University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Track Team Recognition Night
May 06, 2015 | Track & Field
May 6, 2015
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Track and Field held its annual Team Recognition Night in its team room at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center on Tuesday night. The end-of-the-year banquet serves as an opportunity for the Volunteer track and field program to gather to revisit and recognize its achievements, as well as its individual contributions, from the past academic year.
The night began by distinguishing UT's graduating seniors and the unique contributions they have made to the Vol Track program. From there, the bill moved to the presentation of individual awards, including letters, scholar awards, community service awards, and other honors denoting athletic achievement.
Coming away with an impressive haul of hardware from the evening was junior distance specialist Chelsea Blaase. Following All-American performances during both the cross country and track seasons, Blaase collected women's Most Valuable Performance Awards for both seasons on Tuesday night, not to mention two SEC Athlete of the Week honors and a special recognition for setting UT's new 10,000-meter record (32:28.39) last month at the Stanford Invite.
Pole vaulter and men's team captain Jake Blankenship also took home a handful of awards in accepting the men's field MVP award to go along with his All-American, All-SEC, and SEC Athlete of the Week honors.
NCAA Championship qualifier Austin Whitelaw was named the men's cross country MVP while freshman All-American Christian Coleman took the men's MVP award for track. Coleman was also recognized as the men's Freshman of the Year, while Cidae'a Woods was given the same honor on the women's side. Women's team captain Cassie Wertman accepted the women's field MVP award following her All-American showing in the shot put over the winter.
The Tennessee coaching staff also handed out several unique awards to honor those student-athletes who successfully embodied the ideals of the Vol track program. One such award was the TAB award for toughness, given to the cross country and track and field athletes who best display a mental and physical fortitude on the track, in the classroom, and in the community. Receiving the cross country Vega Watts Award for Tennessee Toughness was distance specialist Nick Kaiser. The Illrey Oliver Sparks Award for Tennessee Toughness during the track and field season was given to senior thrower Matthew Hoty, freshman sprinter Nathan Strother, and junior pole vaulter Erin Champion.
Bailey, the reigning SEC Men's Field Athlete of the Week, was also honored with the Most Improved Award for the indoor track and field season after he earned a silver medal at the SEC Indoor Championships and All-American status in earning a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Distance specialist Kyle Walter was the Most Improved from the cross country season. The redshirt junior was UT's No. 2 runner during the fall season and posted a big PR in the 10k at the NCAA South Regional in mid-November.
Tennessee's run through the postseason begins next weekend when the Vols head to the 2015 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Starkville, Mississippi. The Championships run May 14-16 and will determine the final qualifying slots for the NCAA East Regional, which follows two weeks later in Jacksonville, Florida. The collegiate season reaches its climax June 10-13 in Eugene, Oregon, at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
TENNESSEE TRACK & FIELD TEAM RECOGNITION NIGHT
Senior Gifts: Tavis Bailey, Antonio Carter, Lizzie Cornell, J.R. Creekmore, Jeremy Dickie, Matthew Hoty, Nick Kaiser, Michael Maira, Deon McAdoo, Julia Petree, Tyler Porter, Anthony Simpson, Kyle Walter
Scholar Award: Lizzie Cornell, J.R. Creekmore
Community Service Award: Cassie Wertman, Austin Whitelaw
School Records: Chelsea Blaase (10,000), Cameron Brown (Weight Throw)
All-Americans: Tavis Bailey, Chelsea Blaase (2), Jake Blankenship, Cameron Brown, Christian Coleman, Cassie Wertman
Captain's Award: Cassie Wertman, Jake Blankenship
Tennessee Toughness: Nick Kaiser (XC), Nathan Strother (TF), Matthew Hoty (TF), Erin Champion (TF)
Freshman of the Year: Cidae'a Woods, Christian Coleman
Most Improved: Tavis Bailey (TF), Kyle Walter (XC)
Most Valuable Performers: Chelsea Blaase (XC, Track), Austin Whitelaw (XC), Christian Coleman (Track), Cassie Wertman (Field), Jake Blankenship (Field)
