University of Tennessee Athletics
UT Wins Three Events Friday at Volunteer Track Classic
April 17, 2009 | Women's Track
April 17, 2009
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The sixth-ranked University of Tennessee women, competing against Alabama, Ohio State and Carson-Newman, won three of six events Friday on the first day of the 46th annual Volunteer Track Classic at UT's Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium.
Senior pole vaulter Alicia Essex won for the second straight weekend and carded her fourth career outdoor victory with a clearance of 12 feet, 11 1/2 inches. For the second time in seven days she also went for the school record, but she missed on her three tries at 13-8. The UT record of 13-7 3/4 still belongs to Jessica Reust. Essex's Sea Rays mark of 13-7 1/4 remains No. 2 in school history.
Sophomore Annie Alexander picked up Tennessee's first triumph of the day, winning the shot put by nearly four feet with a heave of 52-10 3/4. It was her fourth career outdoor shot victory and her second in as many weeks, as well, following her Sea Ray Relays win. Freshmen Laquoya Kelly and Akeela Bravo placed third and sixth, respectively, with top measurements of 43-8 and 38-2.
Utilizing three-fourths of their world-record distance medley relay lineup the Lady Vols also won the 4x800m relay. The quartet of freshman Chanelle Price, senior Rolanda Bell, senior Sarah Bowman and junior Phoebe Wright covered the distance in 8:52.79.
In the first event of the meet, the hammer throw, Kelly charted the Big Orange's longest mark. Her career-best effort of 157-1 was good for third place. Sophomore Holly Kane, a product of Karns High School, was sixth at 142-2, while freshmen Bravo and Christine Coppola placed seventh and ninth, respectively, at 141-3 and 135-8.
"We are looking good and sharpening up for next weekend's meets in Philadelphia (Penn Relays) and California (UCSD Triton Inv. for throwers)," UT Head Coach J.J. Clark said. "It's just a nice home meet to get some good work in, and I think we are doing just that.
"We're going to run hard tomorrow and focus on execution in some of the throws and jumps. We look forward to getting some more work in, and hopefully the weather will cooperate with us this weekend. So far, so good."
In the other three events on Friday, Alabama's Angelica Howard won the hammer throw at 197-5, Ohio State's Alison Roquet took the triple jump with a leap of 34-9 and Ohio State's Jordan Jennewine claimed the 3000-meter run title in 9:44.32. Lady Vol junior Michele Levy and freshman Elizabeth Tiller finished sixth and eighth, respectively, in the 3K with times of 10:46.86 and 11:29.72, respectively. The 3000m steeplechase, which was supposed to be the first college race of the day, was cancelled due to a lack of entries.
Saturday's collegiate action gets underway at 10:30 a.m. with the 400m hurdles and concludes around 4:35 p.m. with the 4x400m relay. Those are just two of the 13 events that the Lady Vols will be entered in on the final day.
| FRIDAY, APRIL 17 | ||
| Hammer Throw (Regional: 177-8/54.15m) Noon | ||
| 3rd | Laquoya Kelly | 157-1/47.89m! |
| 6th | Holly Kane | 142-2/43.33m |
| 7th | Akeela Bravo | 141-3/43.05m |
| 9th | Christine Coppola | 135-8/41.35m! |
| Shot Put (Regional: 46-11/14.30m) 5:00 p.m. | ||
| 1st | Annie Alexander | 52-10.75/16.12m# |
| 3rd | Laquoya Kelly | 43-8/13.31m |
| 6th | Akeela Bravo | 38-2/11.63m |
| Pole Vault (Regional: 12-7.50/3.85m) 5:00 p.m. | ||
| 1st | Alicia Essex | 12-11.50/3.95m# |
| 4x800m Relay (Not An NCAA Event) 6:25 p.m. | ||
| 1st | Chanelle Price/Rolanda Bell/Sarah Bowman/Phoebe Wright | 8:52.79 |
| 2nd | Ramzee Fondren/Kim White/Charity Honeycutt/Chelsea Knotts | 9:34.80 |
| 3000m (Not An NCAA Event) 9:10 p.m. | ||
| 6th | Michele Levy | 10:46.86! |
| 8th | Elizabeth Tiller | 11:29.72! |
| SATURDAY, APRIL 18 | ||
| 400mH (Regional: 1:00.82) 10:30 a.m. | ||
| Ellen Wortham, Amanda Alexander | ||
| 100mH (Regional: 13.92) Noon | ||
| Celriece Law, Chardae Hancock | ||
| 4x100m Relay (Regional: 45.70) 12:30 p.m. | ||
| Chardae Hancock/Ashley Harris/Celriece Law/Lynne Layne | ||
| Discus (Regional: 155-2/47.30m) 12:30 p.m. | ||
| Annie Alexander, Akeela Bravo, Christine Coppola | ||
| High Jump (Regional: 5-8.75/1.75m) 12:30 p.m. | ||
| Ellen Wortham | ||
| 1500m (Regional: 4:27.80) 1:05 p.m. | ||
| Jackie Areson, Elizabeth Altizer, Ramzee Fondren | ||
| Long Jump (Regional: 19-8.25/6.00m) 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Lynne Layne, Celriece Law | ||
| 100m (Regional: 11.75) 2:15 p.m. | ||
| Lynne Layne, Celriece Law, Ellen Wortham, Ashley Harris, Chardae Hancock, Amanda Alexander | ||
| Javelin (Regional: 142-6/43.45m) 2:15 p.m. | ||
| Holly Kane, Brittany Napoli | ||
| 400m (Regional: 54.61) 2:35 p.m. | ||
| Phoebe Wright, Chanelle Price, Ellen Wortham, Amanda Alexander, Kimarra McDonald, Kim White | ||
| 800m (Regional: 2:09.80) 2:50 p.m. | ||
| Sarah Bowman, Rolanda Bell, Elizabeth Altizer, Kim White, Charity Honeycutt, Chelsea Knotts | ||
| 200m (Regional: 23.96) 3:40 p.m. | ||
| Lynne Layne, Celriece Law, Ashley Harris, Amanda Alexander, Chardae Hancock | ||
| 4x400m Relay (Regional: 3:42.00) 4:35 p.m. | ||
| A: Brittany Jones/Chanelle Price/Ellen Wortham/Phoebe Wright | ||
| B: Amanda Alexander/Sarah Bowman/Ramzee Fondren/Kimarra McDonald | ||
* All Times Eastern
KEY
# - NCAA Regional Qualifier, * - NCAA Automatic Qualifier, + - NCAA Provisional Qualifier, ! - Personal Record (Outdoors), dnf - Did Not Finish, dnq - Did Not Qualify, dnr - Did Not Run, dns - Did Not Start, dq - Disqualified, f - Facility Record, fs - False Start, h - Hand Times, nm - No Mark, p - Prelims, s - School Record (Outdoors).
