University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Virginia Tech Elite
Tennessee Wraps Up Weekend at VT Elite
February 07, 2015 | Track & Field
Feb. 7, 2015
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Jake Blankenship (men's pole vault) and Cassie Wertman (women's shot put) continued their recent string of success as Tennessee concluded its weekend at the VT Elite Meet at Rector Field House. Blankenship earned his fifth consecutive win in the pole vault, dating back to last season, while Wertman earned her fourth shot put victory in five meets this season.
"It was a very different feel out there today than there was yesterday, but we got a lot accomplished," said UT director of track and field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan. "We got another great effort from Cassie Wertman, who had been battling an illness all week. She mustered up a great competition there. It was fun to see Jack Little pull off a win as well. Overall, I'm very pleased with our effort this weekend; we're looking good."
Blankenship, who set a new lifetime best of 18 feet, 8.25 inches (5.70m) just two weeks prior in the same venue, again saw his name atop the leaderboard at Rector Field House. The junior is the SEC's leader in the pole vault and entered the weekend at No. 2 in NCAA Division I.
Wertman currently ranks eighth in the nation in the shot put behind a career-best mark of 55 feet, 1.5 inches (16.80) set at the Orange & Purple Invitational earlier this season.
Also coming away with a win on Saturday was distance runner Jack Little. The junior picked up his first career victory in the men's 5000 meters, by finishing in a personal-best time of 15:05.95. J.R. Creekmore came in fifth in the same event at 15:34.46.
The men's relays produced a pair of top-five performances as the 4x400 meter relay team of Christian Coleman, Nathan Strother, Malik Elion, and Jalen Hunter posted a second-place finish. Their time of 3:15.76 is the second-fastest produced by Tennessee this season. The quartet of Antonio Carter, Drew Kelley, Nick Kaiser, and Chase Hilton finished in fourth in the 4x800 meter relay, recording a time of 7:43.03.
Other notables from the men's competitions include Matthew Hoty's sixth-place finish in the shot put (60-4.0/18.39), Wesley Edwards sixth-place finish in the high jump (6-8.25/2.04), and Christian Coleman's ninth-place finish in the long jump (23-5.50/7.15).
Aside from Wertman's win on Saturday, the UT women got a couple strong individual finishes from Felecia Majors in the 200 meter dash and Erin Champion in the pole vault. The sophomore Majors recorded a time of 24.09 seconds -- her fastest time in the event this season -- to finish fourth. Meanwhile, Champion came in sixth after tying her personal-best of 13 feet, 6.25 inches (4.12).
Majors also finished seventh in the long jump (19-2.75/5.86) before helping the 4x400 meter relay team to a fourth-place finish in a time of 3:41.81.
"It was another good day from Fe Majors," Sullivan said. "She had a busy weekend, competing across five different events. It was a good work week for her and she's coming into form very nicely."
Tennessee Track and Field splits for two separate meets next weekend as it takes part in its final tune up before the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Feb. 27-28. One group of Vols will head to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, while another travels west for the Husky Classic in Seattle. Both meets run Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13-14.
SATURDAY WOMEN'S RESULTS AT VT ELITE MEET
Pole Vault (Seeded): 6. Erin Champion, 13-6.25 (4.12m)
400m (Open): 20. London Freeland, 57.15; 24. Megan Linder, 58.68!
Long Jump: 7. Felecia Majors, 19-2.75 (5.86m); 14. Cidae'a Woods, 18-7.75 (5.68m); 29. Brielyn Rogers, 16-10.0 (5.13m)
200m (Invitational): 4. Felecia Majors, 24.09
4x800m Relay: Tennessee `A' (Julia Petree, Lizzie Cornell, Caroline Duer, Amirah Johnson) - dnf
Shot Put: 1. Cassie Wertman, 53-7.50 (16.34m)
4x400m Relay: 4. Tennessee `A' (Felicia Brown, Felecia Majors, London Freeland, Megan Linder), 3:41.81
SATURDAY MEN'S RESULTS AT VT ELITE MEET
3000m: 15. Jeremy Dickie, 8:50.51
Shot Put: 6. Matthew Hoty, 60-4.0 (18.39m); Tavis Bailey - f
400m (Open): 30. Malik Elion, 50.95!
Long Jump: 9. Christian Coleman, 23-5.50 (7.15m)
5000m: 1. Jack Little, 15:05.95!; 5. J.R. Creekmore, 15:34.46
High Jump: 6. Wesley Edwards, 6-8.25 (2.04m)
4x800m Relay: 4. Tennessee `A' (Antonio Carter, Drew Kelley, Nick Kaiser, Chase Hilton), 7:43.03
4x400m Relay: 2. Tennessee `A' (Christian Coleman, Nathan Strother, Malik Elion, Jalen Hunter), 3:15.76
Pole Vault: 1. Jake Blankenship, 18-3.0 (5.56m)
! - Personal Best, $ - SEC Record, a - American Record, b - Banked Track, c - Collegiate Record, adv. - Advanced, dna - Did Not Advance, dnf - Did Not Finish, dnr - Did Not Run, dns - Did Not Score, dq - Disqualified, F - Foul, f - Facility Record, fr - Freshman Record, fr* - Tied Freshman Record, fs - False Start, H - Heptathlon, h - Hand-Timed, mr - Meet Record, nh - No Height, nm - No Mark, P - Pentathlon, sr - School Record, u - Undersized Track, w - wind-aided, wr - World Record
