University of Tennessee Athletics
Track Opens Indoor Season at Hoosier Open
December 10, 2015 | Track & Field
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee track & field teams open their 2016 indoor season on Friday, Dec. 11, when the Vols head to Bloomington, Ind., to compete in the Hoosier Open at Gladstein Fieldhouse.
Hoosier Open
- When:Friday, Dec. 11
- Starts:3:35 p.m. ET
- Where:Gladstein Fieldhouse (Bloomington, Ind.)
Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky and Purdue will be competing as teams and several individuals from schools across the country will also open their respective indoor seasons at Friday's meet.
"We are really excited to head to Bloomington and get on the track, in the circle and on the runways and really test ourselves at this time of year," Tennessee director of track & field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "It's always a good end-of-the-semester event as we get through finals and take the groups that have been training all fall and give them a chance to just kind of put it together."
Fans can follow the action with live stats via sidearmstats.com/indiana/track or live tweets from the official Tennessee track & field account, @Vol_Track.
UT will return to Gladstein Fieldhouse on Jan. 9 for a duel against Indiana.
The Hoosier Open starts with sophomore Danielle Holdren and freshman Savannah Marlow competing in the women's weight throw at 3:35 p.m. ET. Freshman DeAndra Greer will compete in UT's first track event of the season when she runs in the women's 60m trials at 4:50 p.m. ET. Sophomore Malik Elion runs in the first men's track race of the season in the men's 60m trials at 5:05 p.m. ET. At the bottom of this release is a schedule of the events Tennessee is slated to compete in on Friday.
Thirteen Vols are set to make their Tennessee track & field debuts in Bloomington. Sullivan and the UT coaching staff are excited to see the UT underclassmen thrive in their first step into the spotlight.
"We want them to jump in and not just tread water, but start swimming," she said. "These kids are fired up. We certainly have had the mindset to get in and get going. I will be excited to see how they handle themselves in the Orange and White."
SULLIVAN PUMPED FOR START OF 2ND TRACK SPRING AT UT
Friday's meet also marks the start of "Track Year 2" under Sullivan. The strengthened sense of familiarity between the coaching staff and the returners after a full year working together has generated excitement for the program's continued progress.
"For me, I'm definitely excited about the level of comfort we have around our program now," Sullivan said. "Of course last year was a starting point with the first competition. You just didn't know as a coach what to expect and I'm sure the young people didn't know what to expect from us. This year, we know where we are going and how to get there."
Sullivan's first season on Rocky Top featured several outstanding individual performances with Tavis Bailey, Jake Blankenship, Chelsea Blaase, Cameron Brown, Felicia Brown, Christian Coleman, Maria Jimenez, Tyler Porter, Nathan Strother and Cassie Wertman garnering All-America accolades.
"A lot of the hard work was done last year and now we are into this one," she said. "We keep the train moving forward."
WHO TO WATCH - TENNESSEE MEN
Several of UT's standouts from last year will make their season debuts on Friday. On the men's side, senior Cameron Brown will compete his first official action since the 2015 indoor season when he won the SEC title in the weight throw with a throw of 22.60 meters (74-1.75) and was named an honorable mention All-American.
"Cam in his testing has done some great stuff this fall," Sullivan said. "I suspect he is very excited to throw the weight. We redshirted him last year for outdoor, so he has not had a true competition in the Orange and White since last year indoors. He is fired up and I hope to see some great performances out of him."
Sophomore sprinter/jumper Christian Coleman is coming off of a breakout 2015 freshman campaign and an outstanding summer in which he earned bronze in the 100-meter dash at the Pan American Junior Championships in Canada. Coleman was named the SEC Indoor Freshman Runner of the Year and was the league's Co-Freshman of the Year for the outdoor season. He was an indoor All-American after finishing sixth in the 60-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, making him UT's first indoor All-American in the 60 meters since Justin Gatlin in 2001. The Atlanta native would go on to score second team All-America honors during the outdoor season, finishing 15th in the National Championships in both the 100 and 200-meter dash.
"Christian Coleman, what a great freshman campaign," Sullivan said. "He is looking better than he ever has and I think we will see some great stuff out of him."
Nathan Strother enjoyed a standout rookie season in 2015 when he earned honorable mention All-America honors after placing 22nd in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Strother and Coleman will make their season debuts at 8:25 p.m. ET when they run in the men's 300m.
Redshirt senior distance runner Austin Whitelaw will make his season debut and look to build off of an impressive 2014-15 athletic year in which he qualified for the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championships, set a new indoor 5,000m PR (14:06.84) and competed in the outdoor NCAA East Prelims.
"He's fired up and very fit and he's just a guy that carries the pride so much that he is going to lace them up and get around that track 25 times in the 5,000," Sullivan said of Whitelaw.
WHO TO WATCH - TENNESSEE WOMEN
On the women's side, Sullivan expects standout veterans Felicia Brown and Felecia Majors will see their hard work in fall training pay off this year. Brown earned 2015 USTFCCCA Second Team All-America honors in the outdoor 200m after placing 10th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a time of 22.96. She qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a PR time of 22.76 in the NCAA East Prelims.
Majors set new personal bests in both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2015, clocking a 39.10 in the indoor 300m, a 23.40 in the 200m and a 52.92 in the 400m at the Florida Relays.
"Both Fe's (Felicia Brown and Felecia Majors) have been the mainstay for this program over the last couple of years," Sullivan said. "With Fe Brown entering her senior campaign and Fe Majors definitely having the best fall of her career so far, I think you are going to see some great performances out of them."
Senior thrower Cassie Wertman returns to her home state of Indiana looking to build off of a successful 2015 indoor season. Wertman, who redshirted her 2015 outdoor season, garnered second-team All-America honors after placing 12th in the shot put at NCAA Indoor Championships. She set a new PR when she scored for UT at the 2015 SEC Indoor Championships with a shot put throw of 17.16m (56-3.75).
"Cassie is ready to go and I think she is pretty excited about getting after it as well," Sullivan said.
Track Events
| Start Time (ET) | Event | Competing For Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| 4:50 p.m. | Women's 60m Trials | DeAndra Greer |
| 5:05 p.m. | Men's 60m Trials | Malik Elion |
| 5:55 p.m. | Women's 60m Finals | |
| 6 p.m. | Men's 60m Finals | |
| 6:25 p.m. | Women's 500m | Layla White, London Freeland |
| 6:35 p.m. | Men's 500m | Ari Cogdell, Antonio Carter, Wesley Robinson |
| 7:35 p.m. | Men's 5000m | Austin Whitelaw |
| 7:55 p.m. | Women's 200m | DeAndra Greer |
| 8:05 p.m. | Men's 200m | Malik Elion |
| 8:15 p.m. | Women's 300m | Felicia Brown, Felecia Majors, Lenysse Dyer, Kali Davis-White, Maia McCoy |
| 8:25 p.m. | Men's 300m | Christian Coleman, Nathan Strother |
| 9:15 p.m. | Women's 4x400 | Tennessee A, Tennessee B |
| 9:30 p.m. | Men's 4x400 | Tennessee A |
Field Events
| Start Time (ET) | Event | Competing For Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| 3:35 p.m. | Women's Weight Throw | Savannah Marlow, Danielle Holdren |
| ~4:05 p.m. | Men's Weight Throw | Cameron Brown, Matthew Zajac, Seth Whitener |
| ~4:35 p.m. | Women's Shot Put | Cassie Wertman |
| 5 p.m. | Women's Long Jump | Chyna Ries, Cidae'a Woods |
| ~5:30 p.m. | Men's Long Jump | Weldon Wright |
| ~6 p.m. | Women's Triple Jump | Brielyn Rogers, LaChyna Roe, Cidae'a Woods |
| 8 p.m. | Men's High Jump | Wesley Edwards, Josh Brennan |
