University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Cayce Smith/Tennessee Athletics
DMR Title Highlights Three Day 1 Medals At SEC Indoor Championships
February 25, 2023 | Track & Field, Cross Country
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Tennessee men's distance medley relay quartet of Yordanos Zelinski, Rasheeme Griffith, Joe Hoots and Dylan Jacobs struck gold on Friday night at the SEC Indoor Championships, finishing first overall in 9:32.75 to claim the program's first men's DMR conference championship since 2007.
Zelinski, a true freshman who owns the Tennessee rookie record in the mile, completed the 1,200-meter leg in 3:00.01 before passing the baton to Griffith who clocked a 400-meter split of 46.42 seconds. Fifth-year senior and 2021 DMR bronze medalist Joe Hoots gained the lead during the 800-meter leg with a split of 1:49.88 and handed off to Jacobs, who went 3:56.46 on the 1,600-meter anchor leg to secure the victory for the Big Orange.
Tennessee's time of 9:32.75 was the second-fastest in school history and earned UT its first distance medley relay title on the men's side in 16 years. Jeff Day, Samdi Fraser, Andrew Dawson and Tyler DeVault claimed Tennessee's last DMR gold with a time of 9:43.78 at the 2007 SEC indoor meet.
UT also collected a pair of silver medals in both 5,000-meter championships to round out Friday's podium finishes. On the men's side, Yaseen Abdalla ran his first 5k as a Vol and finished strong for second place with a time of 14:10.19. Kayla Gholar represented the Lady Vols in the 25-lapper and ran across the finish line second in a personal-best 16:05.79 to score eight points for UT.
After the first day of conference competition, the Vols sit fourth in the men's standings with 20 points. Graduate student Nate Kawalec added to UT's tally with a seventh-place finish in the 5k, turning in a time of 14:20.43 in his SEC Championship debut.
The Lady Vols are slotted fifth after compiling 23.33 points on Friday. In addition to Gholar's silver medal in the 5,000m, Tennessee had five more scoring performances from Chandler Hayden, Charisma Taylor, Mikele Vickers, Rachel Sutliff and Ellison Colarossi.
Fresh off a new PR in the same throwing sector a week ago, Hayden competed in her fourth SEC weight throw competition and scored for the first time in her career with a fourth-place finish. The Pittsfield, Illinois, native heaved the 20-pound weight 22.20m (72-10) in the third round to collect five points for Tennessee.
Taylor and Vickers each scored in the women's long jump final, posting marks of 6.36m (20-10.5) and 6.10m (20-0.25) for fourth and seventh place in the event, respectively. Friday's result marked career-best finishes for the Lady Vol duo in the SEC indoor long jump, including Vickers' first time scoring in the long jump at any conference championship.
Sutliff competed alongside Gholar in the 5k and tacked on three more points for the Lady Vols with a sixth-place finish, posting a time of 16:20.07 to mark her first career scoring performance at the SEC Championships. Colarossi competed in the pole vault and cleared a lifetime-best 3.96m (12-11.75) to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place, notching 0.33 points for the Big Orange in her first SEC Championship meet.
MOVING ON: Tennessee had seven performances from Friday's preliminary heats that advanced to Saturday's finals, headlined by redshirt junior Jesse Henderson's 7.67 clocking in the men's 60-meter hurdles. The time was the fastest in the SEC this season, ranked eighth nationally and tied Jangy Addy (2008) and Willie Gault (1983) as the third-fastest performer in Tennessee history.
Graduate transfer Rasheem Brown also booked a spot in Saturday's 60-meter hurdles final, running a season-best 7.71 in the second heat and moving up three positions to No. 7 on UT's all-time list.
Lady Vol senior Jacious Sears punched her ticket to a pair of SEC sprint finals in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. She won her heat of the 60m in 7.16 before turning in a lifetime-best 22.97 in the 200m prelims for Friday's third-fastest performance. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, native will be one of five women going for the SEC short sprint double Saturday evening.
Fifth-year senior Joella Lloyd will join her training partner in the 60-meter dash final, looking to reclaim conference glory on the same track she won the SEC title in 2021. The Antiguan Olympian won Friday's opening heat comfortably with a time of 7.26.
In addition to her scoring performance in the long jump, Taylor advanced in the women's 60-meter hurdles after clocking a season-best 8.02 in prelims on Friday. The mark ranks tied for sixth on the 2022-23 NCAA indoor list with the qualifying window's end rapidly approaching.
Tennessee junior Canaan Anderson will get one more shot at a sub-four mile after securing an automatic bid to the final. After hanging with the lead pack throughout the race, the Murfreesboro native had a furious kick on the final turn that propelled him to a third-place finish in his preliminary heat with a time of 4:04.69.
UP NEXT: The SEC Indoor Championships conclude Saturday with a full slate of events, beginning at 1 p.m. ET with the men's heptathlon 60-meter hurdles. The conference meet will wrap up with the women's 4x400-meter relay at approximately 8 p.m.
Zelinski, a true freshman who owns the Tennessee rookie record in the mile, completed the 1,200-meter leg in 3:00.01 before passing the baton to Griffith who clocked a 400-meter split of 46.42 seconds. Fifth-year senior and 2021 DMR bronze medalist Joe Hoots gained the lead during the 800-meter leg with a split of 1:49.88 and handed off to Jacobs, who went 3:56.46 on the 1,600-meter anchor leg to secure the victory for the Big Orange.
Tennessee's time of 9:32.75 was the second-fastest in school history and earned UT its first distance medley relay title on the men's side in 16 years. Jeff Day, Samdi Fraser, Andrew Dawson and Tyler DeVault claimed Tennessee's last DMR gold with a time of 9:43.78 at the 2007 SEC indoor meet.
UT also collected a pair of silver medals in both 5,000-meter championships to round out Friday's podium finishes. On the men's side, Yaseen Abdalla ran his first 5k as a Vol and finished strong for second place with a time of 14:10.19. Kayla Gholar represented the Lady Vols in the 25-lapper and ran across the finish line second in a personal-best 16:05.79 to score eight points for UT.
After the first day of conference competition, the Vols sit fourth in the men's standings with 20 points. Graduate student Nate Kawalec added to UT's tally with a seventh-place finish in the 5k, turning in a time of 14:20.43 in his SEC Championship debut.
The Lady Vols are slotted fifth after compiling 23.33 points on Friday. In addition to Gholar's silver medal in the 5,000m, Tennessee had five more scoring performances from Chandler Hayden, Charisma Taylor, Mikele Vickers, Rachel Sutliff and Ellison Colarossi.
Fresh off a new PR in the same throwing sector a week ago, Hayden competed in her fourth SEC weight throw competition and scored for the first time in her career with a fourth-place finish. The Pittsfield, Illinois, native heaved the 20-pound weight 22.20m (72-10) in the third round to collect five points for Tennessee.
Taylor and Vickers each scored in the women's long jump final, posting marks of 6.36m (20-10.5) and 6.10m (20-0.25) for fourth and seventh place in the event, respectively. Friday's result marked career-best finishes for the Lady Vol duo in the SEC indoor long jump, including Vickers' first time scoring in the long jump at any conference championship.
Sutliff competed alongside Gholar in the 5k and tacked on three more points for the Lady Vols with a sixth-place finish, posting a time of 16:20.07 to mark her first career scoring performance at the SEC Championships. Colarossi competed in the pole vault and cleared a lifetime-best 3.96m (12-11.75) to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place, notching 0.33 points for the Big Orange in her first SEC Championship meet.
MOVING ON: Tennessee had seven performances from Friday's preliminary heats that advanced to Saturday's finals, headlined by redshirt junior Jesse Henderson's 7.67 clocking in the men's 60-meter hurdles. The time was the fastest in the SEC this season, ranked eighth nationally and tied Jangy Addy (2008) and Willie Gault (1983) as the third-fastest performer in Tennessee history.
Graduate transfer Rasheem Brown also booked a spot in Saturday's 60-meter hurdles final, running a season-best 7.71 in the second heat and moving up three positions to No. 7 on UT's all-time list.
Lady Vol senior Jacious Sears punched her ticket to a pair of SEC sprint finals in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. She won her heat of the 60m in 7.16 before turning in a lifetime-best 22.97 in the 200m prelims for Friday's third-fastest performance. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, native will be one of five women going for the SEC short sprint double Saturday evening.
Fifth-year senior Joella Lloyd will join her training partner in the 60-meter dash final, looking to reclaim conference glory on the same track she won the SEC title in 2021. The Antiguan Olympian won Friday's opening heat comfortably with a time of 7.26.
In addition to her scoring performance in the long jump, Taylor advanced in the women's 60-meter hurdles after clocking a season-best 8.02 in prelims on Friday. The mark ranks tied for sixth on the 2022-23 NCAA indoor list with the qualifying window's end rapidly approaching.
Tennessee junior Canaan Anderson will get one more shot at a sub-four mile after securing an automatic bid to the final. After hanging with the lead pack throughout the race, the Murfreesboro native had a furious kick on the final turn that propelled him to a third-place finish in his preliminary heat with a time of 4:04.69.
UP NEXT: The SEC Indoor Championships conclude Saturday with a full slate of events, beginning at 1 p.m. ET with the men's heptathlon 60-meter hurdles. The conference meet will wrap up with the women's 4x400-meter relay at approximately 8 p.m.
Players Mentioned
XC/Distance
/ Track & Field
/ Cross Country
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
XC/Distance
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track & Field
XC/Distance
/ Track & Field
XC/Distance
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
/ Cross Country
Jumps/Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Track & Field
XC/Distance
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