University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Hokie Invitational
Blaase, Brown Pace Day One at Hokie Invite
January 23, 2015 | Track & Field
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- A pair of All-Americans and a newcomer headlined Tennessee track and field's evening at the Hokie Invitational as national leaders Chelsea Blaase and Cameron Brown earned individual wins in the women's 3000 meters and men's weight throw, respectively, while freshman Nathan Strother picked up the first victory of his career in the 300 meters. In all, 12 Volunteers collected personal bests on Friday night -- the opening session of the two-day Invitational at Rector Field House.
In her first outing of the indoor season, Blaase -- a returning All-American in the 5000 meters fresh off an All-American cross country season -- picked up right where she left off in earning the night's first victory for the Volunteers. The sophomore cruised to her first-ever win in the event, besting the field by more than three seconds with a personal-best time of 9:22.28.
"It was a great opener from Chelsea," said director of track and field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan. "She just continues to show off her capabilities by going out and running a very smooth and comfortable race this evening."
With just one race under her belt this season, Blaase already finds herself amongst the nation's elite as that time currently stands as the second-fastest in the nation.
From a hot start to a hot streak, Brown came out on top in the weight for the third consecutive week. Brown established a new personal-best and slid his way to No. 3 in the country with his winning toss of 71 feet, 2.5 inches (21.70). The junior now has eight career wins in the event.
Brown led a trio of Vols to turn in career performances in the weight as Tavis Bailey posted a personal best of 69 feet, 10.25 inches (21.29) to earn third place. Bailey's throw currently holds the seventh-place spot nationally. Deon McAdoo also had a strong performance, setting a new career-best at 64 feet, 6.75 inches (19.08) -- a throw that eclipses his previous best by nearly four feet.
"The men's throw continues to exude dominance," Sullivan said of her team's string of success in the event. "It was a great competition from Cam, Tavis, and Deon all throwing PRs. They're really punching it together and it's awesome to watch."
Putting an exclamation point on a night that saw nine personal-bests from the Tennessee's men's squad, Strother capped the night with a victory in Friday's final track event. Turning in a time of 34.11 in the 300 meters, Strother became the second UT freshman in as many weeks to collect his first collegiate win. Fellow rookie Christian Coleman won the 60 meter dash at last week's Auburn Invitational.
"We had a great showing from Nathan Strother tonight," Sullivan said. "He executed a great race and he's running very confidently right now. He's beginning to put together all the things he's learning in training and now he's applying it on the track."
The Tennessee men also got a strong performance in the 3000 meters from a quartet of Vols. Austin Whitelaw (8:23.23) earned the fourth top-five finish of his career after coming in third, while Kyle Walter (8:29.98) was seventh in the event. Jack Little (8:40.38) and J.R. Creekmore (8:47.63) each finished with new PRs.
Competing in the 600 meters for the first time in his career, junior Antonio Carter turned in the seventh personal-best on the men's side on Friday night. His time of 1:21.21 was good enough for fifth in the event.
Aside from Blaase's big win, the Tennessee women got another strong performance from Felicia Brown in the 60 meter dash. Fresh off a career-best, third-place finish at last week's Auburn Invitational, Brown came in fourth place on Friday night with a time of 7.52. That mark was not her fastest of the evening, though, as the junior recorded a 7.43 in the preliminaries.
Tennessee got another top 10 showing in the women's 1000 meters as Amirah Johnson (2:56.14) placed ninth.
A busy Saturday now awaits the Volunteers in Blacksburg with 13 events on tap for the Orange & White. The day gets underway at 11 a.m. ET with the women's pole vault.
FRIDAY WOMEN'S RESULTS AT HOKIE INVITATIONAL
3000m: 1. Chelsea Blaase, 9:22.28!
60m prelim: 2. Felicia Brown, 7.43; 11. Cidae'a Woods, 7.76!
1000m: 9. Amirah Johnson, 2:56.15; Lizzie Cornell -dns
Triple Jump: Brielyn Rogers - f
60m FINAL: 4. Felicia Brown, 7.52
600m: 20. Julia Petree, 1:40.80!
300m: 7. Felecia Majors, 39.10
Weight Throw: 30. Danielle Holdren, 11.24 (36-10.5)
FRIDAY MEN'S RESULTS AT HOKIE INVITATIONAL
3000m: 3. Austin Whitelaw, 8:23.23; 7. Kyle Walter, 8:29.98; 14. Jack Little, 8:40.38!; 23. J.R. Creekmore, 8:47.63!
Weight Throw: 1. Cameron Brown, 21.70 (71-2.5)!; 3. Tavis Bailey, 21.29 (69-10.25)!; 6. Deon McAdoo, 19.08 (64-6.75)!; 18. Carson Frost, 15.80 (51-10)
60mH prelim: 11. Jalen Hunter, 8.40!
600m: 5. Antonio Carter, 1:21.21!
300m: 1. Nathan Strother, 34.11!; 10. Malik Elion, 35.89!; Jerimy Strainge - dq
! - Personal Best, $ - SEC Record, a - American Record, b - Banked Track, c - Collegiate Record, adv. - Advanced, dna - Did Not Advance, dnf - Did Not Finish, dnr - Did Not Run, dns - Did Not Score, dq - Disqualified, F - Foul, f - Facility Record, fr - Freshman Record, fr* - Tied Freshman Record, fs - False Start, H - Heptathlon, h - Hand-Timed, mr - Meet Record, nh - No Height, nm - No Mark, P - Pentathlon, sr - School Record, u - Undersized Track, w - wind-aided, wr - World Record
