University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols Win Nine Events At Akron Invitational
February 11, 2012 | Women's Track
Feb. 11, 2012
AKRON, Ohio -- The Tennessee track & field teams got some good work in Saturday at Stile Field House, as they completed their final preparations for the upcoming SEC Indoor Championships. The Lady Vols and Vols combined to win 10 Gold Division events and three Blue Division races in a variety of event areas at the Akron Invitational.
"We had our best meet of the year," UT Director of Track & Field J.J. Clark said about his program's performance. "We had a lot of personal records and wins, from the sprints, to the distances, to the throws, to the jumps. We just had some very good results all across the board.
"The timing for this kind of performance is very good as we prepare to spend the next two weeks preparing for the conference meet. It was just a good day overall, and now we'll regroup and get ready for Lexington."
The Lady Vols posted seven Gold victories, led by double victor Kia Jackson. The junior won both sprint titles with career-best times, taking the 60-meter dash in 7.47 seconds and wrapping up the 200 meters in 24.44. It marked the first time in her career she had finished first at a meet. Senior Ashley Harris grabbed third in the 200 at 24.95.
The Vols also dominated the sprints, with freshman Jamol James winning the 60m dash in a career-best reading of 6.72 to move to No. 12 on UT's all-time performers list in that event. Sophomore Jarael Nelvis seized the 200 crown, covering the distance in 21.44 as he and James won their first events as Vols. Junior Arnez Hardnick, a transfer from Grambling, was third in the 200 and fourth in the 60, carding personal records of 21.97 and 6.93, respectively.
As they did in the first meet of the season at the Kentucky Invitational, Vol freshman Matthew Hoty and Lady Vol senior Annie Alexander swept the shot put competitions. Alexander won for the third time in five outings in 2012, stretching the tape measure to 53-6 1/2, while Hoty collected his second win with a blast of 57-11 1/4. Lady Vol junior Aslynn Halvorson was third in the women's shot with a career-best toss of 48-9.
The Lady Vols were dominant in the middle distance area, claiming first-place honors in both the mile and 800 meters. Senior Chanelle Price, already an automatic NCAA qualifier this season in the 800, trained victoriously in the mile in Akron with a season best of 4:45.15, while junior Kelsey Kane was third in a career-topping 4:57.47. Sophomore Kianna Ruff, meanwhile, won the 800 in Price's absence from the event, carding a PR of her own with a 2:07.64 effort.
Tennessee also recorded women's triumphs in the triple jump from Allison Outerbridge, at 38-6 3/4, and in the 4x400m relay. The tandem of senior Ellen Wortham, Ruff, Price and junior Nijgia Snapp moved the baton around the oval in 3:42.28 for the Big Orange.
Wortham and Vol senior Terry Benson each uncorked personal-record performances in the 60m hurdles. Wortham earned runner-up status in women's race in 8.43, while Benson was fourth in the men's race in 8.10. Lady Vol Bianca Blair was just behind Wortham and barely shy of her PR, taking third in 8.54.
The Vols added three more third-place efforts, while the Lady Vols produced one. Senior Robert Rasnick delivered one of those in the pole vault, clearing a career-best height of 17-3 3/4, while Chase Brannon settled for fourth at the same height on more attempts. Rookie Tyler Anderson (triple jump) and senior Varick Tucker added the others, charting marks of 47-1 3/4 (a career best) and 48.15, respectively. For the UT women, sophomore Amber Zimmerman rustled up a third-place showing in the 3000m in a career-best time of 10:02.42.
In the Blue Division, the designation given the slower heats, Tennessee winners included Vol Garrek Thompson in the 400m (49.15) and Lady Vols Julia Petree in the 400m (56.66) and Ty-Vonna Johnson in the 800m (2:14.81).
Vol football player Rajion Neal saw his first action with the track & field team. The sophomore finished sixth in the Blue Division 200m dash in 22.67 and was 12th-fastest in the preliminary round of the 60 meters, finishing in 7.02.
Tennessee is off next weekend before heading to Lexington, Ky., for the SEC Indoor meet on Feb. 24-26.
60m Final (Gold Div.): 1. Kia Jackson, 7.47!
200m Final (Gold Div.): 1. Kia Jackson, 24.44^!; 3. Ashley Harris, 24.95^; 7. Kasha McDougald, 25.46^
Mile Final (Gold Div.): 1. Chanelle Price, 4:45.15^; 3. Kelsey Kane, 4:57.47^!; 6. Elizabeth Altizer, 5:02.14^!; nm - Nijgia Snapp, dnf
800m Final (Gold Div.): 1. Kianna Ruff, 2:07.64^!; 4. Brittney Jackson, 2:13.17^; dnf - Nijgia Snapp
4x400m Final (Gold Div.): 1. Ellen Wortham / Kianna Ruff / Chanelle Price / Nijgia Snapp, 3:42.28^; 3. Ty-Vonna Johnson / Brittney Jackson / Bianca Blair / Ashley Harris, 3:52.47^
Shot Put Final (Gold Div.): 1. Annie Alexander, 53-6.50/16.32m; 3. Aslynn Halvorson, 48-9/14.86m!
Triple Jump Final (Gold Div.): 1. Allison Outerbridge, 38-6.75/11.75m
60m Hurdles Final (Gold Div.): 2. Ellen Wortham, 8.43!; 3. Bianca Blair, 8.54
3000m Final (Gold Div.): 3. Amber Zimmerman, 10:02.42^!
High Jump Final (Gold Div.): 4. Ellen Wortham, 5-5/1.65m
Long Jump Final (Gold Div.): 5. Kia Jackson, 17-10.25/5.44m; 8. Jazmen Townsend, 17-3.25/5.26m
Weight Throw Final (Gold Div.): 6. Jessie Harrison, 59-9.75/18.23m; 11. Laquoya Kelly, 55-3/16.84m
Pole Vault Final (Gold Div.): 8. Linda Hadfield, 12-2.50/3.73m; 14. Erin Champion, 11-2.50/3.42m
400 Final (Blue Div.): 1. Julia Petree, 56.66^!
800 Final (Blue Div.): 1. Ty-Vonna Johnson, 2:14.81^; 7. Patavia Lowery, 2:18.36^
200 Final (Blue Div.): 2. Julia Petree, 25.49^; 20. Jazmen Townsend, 26.37^
Shot Put Final (Blue Div.): nm - Ellen Wortham, F
60m Hurdles Prelims: adv. Ellen Wortham, 8.59p/1st, ht. 2 (2nd); adv. Bianca Blair, 8.62p/1st, ht. 5 (3rd); 9. Kasha McDougald, 8.87p/2nd, ht. 2
60m Prelims: adv. Kia Jackson, 7.58p/1st, ht. 3 (2nd)
60m Final (Gold Div.): 1. Jamol James, 6.72!; 4. Arnez Hardnick, 6.93!; 7. Reggie Juin, 6.97!
200m Final (Gold Div.): 1. Jarael Nelvis, 21.44^; 3. Arnez Hardnick, 21.97^!; 14. Deaundra Dailey, 22.61^
Shot Put Final (Gold Div.): 1. Matthew Hoty, 57-11.25/17.66m
Pole Vault Final (Gold Div.): 3. Robert Rasnick, 17-3.75/5.28m!; 4. Chase Brannon, 17-3.75/5.28m; 9. Tyler Porter, 16-6/5.03m
400m Final (Gold Div.): 3. Varick Tucker, 48.15^
Triple Jump Final (Gold Div.): 3. Tyler Anderson, 47-1.75/14.37m!
Long Jump (Gold Div.): 4. Desmond Brown, 23-6/7.16m; 8. Tyler Anderson, 22-7/6.88m
4x400m Final (Gold Div.): 4. Varick Tucker / Deaundra Dailey / Nick Kaiser / Terry Benson, 3:20.52^
60m Hurdles Final (Gold Div.): 4. Terry Benson, 8.10!
Mile Final (Gold Div.): 6. Daniel Tobin, 4:14.29^!
800m Final (Gold Div.): 7. Nick Kaiser, 1:53.69^; 12. Breon Dixon, 1:58.71^; 13. Garrek Thompson, 1:59.62^
3000m Final (Gold Div.): 8. Tom Gilmartin, 8:43.67^; 11. Daniel Tobin, 8:54.57^; 12. Alex McCandless, 8:59.05^
400 Final (Blue Div.): 1. Garrek Thompson, 49.15^!; 2. Michael Williams, 49.48^!
200 Final (Blue Div.): 2. Reggie Juin, 22.30^!; 6. Rajion Neal, 22.67^!
Mile Final (Blue Div.): 3. Jack Felix, 4:22.19^!; 5. Alex McCandless, 4:23.91^
Weight Throw Final (Blue Div.): 4. Drew Thomas, 57-9.75/17.62m
60m Prelims: adv. Jamol James, 6.80p/1st, ht. 2 (1st); adv. Arnez Hardnick, 6.95p!/2nd, ht. 5 (5th); adv. Reggie Juin, 6.98p!/3rd, ht. 3 (8th); 12. Rajion Neal, 7.02p!/1st, ht. 1; nm - Desmond Brown, fs
60m Hurdles Prelims: adv. Terry Benson, 8.23p/2nd, ht. 3 (4th)
* - NCAA Automatic Mark, ! - Personal Best, ^ - Oversized Track, $ - SEC Record, a - American Record, adv. - Advanced to next round, b - Banked Track, c - Collegiate Record, dna - Did Not Advance, dnf - Did Not Finish, dq - Disqualified, dnr - Did Not Run, F - Foul, f - Facility Record, fr - Freshman Record, fs - False Start, H - Heptathlon, h - Hand-Timed, mr - Meet Record, nm - No Mark, p - Time Run In Prelims, P - Pentathlon, sr - School Record, u - Undersized Track, w - World Record
