University of Tennessee Athletics
UT, Auburn Will Host Conference Clash Jan. 22-23
January 14, 2016 | Track & Field
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee and Auburn track and field teams will host the 2016 Conference Clash Power Five Invitational on Jan. 22-23 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
This unique meet features 15 schools from Power Five conferences and pits the SEC against the other four Power Five conferences combined. The eight SEC teams (Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt) will combine for one score and the other seven Power Five schools (Arizona, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Purdue, USC, Texas) will combine for the other score.
Tennessee director of track and field and cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan and Auburn assistant coach Scott Richardson will serve as the meet directors.
"It is a unique and first-time experience," Sullivan said. "I think the level of competition will be the best we see outside of the conference and the national championship. We are looking forward to really pulling together some peak performances for that weekend."
With over half of the SEC competing, the Conference Clash meet will also serve as a preview of sorts for next month's SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. This meet marks the first time that UT and Auburn will co-host a meet.
"We are thrilled to be hosting with Auburn," Sullivan said. "It is the first time for this to happen and both of us have a lot to bring forward to the competition. We look forward to doing something unique for our sport of track and field."
The Birmingham CrossPlex is a 750,000 square foot, multi-purpose athletic and meeting facility in Birmingham, Ala. The world-class facility boasts a six lane oval hydraulic track and eight-60 meter lanes for sprint/hurdle events. The facility also features a 50-meter indoor Olympic swimming pool. The hydraulic track features a Mondotrack surface (Super X Performance) and is one of only four in the United States and one of six worldwide.
The Conference Clash will be Tennessee's fifth competition of the indoor season. Sullivan and the UT coaching staff have stressed the competitive mindset to Tennessee's student-athletes this season. Several of the Vols' standouts responded at the 21st Indiana-Tennessee Dual on Jan. 9 as the men and the women each posted seven first-place finishes. Felicia Brown was named SEC Women's Runner of the Week after posting the nation's fastest 200-meter mark at 23.20 and Christian Coleman garnered SEC Men's Runner of the Week after running a PR and facility record 21.04 (second-fastest in the nation) in the 200 meters and a 6.68 in the 60 meters (sixth-fastest in the nation). Both Brown and Coleman also ran on winning 4x400-meter relays.
