University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Cayce Smith/Tennessee Athletics
Jacious Sears Tabbed USATF Athlete of the Week
April 18, 2024 | Track & Field
INDIANAPOLIS – USA Track & Field announced Thursday morning that Tennessee senior sprint star Jacious Sears was named the USATF Athlete of the Week after a spectacular performance in the 100-meter dash on Saturday, April 13, at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational.
Sears delivered a historic performance on Saturday in Gainesville, Florida, storming to a time of 10.77 seconds in her first individual race of the 2024 outdoor season. Her time ranks as the second-fastest performance in collegiate history and was just 0.02 seconds off the collegiate record of 10.75 held by current reigning World Champion Sha'Carri Richardson.
With a legal tailwind of +1.6 m/s, Sears' performance shattered her own school record in the event and established the World Lead for 2024 by .17 seconds. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, native now ranks No. 15 on the world all-time list and No. 7 on the U.S. all-time list after Saturday's performance.
Sears also became the first collegiate sprinter in history to run a wind-legal sub-10.8 100-meter dash in the month of April and just the second woman to ever accomplish that feat. Richardson clocked 10.72 (+1.6) as a professional athlete on April 10, 2021. The Tennessee standout also joins Richardson as the only American sprinters since 2017 to run 10.77 or faster in any race.
Tennessee head coach Duane Ross has produced a sub-11 women's 100-meter sprinter in each of the past five full outdoor seasons. Sears sits second all-time with her mark of 10.77 and dipped under 11 seconds three times last season (10.94w, 10.96, 10.97w), while Ross' former North Carolina A&T standouts Cambrea Sturgis (10.92 in 2021) and Kayla White (10.95 in 2019) each rank inside the top-20 all-time collegians under wind-legal conditions. Former Aggie Symone Darius also posted a wind-aided time of 10.87 in 2022.
Sears delivered a historic performance on Saturday in Gainesville, Florida, storming to a time of 10.77 seconds in her first individual race of the 2024 outdoor season. Her time ranks as the second-fastest performance in collegiate history and was just 0.02 seconds off the collegiate record of 10.75 held by current reigning World Champion Sha'Carri Richardson.
With a legal tailwind of +1.6 m/s, Sears' performance shattered her own school record in the event and established the World Lead for 2024 by .17 seconds. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, native now ranks No. 15 on the world all-time list and No. 7 on the U.S. all-time list after Saturday's performance.
Sears also became the first collegiate sprinter in history to run a wind-legal sub-10.8 100-meter dash in the month of April and just the second woman to ever accomplish that feat. Richardson clocked 10.72 (+1.6) as a professional athlete on April 10, 2021. The Tennessee standout also joins Richardson as the only American sprinters since 2017 to run 10.77 or faster in any race.
Tennessee head coach Duane Ross has produced a sub-11 women's 100-meter sprinter in each of the past five full outdoor seasons. Sears sits second all-time with her mark of 10.77 and dipped under 11 seconds three times last season (10.94w, 10.96, 10.97w), while Ross' former North Carolina A&T standouts Cambrea Sturgis (10.92 in 2021) and Kayla White (10.95 in 2019) each rank inside the top-20 all-time collegians under wind-legal conditions. Former Aggie Symone Darius also posted a wind-aided time of 10.87 in 2022.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track & FieldEverything Orange S2 | Sarah Schmitt (Track & Field)
Thursday, April 17
Track & Field | 400m Hurdles Feature
Wednesday, May 22
Track & Field | Tennessee Invite Recap
Wednesday, April 10
Track & Field | Battle on the Bayou Recap
Saturday, March 30
