University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Tennessee Relays powered by Sea Ray
Vols Produce 14 Top 10s on Day 2 at Relays
April 10, 2015 | Track & Field
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- On a jam-packed Friday at the 49th Tennessee Relays Powered by Sea Ray, the Tennessee Track and Field squad combined to turn in 14 top-10 finishes, including eight inside the top-five. The Relays come to a close on Saturday at Tom Black Track. Admission is free.
Headlining the day was a big individual victory for junior sprinter Felicia Brown. She supplied Tennessee its first win of the weekend on Friday afternoon when she outpaced the field in the 100-meter dash. It was the junior's first-ever win in three tries on the straightaway sprint, recording a wind-aided time of 11.31. That figure, despite the help from the wind, will enter the national rankings at No. 2 at weekend's end.
Following Brown's victory, Tennessee saw two of its own finish inside the top five of the women's long jump competition. Felecia Majors finished runner up with a season-best leap of 19 feet, 6.75 inches (5.96). Not far behind came freshman Cidae'a Woods. Her best jump of 19 feet, 3.5 inches (5.88) was enough for fourth place overall.
Woods had a second top-10 finish on the day when she posted a time of 14.13 in the 100-meter hurdles. Racing on the tail end of the spring storm that caused a 90 minute delay to the start of Friday's events, Woods' time came behind a wind of +2.3 meters per second.
Rounding out UT's top-10 performances on the women's side was a 10th-place finish in the heptathlon from Brielyn Rogers. A sophomore, Rogers recorded a career-best 4,375 points in the combined event - completing the first time since 2008 that a UT athlete had competed in the heptathlon.
The 13th-ranked Tennessee men also had a solid day at Tom Black Track, turning in five top-five finishes. Heading up that effort was senior thrower Tavis Bailey, who finished up with a fourth-place mark in his first shot put competition of the 2015 outdoor season. Bailey's top throw came in at 61 feet, 5.5 inches (18.73). Also competing in the event and recording a top-10 finish was fellow senior Matthew Hoty. Hoty's effort of 56 feet, 9.5 inches was good enough for eighth place.
Shot put champion Josh Freeman of Southern Illinois claimed the top spot with a throw of 64 feet, 2.25 inches (19.56) - a mark that ranks seventh in the country.
Bailey will be back in action on Saturday in the discus invitational which starts at 12 p.m. ET.
"I just want to let that energy and feel carry over to the discus tomorrow," Bailey said. "Hopefully I can go big. I want to put out a couple good throws for the people who come to watch, but primarily I want to have fun."
Christian Coleman gave UT another top-five performance in the men's long jump after he recorded a mark of 23 feet, 11 inches (7.29). It was the season debut in the event for the true freshman All-American. Coleman runs in the 200-meter dash invitational on Saturday afternoon.
On the track, Chase Hilton and Nick Kaiser looked strong for the Volunteers en route to a third and fifth-place finish, respectively, in the 800 meters. Hilton recorded a new personal-best of 1:51.19 while Kaiser recorded a 1:51.81.
Senior Kyle Walter, a Knoxville native racing on what he dubbed his "home track," put an exclamation point on the night when he posted a huge PR in the men's 5000 meters. Walter surged past his previous PR by nearly 29 seconds on his way to a 14:22.25. He placed fifth overall and was the No. 2 collegiate finisher on the night.
The day opened with the conclusion of the men's decathlon and Tennessee freshman Josh Wheeler - who has competed unattached throughout the weekend - capitalized on his strong start in the event on Thursday with a third place finish. He logged a total of 6,473 points for the weekend.
Saturday at the Tennessee Relays get underway with some high school field events at 9 a.m. ET. The collegiate action begins at 10 a.m. with the women's shot put. At 12:20, Tennessee Track and Field will honor its class of 2015 with a special Senior Day presentation out on the track.
MEN'S RESULTS AT TENNESSEE RELAYS
Thursday
Decathlon: 2. Josh Wheeler (UNAT), 3468 (thru 5 events)
Hammer: 11. Deon McAdoo, 55.37 (181-08); 15. Carson Frost, 53.46 (175-05); 6. Cameron Brown (UNAT), 63.00 (206-08)!
10,000m: Anthony Simpson - dnf
Friday
Decathlon: 3. Josh Wheeler (UNAT), 6473
400mH: 14. Jalen Hunter, 55.68!
110mH: 9. Jalen Hunter, 14.74w(+2.1)
400m: 30. Malik Elion, 51.24
200m: 23. Malik Elion, 22.27; 39. Wesley Edwards, 22.89!
800m: 3. Chase Hilton, 1:51.19!; 5. Nick Kaiser, 1:51.81; 12. Antonio Carter, 1:53.26
Pole Vault: 8. Michael Maira, 4.71 (15-5.50)
Long Jump: 5. Christian Coleman, 7.29 (23-11.00); 7. Nathan Strother, 7.25 (23-9.50)!
1500m: 33. Drew Kelley, 3:57.83!; 24. Tyler Woodrome (UNAT), 3:52.92
Shot Put: 4. Tavis Bailey, 18.73 (61-5.50); 8. Matthew Hoty, 17.31 (56-9.50)
5000m: 5. Kyle Walter, 14:22.25!; 27. J.R. Creekmore, 15:13.00; Austin Whitelaw - dnf
WOMEN'S RESULTS AT TENNESSEE RELAYS
Thursday
Heptathlon: 10. Brielyn Rogers, 2783 (thru 4 events)
Hammer: 30. Danielle Holdren (UNAT), 39.99 (131-02)!
Friday
Heptathlon: 10. Brielyn Rogers, 4357!
100m: 1. Felicia Brown, 11.31w(+3.9)
100mH 7. Cidae'a Woods, 14.13w(+2.3)
400m: 15. London Freeland, 57.04; 29. Megan Linder, 58.73
800m:26. Lizzie Cornell, 2:23.90!; 39. Julia Petree, 2:38.22
Long Jump: 2. Felecia Majors, 5.96 (19-6.75); 4. Cidae'a Woods, 5.88 (19-3.50)
1500m: 41. Caroline Duer, 4:52.25; 19. Amirah Johnson (UNAT), 4:39.02; 50. Anna Jernigan, 5:01.48
! - 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
