Tennessee Track & Field: 2020 Season Notebook

March 27, 2020 | Track & Field

2020 ITF Women's Stats 2020 ITF Men's Stats

The new decade was off to a strong start for Tennessee track & field, as the Vols and Lady Vols totaled three SEC individual championships, eight SEC event medals, four school records, three freshman records and 24 top-10 program marks during the indoor season alone. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) global health crisis, Tennessee's 2020 campaign concluded just prior to the NCAA Indoor National Championships on March 12.

Read below for a comprehensive breakdown of the 2020 indoor season for Tennessee track & field, and follow this link for a message from head coach/director of track & field Beth Alford-Sullivan.

SEVEN VOLS PUNCH TICKETS TO NCAAs: A group of seven Tennessee track & field athletes traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the 2020 NCAA Indoor National Championships, as the meet was scheduled for March 14 and 15. To qualify for the meet, individuals must have been ranked inside the top-16 in the country in their respective events with marks set during the 2019-20 season.

UT sophomore Carey McLeod qualified in both the long jump and triple jump, one of four athletes in the country to be entered in both horizontal jumping events. He was the top seed in the nation with his long jump of 8.19 meters (26-10.5) at the SEC Championships, while his triple jump season-best of 16.68 meters (54-8.75) was the No. 2 mark in the country in 2020.

Senior captain high jumper Darryl Sullivan was atop the NCAA and world leaderboard for the indoor season with his leap of 2.33 meters (7-7.75) at the Virginia Tech Invitational on January 18. The performance equaled the Olympic standard, all-time SEC indoor record and No. 4 mark in collegiate indoor history. He was set to make his third NCAA Indoor Championship appearance in four years, coming off a 2nd-place finish in 2019.

Tennessee was one of four schools to have a multiple qualifiers in the women's 60-meter hurdles, as Alexis Duncan (8.10) and Domonique Turner (8.11) turned in their fastest times of the season at the SEC Indoor Championships. The duo respectively ranks second and third in program history with their collegiate-bests in the event, ahead of three-time world champion (8.13) and Olympic gold medalist Benita Fitzgerald (8.18).

A four-time All-American in the junior college ranks, Latavia Maines was set to make her NCAA Championship debut following her SEC gold medal performance in the women's shot put. The Centralia, Illinois, native owned a season-best throw of 17.49 meters (57-4.75), ranking seventh in the country and fourth in program history.

Sophomore jumper Alonie Sutton qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row after claiming First Team All-America status as a rookie with her sixth-place finish last season. Sutton's top performance of the year was a 13.47 meter (44-2.5) triple jump at the Texas Tech Invitational, ranking No. 7 on the national qualifying list and No. 2 in Lady Vol history.

Canadian shot put standout Joseph Maxwell was primed for his first NCAA indoor championship meet, as the junior from Evansville, Ontario, won the SEC title with a throw of 19.83 meters (65-0.75). His season-best mark of 19.89 meters (65-3.25) at the Tiger Paw Invite was the best performance ever recorded by a Tennessee Vol indoors, ranking 10th in the nation for the 2020 season.

McLEOD DECORATED WITH POSTSEASON HONORS: In his first season with the Vols, sophomore Carey McLeod made a lasting impact on the program with an incredible debut campaign on Rocky Top. Following the conference championships, the Kingston, Jamaica, native was tabbed by the SEC's head coaches as the SEC Men's Field Athlete of the Year. He was also selected as the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year and was named a finalist for National Field Athlete of the Year earlier this week by the coaches' association.

McLeod's NCAA-leading long jump of 8.19 meters (26-10.5) broke his own all-time Tennessee record as he captured UT's first SEC title in the event since Darius Pemberton 1995. The mark tied the No. 17 performer on the all-time collegiate list and the No. 8 performer in SEC history.

McLeod also took home silver in the men's triple jump at the SEC meet, as his performance of 16.49 meters (54-1.25) was one centimeter shy of the gold. He is Tennessee's first SEC medalist in the men's indoor triple jump since Akeem Hardnett also placed second in 2007.

GEOPFERT RECOGNIZED BY COACHES' ASSOCIATION: Tennessee associate head coach Travis Geopfert was voted by his peers as the Men's Assistant Coach of the Year for the NCAA Division I South Region, which includes all programs from the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. Earlier this week, Geopfert was named a finalist for National Men's Assistant Coach of the Year, an award he won twice in his previous stint at the University of Arkansas.

In addition to McLeod, Geopfert mentored world No. 1 high jumper Darryl Sullivan, who tied the all-time SEC indoor record January 18 with his mark of 2.33 meters (7-7.75). Geopfert also guided a pair of freshmen to scoring performances in the men's heptathlon at the SEC championships, as Yariel Soto (5,498 points) and Peyton Davis (5,204) placed fourth and sixth respectively. It was the first time UT had two top-8 finishers in the event since 2008.

WATCH OUT FOR D-WAVY: Senior captain Darryl Sullivan's historic season featured two appearances on the men's watch list for The Bowerman, the highest individual honor in collegiate track & field. He is third Vol to appear on the men's watch list since the award's inception in 2009, joining 2017 Bowerman winner Christian Coleman and 2016 NCAA pole vault champion Jake Blankenship.

SEC MEDAL COUNT: Tennessee took home eight event medals from the SEC Indoor Championships, as the conference meet took place February 28 and 29 inside Texas A&M's Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.

Gold (3)
Women's Shot Put - Latavia Maines (16.84m / 55-3)
Men's Long Jump - Carey McLeod (8.19m / 26-10.5)
Men's Shot Put - Joseph Maxwell (19.83m / 65-0.75)

Silver (1)
Men's Triple Jump - Carey McLeod (16.49m / 54-1.25)

Bronze (4)
Women's Distance Medley Relay - Katie Thronson, Martina Weil, Nicole Adams, Olivia Janke (11:24.59)
Women's 60 Meter Hurdles - Domonique Turner (8.11)
Women's Triple Jump - Alonie Sutton (13.28m / 43-7)
Men's Weight Throw - Georgios Korakidis (21.21m / 69-7)

#SECITF NOTABLES: The Tennessee men recorded their best finish and point total at the indoor conference meet since 2009, placing fifth in the team standings with 67 points. Carey McLeod scored a team-high 18 points at his first SEC Championship meet, followed by Joseph Maxwell (10) and Georgios Korakidis (6) to round out the Vols' top-three individual scorers.

On the women's side, the Lady Vols scored 43 points — their most since 2016 — to finish in a tie for eighth place. Latavia Maines tabbed 10 points for UT with her championship performance in the shot put, while Alonie Sutton added 7 points with her third-place finish in the triple jump and eight-place outing in the long jump. The women's distance medley relay and Domonique Turner posted six points each with bronze-medal performances at the conference meet, tying for third-most on the team.

Tennessee's shot put double was the eighth in SEC indoor meet history, as Latavia Maines and Joseph Maxwell reached the top of the podium for the Big Orange. Maines was Tennessee's fourth SEC indoor women's shot put champion and the first for the program since 2012. Now a three-time SEC medalist, Maxwell was the first Vol to win a men's indoor shot put title since 2009 and only the second in the past 33 years.

The Lady Vol distance medley relay crew returned to the SEC podium, as Katie Thronson (3:33.40), Martina Weil (54.98), Nicole Adams (2:11.01) and Olivia Janke (4:45.21) combined for a season-best time of 11:24.59 to place third. It was the first medal for UT in the event in eight years, after the Lady Vols had won the event eight times in a nine-year stretch from 2004-12.

Three program records fell at the SEC Championships, headlined by McLeod's NCAA-leading and world No. 4 leap of 8.19 meters (26-10.5) in the men's long jump. Junior pole vaulter Hannah Jefcoat also cleared an all-time Tennessee record bar of 4.25 meters (13-11.25), as she now owns the program standard in the vault both indoors and outdoors. Additionally, Chandler Hayden topped her own UT freshman record in the weight throw with a personal-best toss of 19.61 meters (64-4) at the conference meet.

More notes and results from the SEC Indoor Championships are available at the following links: Friday Recap | Saturday Recap

BROKEN RECORDS: Tennessee athletes combined to break four all-time school records and three all-time UT freshman records during the 2020 indoor campaign.

Indoor School Records
Women's Pole Vault - Hannah Jefcoat (4.25m / 13-11.25)
Men's High Jump - Darryl Sullivan (2.33m / 7-7.75)
Men's Long Jump - Carey McLeod (8.19m / 26-10.5)
Men's Shot Put - Joseph Maxwell (19.89m / 65-3.25)

Indoor Freshman Records
Women's Weight Throw - Chandler Hayden (19.61m / 64-4)
Men's 300 Meter Dash - Emmanuel Bynum (33.38)
Men's 1,000m Meter Run - Alex Kay (2:26.97)

ALL-TIME TOP 10 MARKS: UT recorded 24 marks in 18 different events this season that ranked inside the program's all-time indoor top-10 lists.

W 60 Meter Dash - t8. Joella Lloyd (7.27)

W 400 Meter Dash - t4. Britton Wilson (52.99)

W 60 Meter Hurdles - 2. Alexis Duncan (8.10); 3. Domonique Turner (8.11); 6. Kiara Rhodes (8.24); 10. Akira Rhodes (8.43)

W Pole Vault - 1. Hannah Jefcoat (4.25m); 5. Kim Spritzky (4.10m)

W Long Jump - 4. Alonie Sutton (6.28m); 5. Prom'Myse Hoosier (6.26m)

W Triple Jump - 2. Alonie Sutton (13.47m)

W Shot Put - 4. Latavia Maines (17.49m)

W Weight Throw - 5. Chandler Hayden (19.61m)

W Pentathlon - 4. Kiara Rhodes (3,975 points)

M 300 Meter Dash - 6. Emmanuel Bynum (33.38)

M 1,000 Meter Run - 6. Alex Kay (2:26.97)

M 4x400 Meter Relay - 7. Christopher Bailey, Jonathan Sacoor, Rasheeme Griffith, Alex Kay (3:07.36)

M High Jump - 1. Darryl Sullivan (2.33m)

M Long Jump - 1. Carey McLeod (8.19m)

M Triple Jump - 3. Carey McLeod (16.68m)

M Shot Put - 1. Joseph Maxwell (19.89m); 2. Jordan West (19.26m)

M Weight Throw - 5. Georgios Korakidis (21.21m)

M Heptathlon - 7. Yariel Soto (5,498 points)

A compiled listing of Tennessee's season stats, career performances, school records and top-10 lists can be viewed at this link. For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee track & field and cross country, follow @Vol_Track on Twitter.