Taylor Leads Lady Vols To Top-10 Finish At NCAA Indoor Championships

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Tennessee graduate student Charisma Taylor wrapped up her impressive weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships with 18 points for the Lady Vols, leading UT to a tie for seventh place in the women's team standings as the national meet concluded Saturday inside the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Combined with Jacious Sears' six points in the 60-meter dash, Duane Ross' Lady Vol squad tallied 24 points at nationals to record the program's most points and first top-10 finish on the women's side since 2016.

The men of Tennessee placed 11th in the team standings, headlined by 13 points from distance specialist Dylan Jacobs in the 5k and 3k. Sprinter Emmanuel Bynum tacked on five points with his school record in the 400-meter dash, resulting in 18 total points for the Big Orange.

The only athlete in the country competing in three individual events at this year's NCAA indoor meet, Taylor began Saturday's action with a historic performance in the women's triple jump competition. The Nassau, Bahamas, native leaped 14.88 meters (48-10) on her second attempt for second place, becoming the No. 2 performer in collegiate history and No. 2 performer on the 2023 world list. The collegiate record of 14.57m (47-9.75) entering the weekend was broken by Taylor and Jasmine Moore, who won Saturday's event with a new CR and world-leading mark of 15.12m (49-7.25).

With the 14.88m performance, Taylor logged her third consecutive top-5 finish in the NCAA indoor triple jump after placing 5th for Washington State in 2021 and 3rd as a Lady Vol last season.

Midway through the triple jump competition, Taylor passed on a pair of jumps to line up for the 60-meter hurdles final after qualifying on Friday with a school record and 2023 World No. 14 time of 7.91. She ran a respectable 7.93 on Saturday to place third overall for the Big Orange and put Tennessee in contention for a top-10 team finish. Her third-place 60m hurdles finish was the best by a Lady Vol at the NCAA meet since Benita Fitzgerald was also third in 1981.

After running the No. 5 time in the world and No. 2 all-time collegiate mark of 7.04 in the 60-meter dash prelims on Friday, Sears wrapped up her first indoor season on Rocky Top with a third-place finish in Saturday's final. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida native crossed the line in 7.10 seconds and became Tennessee's top finisher in the NCAA 60m since Courtney Champion was runner-up in 2007.

Bynum kicked off the men's portion on Saturday and broke his own school record for the second race in a row in the 400-meter dash final, clocking in at 45.30 to secure a fourth-place finish individually. The redshirt junior from Memphis ranks No. 6 on the 2023 indoor world list and logged UT's best placement in the NCAA indoor 400m since Nathan Strother was second in 2016.

With the 2023 5k title already claimed, Jacobs suited up once again in the 3k and posted a sixth-place finish with a time of 7:52.25. The Orland Park, Illinois, native was Tennessee's first All-American in the men's 3k since 1996 and also tabbed the best 3k finish at the indoor national meet since Tony Cosey placed fourth in 1995.

Redshirt sophomore Yaseen Abdalla made his individual event debut at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 3,000-meter and came away with a 12th-place finish, recording a time of 8:06.72.

The national meet finished off with the men's 4x400-meter relay, as Bynum, Clement Ducos, Jakwan Hale and Rasheeme Griffith earned Second Team All-America acclaim with a 10th place finish as a team. The quartet clocked in at 3:08.61 to round out the NCAA men's competition.

UP NEXT: The Vols and Lady Vols will take a week off of competition before embarking upon outdoor season. A crop of UT distance runners will open up at the Raleigh Relays (March 23-25), while the sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers will begin the outdoor campaign in Austin, Texas, at the Texas Relays (March 30 - April 1).

Taylor Leads Lady Vols To Top-10 Finish At NCAA Indoor Championships

Players Mentioned

Yaseen Abdalla

Emmanuel Bynum

Rasheeme Griffith

Ja'Kwan Hale

Dylan Jacobs

Jacious Sears

Charisma Taylor

University of Tennessee Athletics