University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Cayce Smith/Tennessee Athletics
Sears' Top-Five Finishes Lead Lady Vols At NCAA Indoor Championships
March 09, 2024 | Track & Field
BOSTON – Lady Vol sprint star Jacious Sears posted a team-high nine points on Saturday as Tennessee closed out the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships inside the TRACK at new balance in Boston, Massachusetts. The senior from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, stood out as one of the nation's elite sprinters, finishing fourth in the 60-meter dash final and fifth in the 200-meter dash final for the Big Orange.
The Lady Vols finish tied for 17th in the team standings with 13 total points. The Lady Vol 4x400-meter relay squad of Javonya Valcourt, DaJour Miles, Kyla Robinson-Hubbard and Brianna White added four points with a fifth-place finish to round out the meet.
Sears lined up in the 60-meter starting blocks and earned her fourth-place finish with a time of 7.13 seconds. She became the second Lady Vol in program history with multiple top-five finishes in the NCAA 60-meter dash after taking third a year ago in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Forty minutes later in the 200-meter final, Sears darted out of the block and stopped the clock at 22.69 seconds, taking second in her heat and fifth overall on Saturday. Her result was the best finish by a Lady Vol in the NCAA indoor 200-meter since Felicia Brown won the title in 2016.
Sears is the second Lady Vol ever and the first since Courtney Champion in 2007 to log top-five finishes in both the 60-meter and 200-meter at the same indoor national meet. She earned a pair of first team All-America accolades with her performances on Saturday and is now a seven-time USTFCCCA All-American.
In the final championship event, the Lady Vol 4x400-meter relay team broke their own school record with a time of 3:29.79 to place fifth overall. The result was good for fifth place overall and a Heat 1 victory as UT posted its best placement in the event since also finishing fifth in 2016. The Lady Vols saw spectacular splits from graduate student DaJour Miles (51.77) on the second leg and Brianna White (52.04) on the anchor to secure first team All-America honors.
On the men's side, the Tennessee relay quartet of Clement Ducos, Christian Parker, Zyaire Nuriddin and Rasheeme Griffith turned in a scoring performance to close out the men's portion of the meet, winning Heat 1 of the 4x400-meter relay final with a time of 3:04.63 and finishing sixth in the field overall. The group was powered by a pair of sub-46 splits in the middle legs from the freshman duo of Parker (45.93) and Nuriddin (45.99), and Griffith maintained the lead on the anchor to round out the No. 4 performance in Tennessee history. The group was tabbed First Team All-America for their relays efforts.
UT graduate distance specialist Yaseen Abdalla made his second consecutive appearance at the indoor national meet in the men's 3,000-meter and posted a 12th-place finish for the Volunteers. He finished the 15-lapper in 7:55.57 and became just the second Vol in school history to earn multiple All-America honors in the event, earning second team acclaim for the second year in a row.
UP NEXT: The Vols and Lady Vols will jump straight into outdoor season, opening the campaign March 15-16 in Orlando, Florida, at the UCF Black and Gold Invitational. The squad will then take two weeks off of competition before competing at the Raleigh Relays (March 28-30) at NC State and the Battle on the Bayou (March 29-30) at LSU.
The Lady Vols finish tied for 17th in the team standings with 13 total points. The Lady Vol 4x400-meter relay squad of Javonya Valcourt, DaJour Miles, Kyla Robinson-Hubbard and Brianna White added four points with a fifth-place finish to round out the meet.
Sears lined up in the 60-meter starting blocks and earned her fourth-place finish with a time of 7.13 seconds. She became the second Lady Vol in program history with multiple top-five finishes in the NCAA 60-meter dash after taking third a year ago in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Forty minutes later in the 200-meter final, Sears darted out of the block and stopped the clock at 22.69 seconds, taking second in her heat and fifth overall on Saturday. Her result was the best finish by a Lady Vol in the NCAA indoor 200-meter since Felicia Brown won the title in 2016.
Sears is the second Lady Vol ever and the first since Courtney Champion in 2007 to log top-five finishes in both the 60-meter and 200-meter at the same indoor national meet. She earned a pair of first team All-America accolades with her performances on Saturday and is now a seven-time USTFCCCA All-American.
In the final championship event, the Lady Vol 4x400-meter relay team broke their own school record with a time of 3:29.79 to place fifth overall. The result was good for fifth place overall and a Heat 1 victory as UT posted its best placement in the event since also finishing fifth in 2016. The Lady Vols saw spectacular splits from graduate student DaJour Miles (51.77) on the second leg and Brianna White (52.04) on the anchor to secure first team All-America honors.
On the men's side, the Tennessee relay quartet of Clement Ducos, Christian Parker, Zyaire Nuriddin and Rasheeme Griffith turned in a scoring performance to close out the men's portion of the meet, winning Heat 1 of the 4x400-meter relay final with a time of 3:04.63 and finishing sixth in the field overall. The group was powered by a pair of sub-46 splits in the middle legs from the freshman duo of Parker (45.93) and Nuriddin (45.99), and Griffith maintained the lead on the anchor to round out the No. 4 performance in Tennessee history. The group was tabbed First Team All-America for their relays efforts.
UT graduate distance specialist Yaseen Abdalla made his second consecutive appearance at the indoor national meet in the men's 3,000-meter and posted a 12th-place finish for the Volunteers. He finished the 15-lapper in 7:55.57 and became just the second Vol in school history to earn multiple All-America honors in the event, earning second team acclaim for the second year in a row.
UP NEXT: The Vols and Lady Vols will jump straight into outdoor season, opening the campaign March 15-16 in Orlando, Florida, at the UCF Black and Gold Invitational. The squad will then take two weeks off of competition before competing at the Raleigh Relays (March 28-30) at NC State and the Battle on the Bayou (March 29-30) at LSU.
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Hurdles/Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & FieldT&F | NCAA Indoor Championships Meet Recap (3.14.26)
Wednesday, March 18
Everything Orange S3 l Ismaila Sawaneh (Track & Field)
Friday, March 06
T&F | SEC Indoor Championships Meet Recap (2.28.26)
Saturday, February 28
T&F | Tyson Invitational Meet Recap (2.14.26)
Saturday, February 14
