Tennessee Sweeps Team Titles at Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge

KNOXVILLE, TN - 2018.04.14 - 51st Tennessee Relays

Photo by: Adrien Terricabras/Tennessee Ath

Tennessee Sweeps Team Titles at Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge

March 23, 2019 | Track & Field

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The Tennessee track & field program swept men's and women's team titles to round out action Saturday at the second-annual Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge. The Vols put up 182 points to beat every other men's team by more than 70 points, while the Lady Vols tabbed 130 points to edge host Miami by a single point.

In addition to serving as the start of the outdoor schedule, the Trailblazer Challenge brings together five combined track and field programs that are led by female head coaches: Tennessee (Beth Alford-Sullivan), Miami (Amy Deem), Ohio State (Karen Dennis), Ole Miss (Connie Price-Smith), and Southern California (Caryl Smith Gilbert).

Tennessee totaled seven event victories, 29 podium finishes and 27 NCAA outdoor personal records on Saturday. The Big Orange scored in all but one event for the meet on the way to dual team titles.

"We are really, really proud of these wins," director of track & field Beth Alford-Sullivan said following the meet. "It's not often in our seasons that we have scored, competitive meets - and this is a tremendous meet. The trailblazers are successful coaches with successful programs. To come in and be able to pull off wins against them, we're really proud of the efforts of our team."

SCARVELIS THROWS UP 28: Senior captain Stamatia Scarvelis tallied 18 points Saturday to improve her meet total to 28, the most of any athlete among the five programs. The Santa Barbara, Calif. native earned a runner-up finish in the discus throw (53.72m / 176-3), then struck gold for the second time in two days with an NCAA-leading hammer throw performance of 67.71m (222-2).

WILLIAMS SWEEPS SPRINTS: Nine-time All-American Mustaqeem Williams picked up a pair of sprint titles in the 100m and 200m dashes to highlight Tennessee's individual performances Saturday afternoon. The senior from Woodbridge, Va. clocked times of 10.33 and 21.04, respectively, to earn a quick 20 points for the Big Orange in his season debut.

LATE HEROICS FROM 4X400: Leading Miami by three points heading into the final event, the Lady Vol 4x400m relay squad needed to place at least one spot behind the Hurricanes to secure the Trailblazer Challenge team title. The quartet of Lenysse Dyer, Saqukine Cameron, Martina Weil and Brooklynn Broadwater did just that, placing second with a mark of 3:33.16 to earn eight points and edge the Canes by a single point.

SUTTON DOWNS 27-YEAR-OLD RECORD: Tennessee rookie Alonie Sutton broke the program's all-time freshman record in the women's triple jump, recording a mark of 12.90m (42-4) Saturday at Miami. The record was previously held by Lady Vol great Vickie Hudson, who set the standard in 1992 at 12.87m (42-2.75).

Sutton (Smiths Station, Ala.) also holds the Tennessee indoor freshman triple jump record with a distance of 13.33m (43-9) recorded at the 2019 SEC Indoor Championships in February.

MAXWELL FINDS GOLD: Making his season debut in the discus throw, Tennessee junior Joseph Maxwell broke his personal record by more than two meters with a heave of 56.72m (186-1) to win the event. His mark ranks 9^th in program history.

FIVE VAULTERS SCORE: All five Tennessee pole vaulters placed in the top-four of their respective events, headlined by a first-place finish from Tristan Slater at 4.95m (16-2.75). Jack Rhea and Andrew Ference both cleared the same height on a later jump to place third and fourth, respectively, in their outdoor collegiate debuts.

On the women's side, Hannah Jefcoat cleared an outdoor PR of 4.00m (13-1.5) to take second place in the event. Tennessee newcomer Kim Spritzky towered over a personal-best 3.85m (12-7.5) for third place at the meet.

LONG JUMP PRs GALORE: Five UT long jumpers recorded NCAA outdoor personal records despite a majority of the jumps squad working from short approach Saturday afternoon. Jalen Tate (7.04m), Weldon Wright (6.93m), Darryl Sullivan (6.69m), Alonie Sutton (5.83m) and LaChyna Roe (5.50m) each posted their furthest jumps in Tennessee uniforms outdoors.

THROW BROS. THRIVE FOR 14: The Vols went 2-3 in the men's hammer throw as Seth Whitener and Georgios Korakidis combined for 14 points. Whitener heaved a mark of 65.58m (215-2), while Korakidis logged a distance of 62.77m (205-11) to place second and third, respectively.

LONG CLAIMS 1500m GOLD: Tennessee senior Zach Long outkicked Mississippi's Everett Smulders to win the men's 1500m in a strategic 3:57.61. Sophomore Alex Crigger finished seconds later in a tight pack, placing 6^th with a mark of 3:58.96.

TRIPLE JUMP U: Tennessee compiled four top-3 finishes on the men's and women's sides in the triple jump competitions on Saturday. For the Vols, Jalen Tate struck gold with a 15.29m (50-2) performance, followed by Weldon Wright who placed third at 14.27m (46-10). The Lady Vol dynamic duo of LaChyna Roe (13.03m / 42-9) and Alonie Sutton (12.90m / 42-4) placed second and third, respectively.

EIGHT SCORE IN 3000m: Five Vols and three Lady Vols scored in the 3000m races to wrap up Saturday's individual events. Most notably, Minttu Hukka (9:48.17) and John Elrod (8:35.84) claimed runner-up finishes to headline the 3K for Tennessee.

#PRTRACKER: Tennessee athletes combined for 27 NCAA Outdoor personal records Saturday afternoon at the Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge.

Martina Weil - Women's 400m - 53.10
Katie Thronson - Women's 1500m - 4:29.41
Minttu Hukka - Women's 3000m - 9:48.17
Katie Thronson - Women's 3000m - 10:01.59
Abigail Smith - Women's 3000m - 10:06.54
Alaina Riordan - Women's 3000m - 10:42.26
Hannah Jefcoat - Women's Pole Vault - 4.00m / 13-1.5
Kim Spritzky - Women's Pole Vault - 3.85m / 12-7.5
LaChyna Roe - Women's Long Jump - 5.50m / 18-0.5
Alonie Sutton - Women's Long Jump - 5.83m / 19-1.5
Alonie Sutton - Women's Triple Jump - 12.90m / 42-4
Elijah Miller - Men's 100m - 10.52
Elijah Miller - Men's 200m - 21.25
Nick Boogades - Men's 800m - 1:52.84
Jose Parrilla - Men's 1500m - 4:03.22
Joe Hoots - Men's 1500m - 4:06.57
John Elrod - Men's 3000m - 8:35.84
Andre Hillsman - Men's 3000m - 8:39.77
Karl Thiessen - Men's 3000m - 8:45.16
Max Barbour - Men's 3000m - 8:47.43
Nick Brey - Men's 3000m - 8:49.97
Darryl Sullivan - Men's Long Jump - 6.69m / 21-11.5
Jalen Tate - Men's Long Jump - 7.04m / 23-1.25
Weldon Wright - Men's Long Jump - 6.93m / 22-9
Andrew Ference - Men's Pole Vault - 4.95m / 16-2.75
Jack Rhea - Men's Pole Vault - 4.95m / 16-2.75
Joseph Maxwell - Men's Discus - 56.72m / 186-1

QUOTES FROM COACH SULLIVAN: "A lot of credit to the University of Miami. They hosted a great meet. Really took the concept that USC put out there last year, and took it up another level. We had a great barbecue with all the teams last night, a dance off. Just an awesome experience. I'm very proud to be representing Tennessee, coming away with the dominant win on the men's side and a down-to-the-wire win on the women's side. It was just a blast today."

"Our team is finally figuring out the culture it takes to be champions. This was a great step forward for that. Give a lot of credit to the coaching staff, support staff and the leadership of this team."

"The spring break trip has been great for us. We had great training early in the week, great team momentum and bonding. Just really proud to come in here and represent against these great teams. USC was second place in the national championships on the women's side, Ohio State fourth place. Miami's women were the ACC Champions. For it to come down to the 4x400 with them, it was just true competitive spirit."

UP NEXT: Tennessee will split up next weekend, with a group of sprinters returning to the Sunshine State for the Pepsi Florida Relays (Gainesville, Fla.) and a collection of jumpers, throwers and distance runners heading west for the Stanford Invitational (Palo Alto, Calif.). Both meets are scheduled to run all day Friday and Saturday, March 29-30.

For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee track & field, follow @Vol_Track on Twitter.