University of Tennessee Athletics
Journey To Excellence – The Paths Of Darryl Sullivan And Carey McLeod Intersected On Rocky Top
February 27, 2020 | Track & Field
By Dom Palumbo, UTSports.com
At the University of Tennessee, there are a multitude of storied programs.
Tennessee football has long been considered one of the most accomplished teams in the 150-year history of college football.
Tennessee Lady Vol basketball boasts eight national championships and is the winningest program in the history of NCAA women's basketball.
Lady Vol Softball regularly hosts regionals in the NCAA softball tournament and is always in the conversation to potentially make the Women's College World Series come June.
A plethora of teams, all winning at an elite level.
One program that may not always be in the forefront of Vols fans minds, but succeeds at an equally elite level is Tennessee Track & Field.
A program that holds seven team national championships and 51 team Southeastern Conference championships.
A program that has been represented at every Olympic Games since 1964. The current fastest man in the world, Christian Coleman, is a VFL.
The track & field excellence has continued this season, and part of that excellence has come from senior high jumper Darryl Sullivan and sophomore horizontal jumper Carey McLeod.
Last month at the Virginia Tech Invitational, Sullivan exploded and cleared the 2.33-meter (7' 7.75") bar.
"Coming in it was crazy, because that was only my second or third jump coming from my full approach," Sullivan said. "(Coach Travis Geopfert) had been changing things up from how far I take off from the bar. The whole focus and goal for this season was to jump 2.33, but (there was no real pressure put on me to do it).
"At the time, I wasn't feeling completely confident in my full approach and I told coach that I felt like I was jumping higher from my short approach. In theory I know that's not true, but that's just how I felt. So, I wasn't focused on how high I was going to jump, because I wasn't sure how high I was going to jump, but I just kept going and pushing. At 7 feet I had a few misses, then at 7' 3" I had a few misses, then he just bumped (the bar) up to 2.33 (7'7.75") and that was that. My mentality coming in was to just do the things we've been working on in practice and trusting my coach."
The mark broke the Tennessee program record held previously by three-time NCAA Champion Randy Jenkins. His jump also tied the SEC indoor record, vaulted him to fourth on the NCAA track & field all-time indoor performance list and still sits as the highest mark in the world during the 2019-20 indoor track season.
To put Sullivan's jump in perspective, a 2.33-meter-high jump equaled the Olympic Standard height for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
A month later at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational, McLeod broke Tennessee's all-time long jump record with a length of 8.16 meters (26' 9.25"), which at the time of the jump was the world's top mark for the 2019-20 indoor season.
"My goal going into that meet was just being consistent," McLeod said. "I know what I'm capable of jumping. (Coach Travis) and I always talk about jumping big, but it's just to make sure they count. That was always my main problem, was scratching my jumps. At Texas Tech I scratched almost all of my jumps, but I knew what shape I was in when I scratched those jumps, so I knew we just had to work on some small things in practice. After my first jump I felt good and I knew what I was jumping. By jumping over the years, you can tell where a certain mark is for you. I think I just put everything together on that second attempt."
For both McLeod and Sullivan, their marks are what they've expected from themselves long before their paths brought them both to Rocky Top.
For Sullivan, a Marion, Illinois native, one high school jump in particular put him on the radar of multiple SEC schools.
"Out of high school in my senior year I jumped 7' 3" at indoors and 7' 4" at outdoors which was good enough to win indoor nationals, compete at SEC Outdoors and compete on the collegiate level," Sullivan said. "Initially, I wanted to go elsewhere, but when I came to Tennessee, I loved the coaches and the overall environment here, so I committed to UT."
After arriving, an up-and-down freshman and sophomore season had Sullivan contemplating what his future would be on Rocky Top.
"Coming in, my goal was to jump 7' 5" and to improve. My freshman year I jumped 7' 2.5", I hit an injury bug, and struggled a lot after that," Sullivan said. "Going through all of that and realizing that I had jumped a lot better in high school, I just didn't know what was going on. I really had to put a lot of trust and faith in [head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan]. Ultimately, I chose to stick it out and put my faith in the place that chose me."
With his decision, came the addition of new associate head coach Travis Geopfert, who works directly with Tennessee's jumpers and combined events.
"Coming into my junior year I knew I had it, because there had been those practices where I knew it was great, but when I would get to meets things just wouldn't come together," Sullivan recalled. "Then, when Coach G came in, the biggest thing was that he believed and trusted in me. He knew I had the potential to jump high. Of course, I had the potential, because I jumped high out of high school, but it had been a few years and I had fallen off the map. I wasn't living up to the expectations I had set for myself and I hadn't been competing how I had wanted to. So, for coach to tell me that I would do great things was huge for me."
It was this trust that put him in a position to do what he's always known he could do.
For McLeod, his path to Rocky Top was slightly different. A native of Kingston, Jamaica and an alumnus of Kingston College, he began his career, not as a jumper, but as a sprinter in the 400.
"At first I used to run the 400 meter and then I got a hip injury that made me stop running that event," McLeod said. "As a kid I would always jump over stuff and there was a lady who brought me to the pit one day, told me to try it and almost immediately I made my first boys' and girls' high school championship."
Out of high school, he had hopes of competing at the highest level of collegiate track in America. After a few bumps prior to leaving Jamaica, he had the choice of either staying in his home country, or venturing to an unknown place in pursuit of his goals in the pit.
"When I was leaving high school I signed with Arkansas, because Coach G was at Arkansas," McLeod said. "Then in the summer between high school and college, Coach G was hired at Tennessee. There was an issue with my grades getting in late, and my coaches and family didn't want me to stay too long in Jamaica. Coach G and Emporia State's coach were roommates in college and Emporia wanted me to help their program, so they gave me a scholarship. It's crazy how everything happened."
After two seasons filled with injuries, uncertainty and a few truly bright performances, McLeod found himself in Knoxville, in a new place, with new coaches, new teammates and a brand-new set of colors to don.
When he arrived, his transition was easy. He found his group of people and two new roommates to help cement his new sense of home. One of those roommates was teammate Darryl Sullivan.
"It was this summer," Sullivan said. "I was here over the summer and (Jalen Tate) was the other triple jumper that was also here. Carey was hanging with (a few other guys) on the team and we were over there hanging with them, and Carey was being super funny. We knew we needed a third roommate, because our apartment has three rooms and I was like 'Hey, why don't we get Carey to room with us, because he's really funny and cool.' So, we asked him and from there it just happened. There wasn't really much to it."
"When I got here I knew I wasn't going to live in the dorms," McLeod said. "Jalen asked me where I was going to live and I had checked out the same apartment complex they were in and I just moved in with them. Being in the same group, I feel like jumpers should stick with jumpers, because it's that good environment and energy. We had a good connection from the beginning. We may not agree on everything, but we're always having fun and I don't regret it at all. It's just a perfect environment for us."
It's an environment that has allowed the two of them to foster and mold the mentality and focus they take with them into practice each and every day.
They've been known to sit for long periods of time after practice talking about how they can improve in practice, in meets, in their preparation off the track and in every aspect of what they do.
When it's not track, they are playing music into the late hours of the night simply enjoying each other's company or making the trek to the Cumberland Strip for a meal at Panda Express or the ever popular Chipotle.
As the Vols prepare to compete at the 2020 SEC Indoor Championships and the 2020 Indoor National Championships and near the beginning of the outdoor season, McLeod and Sullivan constantly remind themselves of where they are, how important their journeys were to get here and who they represent to continue bearing the torch of excellence that comes with competing for the University of Tennessee.
"The timing of everything, the timing of everything has just been crazy," McLeod said. "Every time I had to go to Arkansas something would happen and eventually I realized that it may not be meant for me to go to Arkansas. I stopped questioning everything and started praying more. I'm going to be the first to tell you that I don't go to church every Sunday, but what I can tell you is that I pray a lot about stuff. I say everything with a prayer and I let it all go. Everything I do is in God's hands."
"It's not just me that I jump for," Sullivan said. "It's for the University of Tennessee, UT athletics, the school and all of my friends and family who have been supporting me the entire way."
