University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Blankenship Vaults to All-America Honors
June 11, 2015 | Track & Field
June 11, 2015
Wednesday Results | 
Photo Gallery
EUGENE, Ore. -- Pole vaulter Jake Blankenship capped a tremendous junior season with All-America honors to headline Tennessee's opening day at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the historic Hayward Field.
All five representatives of the 17th-ranked Tennessee squad were in action on Wednesday, including freshman sprinting duo Christian Coleman and Nathan Strother as well as throws specialist Tavis Bailey. Senior Tyler Porter competed alongside Blankenship in the pole vault. With the new, alternating competition schedule in effect for these Championships, the Tennessee women will take center stage on Thursday in Eugene.
Blankenship placed sixth in the finals of the men's pole vault competition to clinch outdoor All-America status for the second straight year. He is now a four-time All-American between the indoor and outdoor seasons, having also achieved the esteemed recognition after a national runner-up performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. The junior team captain recorded a final vault of 17 feet, 8.5 inches (5.40) to close out the collegiate calendar.
Congratulations to @JacoblankPV on earning All-American pole vault honors for the second straight year! pic.twitter.com/Ww3bYfsQOv
-- UT Track & Field/XC (@Vol_Track) June 11, 2015
Teammate and senior Porter finished 11th overall, notching a vault of 17 feet, 4.5 inches (5.30) -- his best mark since mid-April.
Indoor national champion Shawn Barber of Akron took home the individual title, clearing 18 feet, 4.5 inches (5.60) to best the 24-man field.
Blankenship's sixth-place finish ends a streak of six consecutive first-place finishes and marks the first time in 2015 that he had failed to clear 18 feet.
Freshmen sprinters Coleman and Strother made their Hayward Field debuts on Wednesday and turned in solid performances. Still, the pair was left on the outside of finals qualification after being bested by a string of outstanding performances from their competitors.
Opening the sprints with the 100-meter dash semifinal, Coleman turned in a new PR of 10.19 to finish fifth in his heat and 15th overall. He would go on to match his career-best time in the 200-meter dash (20.61) later that evening, but did not advance after finishing in 15th place. Both races featured highly competitive fields as Coleman would have needed to record a 10.10 -- which would have tied Willie Gault for the sixth-fastest time in program history -- just to qualify for the finals. Baylor's Trayvon Bromell was the top 100-meter dash qualifier, turning in a time of 9.90 -- just one one-hundredth of a second behind the collegiate record.
Strother, one of just two true freshmen to compete in the 400-meter dash semifinals, finished in 22nd on Wednesday evening with a time of 47.22.
Together, Coleman and Strother combined the represent the first time since 2003 that a Tennessee men's sprint corps had competed in all three sprint competitions -- the 100, 200, and 400 -- in a single NCAA Championships.
In the men's shot put, Tavis Bailey did not record a distance after fouling on all three of his preliminary attempts. The weekend is not over for the senior, however, as he returns to action on Friday for the men's discus finals.
Thursday's schedule at the NCAA Championships features three representatives of the UT women's squad as Chelsea Blaase (10,000), Felicia Brown (200), and Maria Jimenez (javelin) open competition. Both Blaase and Jimenez are making their NCAA Outdoor Championship debuts while Brown is back for the 200-meter dash after qualifying for the second straight season.
Jimenez opens proceedings at 8:30 p.m. ET in the women's javelin final and will be followed by Brown at 9:14 p.m. in the 200 semifinal. Blaase wraps up the day in the women's 10,000 meters, which begins at 9:39 p.m.
Thursday's coverage of the women's field events begins at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN3 while live coverage of the running events begins at 7 p.m. on ESPNU before shifting to ESPN at 8:30 p.m.
MEN'S RESULTS AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wednesday
Pole Vault: 6. Jake Blankenship, 17-8.5 (5.40); 11. Tyler Porter, 17-4.5 (5.30)
Shot Put: Tavis Bailey - F
100m (Semi): 15. Christian Coleman, 10.19 (+1.7)! - dna
200m (Semi): 15. Christian Coleman, 20.61 (+1.7) - dna
400m (Semi): 22. Nathan Strother, 47.22 - dna
