 5,000 | ||
| 1. | James Strang, Ark. | 13:44.18* FR |
| 19. | Matt Piccarello, Tenn. | 14:32.54 |
| 28. | Chris Platt, Tenn. | 14:58.64 |
| 33. | Michael Spooner, Tenn. | 15:03.44 PR |
| 34. | Chris Rapp, Tenn. | 15:05.12 PR |
| 110 hurdles | ||
| 1. | Jason Richardson, S.C. | 13.21w* |
| 7. | Jangy Addy, Tenn. | 13.78w* |
| 8. | Charlton Rolle, Tenn. | 13.84w* |
| 4x100 relay | ||
| 1. | LSU | 38.67* FR, MR |
| 2. | Tennessee (Pritchett, Wells, Stevenson, Williams) | 38.82* SB |
| 4x400 relay | ||
| 1. | Kentucky | 3:04.67* FR |
| 7. | Tennessee (Fraser, Stevenson, Williams, Wells) | 3:06.51* SB |
| High jump | ||
| 1. | Grant Lindsey, Ky. | 7-0 1/2* |
| 4. | Brenard Wilson, Tenn. | 6-8 3/4 SB |
| -- | Michael Ayers, Tenn. | No Height |
| Pole vault | ||
| 1. | Joseph Berry, Tenn. | 17-2 3/4* FR, PR |
| 5. | Michael Ayers, Tenn. | 16-6 3/4* PR |
| 8. | Brad Holtz, Tenn. | 16-2 3/4 |
| Triple jump | ||
| 1. | Nkosinza Balumbu, Ark. | 53-1 1/2* |
| 2. | Akeem Hardnett, Tenn. | 51-5 3/4* PR |
| Shot put | ||
| 1. | Cory Martin, Auburn | 66-7 3/4* FR |
| 11. | Richard Wooten, Tenn. | 54-10 3/4 |
| 12. | Nick Panezich, Tenn. | 54-6 |
| Javelin | ||
| 1. | Luke Laird, Ark. | 228-4* |
| 2. | Matthew Maloney, Tenn. | 223-9* |
FR-Hutsell-Rosen Track facility record; MR-SEC Outdoor Championships meet record; PR-personal-best mark; SB-season-best mark; *-NCAA regional-qualifying mark; w-wind-aided mark
