Three Event Victories Highlight Saturday's Action At Commodore Indoor

COLLEGE STATION, TX - 2020.02.28 - SEC Indoor Championship Day 1

Photo by: Maury Neipris/Tennessee Athletics

Three Event Victories Highlight Saturday's Action At Commodore Indoor

January 16, 2021 | Track & Field

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee track & field program wrapped up its long-awaited season opener with three event victories, nine personal-best marks and nine top-3 finishes on Saturday as the Big Orange competed at the Commodore Indoor inside Vanderbilt's multipurpose facility. The meet marked UT's first official competition in more than 320 days.

"It was just great to be back out there coaching our young people," head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said after the meet. "It was exciting and our staff was thrilled, starting with last night. I really want to give a lot of credit and appreciation to Vanderbilt for making this happen. It was a great opener, to open up with six SEC schools and just compete.

"It took perseverance and a lot of internal motivation for these athletes to do the right things, train hard and stay focused to be able to get out there today and enjoy the process. That's been a lot of the focus coming from the coaching staff's direction, is to just have some fun. Go out there and compete and have some fun. You could see that reward today."

WINNER, WINNER, WINNER: Senior thrower Latavia Maines started the day with a win in the women's shot put, launching the metal sphere 16.40 meters (53-9.75) to place first in the first event of the day. The Centralia, Illinois, native has won five consecutive shot put contests for the Lady Vols, dating to January 18, 2020.

Kiara Rhodes, a top-10 60-meter hurdler in program history, cruised to a win on Saturday with her mark of 8.47 in the final. The senior from Memphis owns a personal record of 8.24 that ranks her as the No. 6 Lady Vol performer of all time in the indoor 60-meter hurdles.

Redshirt junior Jordan West posted a dominant performance in the men's shot put with his distance of 19.15 meters (62-10), which stands as his second-best mark indoors as a Tennessee Vol. The winning throw came on his sixth-round attempt and beat the second-place finisher by 80 centimeters (2' 7.5").

RELAY RUNNERS-UP: Tennessee's 4x400-meter relay squads opened up at the Commodore Indoor, with UT taking second place on the men's and women's sides Saturday afternoon. The Lady Vol team of Vanessa Watson, Martina Weil, Joella Lloyd and Britton Wilson finished in 3:41.71, while the men's foursome of Rasheeme Griffith, Emmanuel Bynum, Sebastian Cooper and Jonathan Sacoor were right on the heels of Alabama with a time of 3:09.77.

PODIUM PLACEMENTS: The Big Orange had four additional top-3 finishes on Saturday, beginning with true freshman and Nashville native Mikele Vickers who was second in the triple jump at 11.56 meters (37-11.25) in her college debut.

Vol rookie Ethan Robinson also nabbed a runner-up result with his 8.14 clocking in the men's 60m hurdles, while senior pole vaulter Hannah Jefcoat tied for second with a clearance of 3.85 meters (12-7.5).

Junior middle distance runner Emma Dilullo rounded out Tennessee's top-3 finishes on Saturday, as her time of 2:14.82 was good for third place at the meet and a new PR.

PR TRACKER: Tennessee athletes combined for a total of nine indoor personal records Saturday afternoon at the Commodore Indoor.

Spencer Brown - Men's 60m Hurdles - 8.35
Ethan Robinson - Men's 400m - 50.48
Emma Dilullo - Women's 800m - 2:14.82
Will Mazur - Men's 800m - 1:53.65
Preston Ruth - Men's 800m - 1:57.48
Callie Tucker - Women's 3000m - 10:14.75
Mike Griffin - Men's 3000m - 8:18.80
Alex Crigger - Men's 3000m - 8:20.06
Eli Nahom - Men's 3000m - 8:31.87

BIG ORANGE DEBUTS: Five student-athletes made their official Tennessee track & field debuts Saturday afternoon: Israel Adesina (men's 60m, 7.49; men's shot put, 14.28m), Spencer Brown (men's 60m hurdles, 8.35), Ellison Colarossi (women's pole vault, 3.40m), Ethan Robinson (men's 60m hurdles, 8.14; men's 400m, 50.48) and Mikele Vickers (women's 60m, 7.81; women's triple jump, 11.56m).

CLOSING THOUGHTS FROM COACH SULLIVAN: "Internally, we're a group of people on a mission. A lot of people really have the fire in their belly to get back out there. Fix the mistakes and let's go, that kind of attitude. My message to the team was just laying out the perspective of taking every opportunity and being prepared for it and executing that. Making sure that focus stays there and we enjoy the process."

UP NEXT: Tennessee track & field will travel to Blacksburg, Virginia, next weekend to compete at the Hokie Invitational. The meet is set for Friday and Saturday, January 22-23 at Virginia Tech's Rector Field House.

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