Vols Tab Two Wins, Two Meet Records Saturday at Clark Wood Open

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Despite cold and rainy conditions throughout the afternoon on Saturday, the Tennessee track & field program wrapped up the weekend's action at the Clark Wood Open setting a pair of meet records in the men's triple jump and women's 100-meter hurdles at the Owsley B. Frazier Cardinal Park.

"We looked at this weekend as a business trip, and everybody had a task at hand," head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said after the meet. "We've been talking about eliminating obstacles from our vision and just competing with purpose and pride. Those themes were repeated as we went into this meet, and we did that. Our young people competed very well throughout the weekend. Even though conditions were tough today and yesterday, people were checking boxes and moving the dial in the right direction."

Making his Volunteer debut at the meet, graduate student Jah-Nhai Perinchief had the top showing in the triple jump as he cleared 16.04 meters (52-7.5) on his third attempt. The Bermudan international set a Clark Wood Open meet record and placed himself as the No. 7 outdoor triple performer on UT's all-time top-10 list. The mark also puts him in a solid spot for postseason qualification, ranking No. 16 in the nation during the 2021 outdoor season.

"Jah-Nhai is just a wonderful young man," Sullivan said. "I've been waiting for him to put the uniform on and get out there. With the cycle of the outdoor season, this was just the weekend that made the most sense. He competed well and didn't let anything get in the way. He took care of business, put out a strong mark for a meet record. Coach [Travis Geopfert] had these jumpers ready to go this weekend, and everybody just did an outstanding job."

Lady Vol redshirt junior Alexis Duncan clocked a fifth consecutive season-best time in the 100-meter hurdles on Saturday, setting a meet record with her performance of 13.26 seconds. She was followed closely by grad student Domonique Turner, who took second place in a season-best 13.31. The duo now ranks No. 17 and No. 21 on the 2021 NCAA Division I East Outdoor Qualifying list, respectively.

"I've asked the women's team to just keep chipping away, continue to put their best foot out there and compete with pride," Sullivan said. "They did that today. Once our hurdling duo got to the finals, they went out and competed against each other. Alexis said it felt just like practice, and yet they got a big reward from it by staying composed, being engaged and maximizing the opportunity. That's what we like to see."

Senior Abigail Smith also stood out for the Big Orange on Saturday, taking second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as she ran a personal-best 10:49.32. The mark topped her previous PR by more than 40 seconds and bumped the Greer, South Carolina, native up to No. 7 on the Lady Vols' all-time performance list.

"Abigail did a great job," Sullivan said. "It's an event that after the opener, you can really turn around and put together some great racing after that. She really took so much more control of this race than two weeks ago and executed her water jumps really well. She was just super competitive, which is exciting to see. I think she'll take another step going into SECs."

On the men's side, redshirt freshman Matthew McMillan took 10 seconds off his steeplechase personal-best—clocking in at 9:28.82 for eighth place to wrap up the competition.

"Matt had a goal of breaking 9:30, and made that come to fruition today," Sullivan said. "Once you break that 9:30 mark, you can start dipping into the 9:20 range. I'm really pleased with his focus throughout the second half of that race. It was raining pretty hard when those guys were running, and they did a great job with it."

PR TRACKER: Three Tennessee athletes recorded three outdoor personal records on Saturday at the Clark Wood Open.

Ainsley Cooper - Women's 1,500m - 4:46.80
Abigail Smith - Women's 3,000m Steeplechase - 10:49.32
Matthew McMillan - Men's 3,000m Steeplechase - 9:28.82

CLOSING THOUGHTS FROM COACH SULLIVAN: "My biggest message right now is that this is a team that just continues to round itself out into great shape and great performances. Our sport has been extremely exciting this spring, and the Tennessee Vols and Lady Vols are coming. We'll be ready once we get to SECs down at Texas A&M.

"It was great to see both tennis teams play so well this week, and the men win the conference championship yesterday. I want to give a great shoutout to them. It was very inspiring and set the tone for all our spring sports as we head into postseason across the department."

UP NEXT: Tennessee will conclude the outdoor regular season at home, hosting the Tennessee Challenge on Saturday, May 1 at Tom Black Track. Postseason action begins two weeks later with the SEC Outdoor Championships (May 13-15) in Bryan-College Station, Texas.

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

University of Tennessee Athletics

Vols Tab Two Wins, Two Meet Records Saturday at Clark Wood Open

Players Mentioned

Ainsley Cooper

Alexis Duncan

Matthew McMillan

Jah-Nhai Perinchief

Abigail Smith

Domonique Turner

Related Videos