University of Tennessee Athletics
Track & Field Central: SEC Indoor Championship
February 22, 2017 | Track & Field
Schedule of Events | Live Stats | Watch Live (Friday) | Watch Live (Saturday) | SEC Championship Central
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee track & field heads to the SEC Indoor Championships hosted by Vanderbilt at the Vanderbilt Multipurpose Complex on Friday and Saturday in Nashville.
Events begin at 11:15 a.m. ET on Friday and at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday. The SEC Championships will be broadcast live on SEC Network + (WatchESPN) from 5:25 p.m. ET to 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday and from 2:55 p.m. ET-7:45 p.m. ET on Saturday. There will also be a two-hour show on Sunday from 8-10 p.m. ET highlighting the best performances from the two-day event on ESPN.
Ticket and parking information can be found on Vanderbilt's SEC Championship Central page.
"We're excited that it is SEC Championship time," director of track & field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "We are headed to an easy venue for us over at Vanderbilt. We know we will have a great fan base for the Orange and White this weekend. We look at this meet as one of the best indoor track and field meets in the world. We have two very young squads preparing to execute to the very best of their ability. We are taking the approach that anything can happen this weekend and we feel like we have a lot of people that can step up and crack the code of the SEC. We are also very young and it is a first-time experience for about half of our team."
19 Vols will be competing in their first SEC track and field championship. The Vols traveled to Nashville earlier this year as they set 23 personal bests over the two-day Commodore Invitational. Christian Coleman posted a facility record in the 60m dash as the Vols posted four event victories and 11 top-three performances in a meet that featured seven SEC schools.
"I think you are going to see a great competition experience for Christian Coleman," Alford-Sullivan continued. "He will be up against some great competition that will make him earn the wins and hopefully produce some great results. Chelsea Blaase, in her fifth year, has a great opportunity in the 5000m. We will look to end the meets well with two 4x400m relays; we are hoping to punch our tickets to the NCAAs which will provide momentum at the end of the championship. We recognize there is whole process to rebuilding and we are in the midst of that. We are hoping that everyone stays healthy, stays persistent and eventually we will get that high-end result for the full program. "
Ranked Competition
The no. 12 ranked Tennessee men and no. 56 women will take on a talented field of competitors that includes six men's teams ranked in the top 10 and eight top 25 women's squads. The participants will be Florida (no. 1 men/no. 11 women), Arkansas (2/2), Georgia (4/3), Texas A&M (5/10), LSU (8/4), Alabama (9/9), Kentucky (-/6), Ole Miss (--/13), Auburn, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Last Year
The Tennessee men took eighth place with 47 points while the women finished in a tie for fourth with 64 team points at the 2016 SEC Indoor Championship.
Christian Coleman and Chelsea Blaase each earned a share of the Cliff Harper Trophy as both finished with 20 points, tied for the most in the competition on both the men's and women's sides.
Coleman won the 60m SEC Championship with a time 6.56 in the finals. The junior has bested that mark this year with a time of 6.51. He is tied for the NCAA lead and is second in the world in the 60m dash this year. Coleman finished second in the 200m dash with a time of 20.54 last year. He ran a time of 20.46 two weeks ago at the Tiger Paw Invitational and now boasts the top time in the world and the NCAA this year. Coleman also ran the second leg for the 4x400m squad which took second place with a time of 3:07.07.
Blaase won the award as she was the SEC Champion in both the 3000m and 5000m races. Blaase finished the 3000m race in a personal best time of 9:20.57. She then went on to win the 5000m competition with a time of 16:22.32. She ran faster than that mark earlier this year in her only race of the season. Blaase finished third at the Husky Classic on February 10 as she crossed the line in 15:53.73.
The women's 4x400m relay team of Lenysse Dyer, Felecia Majors, Layla White and Felicia Brown won last year's championship in a time of 3:30.56. The duo of Dyer and White return alongside Shania Collins, Maia McCoy and Brooklynn Broadwater to defend their crown.
Brown claimed the women's 200m crown with a time of 22.45, she then went on to win the national championship in the event. Cameron Brown rounded out the winners as he claimed the men's weight throw championship with a throw of 22.28m (73-1.25). Cameron Brown exhausted his indoor eligibility, but will compete for the Vols during the outdoor season while Felicia Brown graduated last spring.
SEC Championship History
Tennessee has won 22 SEC Indoor Championships including 18 by the men's team. That is part of 51 total SEC track & field championships, which is tied for second most amongst SEC schools. (Arkansas 52, LSU 51). Tennessee has produced 165 Individual SEC Champions on the men's side and 72 women's champions in the history of the SEC Indoor Championship.
Coleman will seek to win Tennessee's 10th indoor championship in the 60y/55m/60m dash. If the junior can pull off the feat for a second consecutive season that will bring the Vols into a tie with Auburn for the most championships in the event.
As the national leader in the 200m, Coleman will also look to push Tennessee up the career marks in that event. Tennessee has won the event four times, which is the second-most in the SEC behind LSU's nine victories. LSU has won 16 short sprint championships (60y/55m/60m/200m), they are the only school with more than Tennessee's 13 SEC sprinting victories.
Who To Watch - Men
In addition to Coleman and Blaase the Vols will showcase some talented student-athletes over the two-day event.
On the men's side, Mustaqeem Williams has proven to be an excellent sprinter in his own right. The sophomore ranks tenth in the country with a time of 6.64 in the 60m. He will also be competing in the 200m race as he currently sits in 17th place. Williams will look to better his mark of 20.86, which he set at the Razorback Invitational earlier this year.
Nathan Strother will also look to secure his spot in the national championship competition as he is currently in 16th place in the nation. The junior has posted a season-best time of 46.46, however his personal best came in last year's NCAA Championship as Strother finished in second place with a mark of 46.28.
Coleman, Strother and Williams will be joined by Ari Cogdell on the 4x400m relay team. Last year's edition finished second at the SEC Championship. This year's squad posted a time of 3:06.30 at the Razorback Invitational, but has not competed since that race on January 21.
Freshman Darryl Sullivan had a breakout performance at the Tiger Paw Invitational as he set a Tennessee freshman record and moved into a tie for fifth on the school's all-time high jump list. The Marion, Ill. native cleared 2.20m (7-2.5) and now sits tied for 11th in the nation and fifth in the SEC in the high jump.
Freshman Tristan Slater sits in seventh in the conference's pole vault rankings entering the SEC Championship. He has cleared 5.10m (16-8.75) on two occasions, including his last outing at the Tiger Paw Invitational.
Seth Whitener has shown improvement throughout the season as he has set a new personal best in five of the six meets during the indoor season. The sophomore now has a personal best weight throw of 20.32m (66-8) which sits eighth in the SEC.
Who To Watch - Women
On the women's side, Shania Collins and Maia McCoy lead Tennessee's sprinting efforts. Collins is 11th in the conference in the 60m dash as she has a personal best of 7.35 which she has accomplished twice this season including at the Virginia Tech "Doc Hale" Elite Meet when she was the women's MVP of the meet. Collins also has a personal best of 23.63 in the 200m. McCoy has posted personal bests of 7.40 in the 60m and 23.69 in the 200m.
Domonique Turner was named SEC Freshman of the Week after she set a personal best of 8.36 in the 60m hurdles at the Virginia Tech "Doc Hale" Elite Meet. That mark ranks sixth on Tennessee's all-time list for the event. The Lakeland, Fla. native will also compete in the high jump where she ranks 22nd in the conference.
Cidae'a Woods is ranked in the top six on Tennessee's career records list in both the long jump and the triple jump. The junior has set career bests this year of 6.18m (20-3.25) and 12.69 (41-7.75).
Candice Butler ranks ninth in the SEC entering the championship as she set a personal best in the weight throw of 19.94m (65-5) at the Virginia Tech "Doc Hale" Elite Meet. Butler moved into third on the school's all-time list with that throw.
Butler still ranks behind sophomore Stamatia Scarvelis in the event. The sophomore enters with a weight throw of 20.24m (66-5) which is second on Tennessee's all-time list. She set the Greek national record with that toss at the Razorback Invitational. That mark also ranks seventh in the SEC this year. Scarvelis has also excelled in the shot put as she enters with the sixth-best mark in the conference at 16.31m (53-6.25).
SEC Championship
Men's Competitors
60m: Christian Coleman, Mustaqeem Williams, Malik Elion
200m: Christian Coleman, Mustaqeem Williams, Malik Elion
400m: Nathan Strother, Ari Cogdell, Darryl Harris
Mile: Zach Long, Adam Johnston
3000m: Zach Long
5000m: Nick Brey, Wesley Robinson, Gashaw Duhamel, Brad Swiney
4x400m Relay: Tennessee (Ari Cogdell, Christian Coleman, Nathan Strother, Mustaqeem Williams)
Distance Medley Relay: Tennessee (Adam Johnston, Darryl Harris, Trey Quealy, Zach Long)
Pole Vault: Tristan Slater
High Jump: Darryl Sullivan
Long Jump: Bruce DeGrilla
Triple Jump: Marcellus Fletcher
Shot Put: Joseph Maxwell, Matthew Zajac, Cole Patterson
Weight Throw: Seth Whitener, Matthew Zajac
Women's Competitors
60m: Shania Collins, Maia McCoy
200m: Shania Collins, Maia McCoy
400m: Brooklynn Broadwater
3000m: Jessica Rizor, Julia Rizor
5000m: Chelsea Blaase
60m Hurdles: Domonique Turner
4x400m Relay: Tennessee (Lenysse Dyer, Shania Collins, Maia McCoy, Layla White, Brooklynn Broadwater)
High Jump: Domonique Turner
Long Jump: Cidae'a Woods
Triple Jump: Cidae'a Woods, Brielyn Rogers, LaChyna Roe
Shot Put: Stamatia Scarvelis, Tamia Crockett
Weight Throw: Stamatia Scarvelis, Candice Butler, Savannah Marlow, Tamia Crockett
Pentathlon: Maya Neal
Pentathlon 60m Hurdles: Maya Neal
Pentathlon High Jump: Maya Neal
Pentathlon Shot Put: Maya Neal
Pentathlon Long Jump: Maya Neal
Pentathlon 800m: Maya Neal
Players Mentioned
