Six VFLs Set To Compete At 2023 World Athletics Championships

Six former Tennessee track & field athletes will represent their respective countries at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, set for Saturday, Aug. 19, through Sunday, Aug. 27, at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary.

Two-time World Champion sprinter Christian Coleman headlines the group of VFLs in Budapest, competing for Team USA in the 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay. Four recent alums will represent Caribbean nations at the world championships, including 2023 graduates Rasheem Brown (Cayman Islands) and Charisma Taylor (Bahamas). Jah-Nhai Perinchief will suit up for Bermuda, while Nayoka Clunis will make her world championship debut donning the yellow, green and black for Jamaica.

Three-time SEC Champion and Tokyo 2020 Olympian Stamatia Scarvelis rounds out the former Tennessee athletes competing in Hungary, representing Greece for her third consecutive appearance at the World Championships.

Christian Coleman (United States)

Events: Men's 100m, 4x100m Relay
Years at Tennessee: 2014-17

The 2017 Bowerman winner from Atlanta will make his fourth appearance at the world outdoor championships for Team USA, running the 100-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay. Coleman's 2023 wind legal season-best of 9.91 seconds ranks No. 10 on the world list, while his wind-aided (+4.4 m/s) mark of 9.78 set in May is tied for the fastest all-conditions mark on the planet this year.

One of the most decorated athletes in Tennessee track & field history, Coleman won five NCAA titles during his time on Rocky Top and collected 12 All-America certificates. As a junior in 2017, the Vol speedster set the collegiate record in the 60-meter dash at 6.45 seconds, completed the sprint double-double at both NCAA meets and won The Bowerman Trophy—collegiate track & field's highest individual honor presented annually to the nation's most outstanding athlete.

Rasheem Brown (Cayman Islands)

Event: Men's 110m Hurdles
Years At Tennessee: 2023

The 2023 All-American and two-time SEC medalist from the Cayman Islands will make his second consecutive appearance at the world championships in the 110-meter hurdles. Since rounding out his collegiate career as a finalist at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Brown won silver at the CAC Games in early July with a time of 13.64 seconds.

Brown joined the Vols as a graduate transfer in January 2023 and posted a pair of podium finishes at both SEC Championship meets, taking second in the indoor 60-meter hurdles (7.72) and third in the outdoor 110-meter hurdles (13.64). His five-year collegiate career ended at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June, where he finished eighth in the 110mH final with a lifetime-best mark of 13.50 that ranks No. 6 in program history.

Nayoka Clunis (Jamaica)

Event: Women's Hammer Throw
Years At Tennessee: 2020-21

One of two former Lady Vols entered in the hammer throw competition in Budapest, Clunis has enjoyed the most consistent and successful season of her career in 2023. The Kingston, Jamaica, native has thrown further than 70 meters in five competitions this year, including a lifetime-best heave of 71.18m (233-6) at the Harry Jerome Track Classic on July 14 that ranks No. 37 on the 2023 world list. She will be the first Jamaican athlete to ever compete in the hammer throw at the world championships.

Clunis joined the Lady Vols as a grad transfer for her COVID-exempt 2021 outdoor season and scored a team-high 12 points at her first SEC Championship meet, taking silver in the discus and finishing fifth in the hammer throw. In her collegiate finale, Clunis took home First Team All-America honors in the hammer throw with a mark of 67.40m (221-1) that ranks her No. 2 on the all-time Lady Vol charts.

Jah-Nhai Perinchief (Bermuda)

Event: Men's Triple Jump
Years at Tennessee: 2020-21

Tennessee's all-time record holder in the triple jump (17.03m/55-10.5) will make his second-straight world championships appearance as the lone Bermudan athlete competing in Budapest. He recently competed at the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis, setting a wind-legal season-best mark of 16.85 meters (55-3.5) that sits 22nd on the 2023 world leaderboard.

Perinchief enrolled at Tennessee in the fall of 2020 for his final collegiate season after stints at Iowa Central Community College, Arkansas and Texas Tech. The Hamilton, Bermuda, native won the 2021 outdoor SEC title with a wind-aided leap of 16.89m (55-5) before finishing runner-up at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with his school record mark of 17.03m (55-10.5) coming on his first attempt.

Stamatia Scarvelis (Greece)

Event: Women's Hammer Throw
Years At Tennessee: 2016-19

A seven-time Greek national champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympian, Scarvelis has qualified for her third consecutive World Athletics Championship in the hammer throw after representing Greece in 2019 and 2022. Her season-best of 69.79m (229-0) was set at the Tucson Elite Classic on May 18.

One of the most versatile and talented throwers in program history, Scarvelis set school records in the outdoor hammer (71.33m/234-0), indoor weight throw (24.06m/78-11.25) and indoor shot put (17.77m/58-3.75) during her time on Rocky Top. The 2019 SEC Outdoor Commissioner's Trophy winner took home back-to-back SEC hammer titles in 2018 and 2019 and set an SEC meet record with her indoor weight throw win in 2019. She finished her collegiate career as a six-time All-American, which included a third place finish in the hammer at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Charisma Taylor (Bahamas)

Event: Women's Triple Jump
Years At Tennessee: 2021-23

Tennessee's 2023 team captain will make her world championship debut next week to round out a spectacular, thriving campaign. Since graduating from UT in May and hitting the pro circuit this summer, Taylor punched her ticket to Budapest after winning the Bahamian national title in the triple jump with a mark of 14.01m (45-11.75) on July 5, logging her fourth jump farther than 14 meters this season.

The Nassau, Bahamas, native finished her Lady Vol career as a 10-time All-American in just two seasons, collecting seven certificates in 2023 and helping UT finish top 10 as a team at both national meets. She became one of 12 athletes in collegiate history to score in three individual events at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships with top 5 finishes in the 60-meter hurdles (3rd), long jump (5th) and triple jump (2nd).

Taylor's most remarkable performance came with a hop, skip and jump of 14.88 meters (48-10) at the indoor national meet, which ranks No. 4 on the 2023 all-conditions list and established the No. 2 mark in NCAA history. The leap was one of three school records she set this past spring, in addition to establishing program standards in the indoor 60-meter hurdles (7.91) and outdoor triple jump (13.99m/45-10.75).

Kayla White (United States)

Event: Women's 200m
Years At Tennessee: 2022-23 (volunteer coach)

Former UT volunteer assistant coach Kayla White will compete at the World Championships after finishing third at the USATF Championships in the women's 200-meter with a personal-best time of 22.01. A former standout for North Carolina A&T under coach Duane Ross, White spent the past year training in Knoxville and serving the UT program as a volunteer coach.

HOW TO WATCH: The 2023 World Athletics Championships will air live across NBC Universal broadcast and streaming platforms and Peacock from Aug. 19-27. NBC, CNBC and the USA Network combine to air live coverage of each day of the nine-day meet. All TV coverage also streams on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app for subscribers.

The complete TV and streaming schedule can be viewed at NBCSports.com.

MEET SCHEDULE: Tennessee's contingent at the World Championships will begin competition Saturday, Aug. 19 with qualifying rounds in the men's triple jump and men's 100-meter dash. The women's triple jump final is set for Friday, Aug. 25, to close out Big Orange entries at the world meet.

The full schedule, sortable by date and discipline, is available at WorldAthletics.com.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Six VFLs Set To Compete At 2023 World Athletics Championships

Players Mentioned

Rasheem Brown

Nayoka Clunis

Christian Coleman

Jah-Nhai Perinchief

Stamatia Scarvelis

Charisma Taylor

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