University of Tennessee Athletics
UT Ready To Face the Best At Conference Clash
January 20, 2016 | Track & Field
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee and Auburn join forces to host the 2016 Conference Clash Power Five Invitational from Jan. 22-23 at the Birmingham CrossPlex. This unique event pits the SEC against the other Power Five conferences at the site of this year's NCAA Indoor Championships.
The Conference Clash will be scored as a dual meet with eight SEC schools (Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt) competing as one team and seven schools from the other four Power Five conferences (Arizona, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Purdue, USC, Texas) competing as another team. In the individual events, there will be two scores from each team (first place is five points, second place is three points, third place is two points and fourth place is one point). For the relays each team will have one score (first place is five points, second place is three points).
"We have been looking forward to this for a while now," Tennessee director of track and field and cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "It is a unique weekend and we are thrilled to be a part of this. Auburn has done a great job of preparing for it. They are a little bit more of the hometown team down there near Birmingham, so their coaching staff has done a lot to prepare for it. Our student-athletes are ready to go. We feel like we are tuning up just fine for this and we are going to go hard after things. We are excited to compete as team members with the rest of the conference."
The Conference Clash will start on Friday at 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET with the men's high jump. Friday's final event is the men's distance medley relay at 7:45 p.m. CT/8:45 p.m. ET. The action resumes on Saturday with the men's pole vault at 11 a.m. CT/Noon ET. The Conference Clash will conclude with Saturday's men's 4x400 relay at 3:15 p.m. CT/4:15 p.m. ET. Please note that Birmingham is in the Central Time Zone.
The Birmingham CrossPlex is also the site of the 2016 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships, which will be held March 11-12.
Tennessee has enjoyed a strong start to its 2015 indoor track and field season. Entering this week, UT has 10 individuals/relays with top 10 marks in their respective events.
"I think our team is very hungry and the student-athletes are very excited about coming on to the scene," Sullivan said. "They have bought into the mission of bringing Tennessee track and field back to the podium. I think our student-athletes are very-well coached. My assistant coaches do great job preparing our athletes to compete and compete well. Not without error - we want error in these early-season meets. But certainly they are primed and ready to go.
"We are keeping the mentality of sustaining momentum and we are also keeping the mentality of going to work every day, training hard and letting the payouts be when you get on the line or in the ring or on the runway. Our student-athletes are going to test themselves one more time this weekend."
Tennessee Men
Several of UT's sprinters are off to fast starts in 2016. Sophomore Christian Coleman ran a PR 60-meter time of 6.56 last weekend at the Virginia Tech Invitational that ranks second in the nation and third in Tennessee history. Coleman also owns the nation's fourth-fastest 200m time this year at 21.04.
Ari Cogdell earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Tuesday after posting strong performances in 500 meters and the 4x400. Cogdell clocked a 1:02.97 time in the 500 meters, good for the third-fastest mark in UT history and the fastest since Sam Hill set the program record of 1:01.56 back in 1986. He also ran the first leg of UT's 4x400 relay last week. That squad clicked a 3:11.44, which ranks 12th nationally.
Nathan Strother ranks 12th in the country with a 47.57 time in the 400 meters, which he clocked two weeks ago in the Indiana-Tennessee Dual.
Cameron Brown has won the weight throw at three-straight meets and ranks second in the country in the weight throw with a distance of 22.32 meters (73-2.75).
After taking part in the 2016 National Pole Vault Summit last week in Reno, Nev., Jake Blankenship returns to NCAA Competition this week at the Conference Clash. Blankenship ranks third nationally with a mark of 5.45 meters (17-10.5).
Tennessee Women
Kali Davis-White and Felicia Brown have thrived in their sprint events over the first few weeks of January. Davis-White ran a PR 7.28 in the 60 meters last week in Blacksburg, Va. That time is tied for fourth nationally. She also clocked the country's fifth-best 200-meter time at 23.44. Brown owns the nation's top mark in the 200 meters at 23.20, which she ran at the Indiana-Tennessee Dual.
Tennessee's 4x400 relay of Layla White, Felecia Majors, Lenysse Dyer and Brown recorded the nation's fourth-fastest time of 3:36.23 at the Virginia Tech Invitational. That was also UT's fastest 4x400 relay since the team of Ellen Wortham, Brittany Jones, Kianna Ruff and Martinique Octave ran 3:34.13 at the 2012 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in Nampa, Id.
Majors' 54.00 time in the 400m at the Indiana-Tennessee Duals stands as the country's fifth-fastest mark.
Cassie Wertman's shot put throw of 16.46 meters (54-0.00) from last month's Hoosier Open ranks 10th.
Chelsea Blaase is slated to make her 2016 indoor season debut this weekend in Birmingham. She will run in the women's 3000 meters on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. ET.
Below is the list of events for the Conference Clash. Please note all times are listed in Central Time.Track Events
Start Time (CT)
Event
Competing For Tennessee
FRI: 5 p.m.
Women's 60m Prelim
Felicia Brown, Maia McCoy, DeAndra Greer
FRI: 5:15 p.m.
Men's 60m Prelim
Malik Elion
FRI: 5:30 p.m.
Women's 60mH Prelims
FRI: 5:45 p.m.
Men's 60mH Prelims
FRI: 6:05 p.m.
Women's 5000m
FRI: 6:30 p.m.
Men's 5000m
FRI: 6:50 p.m.
Women's 200m Prelim
Felicia Brown, Kali Davis-White, Maia McCoy, DeAndra Greer
FRI: 7:10 p.m.
Men's 200m Prelim
Christian Coleman, Mustaqeem Williams, Malik Elion
FRI: 7:30 p.m.
Women's DMR
FRI: 7:45 p.m.
Men's DMR
Tennessee A
SAT: 12 p.m.
Women's 60mH Final
SAT: 12:03 p.m.
Men's 60mH Final
SAT: 12:08 p.m.
Women's 60m Final
SAT: 12:11 p.m.
Men's 60m Final
SAT: 12:20 p.m.
Women's Mile
SAT: 12:40 p.m.
Men's Mile
Zach Long, Tyler Woodrome
SAT: 1 p.m.
Women's 400m
Felecia Majors, Lenysse Dyer, Layla White
SAT: 1:20 p.m.
Men's 400m
Ari Cogdell, Nathan Strother
SAT: 1:40 p.m.
Women's 800m
SAT: 1:55 p.m.
Men's 800m
SAT: 2:10 p.m.
Women's 200m Final
SAT: 2:20 p.m.
Men's 200m Final
SAT: 2:30 p.m.
Women's 3000m
Chelsea Blaase
SAT: 2:45 p.m.
Men's 3000m
Austin Whitelaw
SAT: 3 p.m.
Women's 4x400m
Tennessee A
SAT: 3:15 p.m.
Men's 4x400m
Tennessee A
Field Events
| Start Time (CT) | Event | Competing For Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| FRI: 2 p.m. | Men's High Jump | Wesley Edwards |
| FRI: 3 p.m. | Men's Weight Throw | Cameron Brown, Matthew Zajac, Seth Whitener |
| FRI: 3 p.m. | Women's Triple Jump | Brielyn Rogers, LaChyna Roe |
| FRI: 3 p.m. | Men's Triple Jump | |
| FRI: 3 p.m. | Women's Pole Vault | Kristen Denk |
| FRI: 5 p.m. | Women's Weight Throw | Savannah Marlow |
| SAT: 11 a.m. | Men's Pole Vault | Jake Blankenship, Ocean Walters-Carlson, Nate Harper |
| SAT: 11 a.m. | Women's Long Jump | Cidae'a Woods, Chyna Ries |
| SAT: 11 a.m. | Men's Long Jump | Darryl Harris |
| SAT: 11 a.m. | Women's Shot Put | Cassie Wertman |
| SAT: 1:30 p.m. | Women's High Jump | |
| SAT: 1:30 p.m. | Men's Shot Put |
