University of Tennessee Athletics
Track Vols Set for NCAA Championships
June 08, 2009 | Men's Track
June 8, 2009
2009 Track NCAA Championship Notes 
The Tennessee men's track and field team travels to Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA Championships held at John McDonnell Field on June 10 -13. Eight Volunteers have qualified in seven different events.
"This is a great track meet with the very best competition in the country," Tennessee head coach Bill Webb said. "Our eight guys are looking forward to competing and representing Tennessee well. We have a couple of athletes who should score for us, and I expect a few more of our guys to come in and upset the descending order list."
Tennessee has two athletes who earned automatic berths based on top-five finishes at the NCAA Mideast Regional. Sophomore Charlton Rolle, who finished third at the regional meet, will make his second appearance at the NCAA Championships in the 110m hurdles looking to improve on his 15th-place finish from a season ago. Rolle's top time from the 2009 season of 13.77 ranks 18th in the nation.
The second athlete to earn an automatic berth is senior Nick Panezich, who placed third in the shot at the regional meet. Panezich is making his first-ever appearance at an outdoor NCAA Championship meet after finishing 10th indoors this season. His top outdoor mark from this season of 18.23m (59-9.75) ranks 23rd in the nation.
Five other Vols earned competition spots based on the strength of elite performances from the 2009 season. Sophomore Michael Ayers will make his second NCAA appearance after picking up an at-large bid in the decathlon from his 7,480-point effort at the Sea Ray Relays. Ayers will look to improve on his 12th-place, All-America finish from the 2008 NCAA decathlon. He ranks 10th nationally entering the meet.
Sophomore Joe Berry won his third straight SEC Championship in the pole vault earlier this season by clearing 5.38m (17-7.75), and that performance ranks ninth nationally. Berry earned an automatic spot last season by way of his Mideast Region crown and went on to finish 10th at the NCAA Championships.
Freshmen Emerson Peacock and Joe Franklin both clocked sub-1:48.5 times this season in the 800m, which ranked them 12th and 13th on the NCAA performance list. Franklin was the runner-up at the SEC Championships earlier this season.
Senior Akeem Hardnett narrowly missed an automatic bid in the triple jump with his sixth-place finish at the Mideast Regional, but the mark he posted there, 15.95m (52-4), ranks 18th on the national list. It is his first-ever NCAA appearance.
Junior Evander Wells will make his third career NCAA outdoor appearance and run the 100m in search of his ninth All-America certificate. His top time of 10.26 ranks 13th nationally.
Six of UT's eight competitors will be in action on June 10 as the decathlon and individual event qualification begins. Rolle does not begin qualifying in the 110m hurdles until June 11, and Hardnett triple jumps for the first time on June 12.
Live results will be available throughout all four days of the meet at UTsports.com and NCAAsports.com. Some event finals will be televised live June 12 at 7 pm ET on CBS College Sports and June 13 at 1 pm ET on CBS.
| Tennessee at the NCAA Championships | |||
| (All Times Eastern) | |||
| Wednesday, June 10 | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | Decathlon | Day One | Michael Ayers |
| 4:00 p.m. | Shot Put | Qualifying | Nick Panezich |
| 5:30 p.m. | Pole Vault | Qualifying | Joe Berry |
| 6:45 p.m. | 800m | First Round | Joe Franklin, Emerson Peacock |
| 7:15 p.m. | 100m | First Round | Evander Wells |
| 8:40 p.m. | 100m | Semifinal | Evander Wells |
| Thursday, June 11 | |||
| 3:30 p.m. | Decathlon | Day Two | Michael Ayers |
| 6:50 p.m. | 110m Hurdles | First Round | Charlton Rolle |
| 7:15 p.m. | Shot Put | Finals | Nick Panezich |
| 8:25 p.m. | 800m | Semifinals | Joe Franklin, Emerson Peacock |
| Friday, June 12 | |||
| 4:45 p.m. | Pole Vault | Final | Joe Berry |
| 5:30 p.m. | Triple Jump | Qualifying | Akeem Hardnett |
| 8:05 p.m. | 110m Hurdles | Semifinal | Charlton Rolle |
| 8:45 p.m. | 100m | Final | Evander Wells |
| Saturday, June 13 | |||
| 1 p.m. | Triple Jump | Final | Akeem Hardnett |
| 1:28 p.m. | 800m | Final | Joe Franklin, Emerson Peacock |
| 1:59 p.m. | 110m Hurdles | Final | Charlton Rolle |
