University of Tennessee Athletics
TRACK & FIELD CENTRAL: Commodore, VT Invitationals
January 15, 2016 | Track & Field
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee track and field team will compete in both the Commodore Invitational and the Virginia Tech Invitational this Friday and Saturday.
Tennessee's throwers and distance runners head to Nashville to compete in the Commodore Invitational at the Vanderbilt Student Rec Center. The Vols' sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers and pole vaulters travel to Blacksburg, Va., to compete in the Virginia Tech Invitational at Rector Field House.
"We are excited about the weekend coming up," Tennessee director of track and field and cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "The premise of this weekend is really a lot of preparation for next weekend. We are going to have people competing in the events that kind of prep them towards the Conference Clash next weekend."
Sullivan said that some of the distance runners who competed at last week's dual at Indiana will have this week off and runners who did not compete last week will hit the track in Nashville. The UT throwers will get their first look at talent within the conference.
The Virginia Tech Invitational will have some of the off events, such as the 300 meters and the 500 meters, that were not featured last week at Indiana. Sullivan and the coaches plan to continue building strong relay teams at the Hokies' meet.
"We look to set up a couple of great relays for both the men and the women," she said. "We think we have some great personnel to run good times and we will run those a little bit more fresh than we were at the dual meet where everybody had been running a lot of events."
Senior pole vaulter Jake Blankenship will be in Reno, Nev., this weekend to compete in the National Pole Vault Summit. The clinic will feature some of the top pole vaulters in the world. With competitions on Friday and Saturday.
"Coach Russ Johnson will take Jake out there and compete," Sullivan said. "It is a clinic as well as a competition. We a thrilled that Jake gets the exposure that he has definitely earned and thrilled that he is on the Bowerman Watch List. Jake is looking for a big year and this will be one of those springboards to give him some good exposure."
Track Events - Virginia Tech Invitational
| Start Time (ET) | Event | Competing For Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| Friday - 5:30 p.m. | Women's 60m | Kali Davis-White, DeAndra Greer, Maia McCoy |
| Friday - 5:45 p.m. | Men's 60m | Christian Coleman, Malik Elion, Mustaqeem Williams, Darryl Harris |
| Friday - 8:15 p.m. | Women's 500m | London Freeland |
| Friday - 8:35 p.m. | Men's 500m | Ari Cogdell, Jalen Hunter |
| Friday - 8:55 p.m. | Women's 300m | Felicia Brown, Lenysse Dyer, Layla White |
| Saturday - 2:15 p.m. | Women's 200m | Kali Davis-White, Felecia Majors, Maia McCoy, DeAndra Greer |
| Saturday - 2:30 p.m. | Men's 200m | Mustaqeem Williams, Nathan Strother, Malik Elion, Jalen Hunter |
| Saturday - 3:25 p.m. | Women's 4x400m | Tennessee A & B |
| Saturday - 3:50 p.m. | Men's 4x400m | Tennessee A |
Field Events - Virginia Tech Invitational
| Start Time (ET) | Event | Competing For Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| Friday - 5 p.m. | Women's Long Jump | Chyna Ries, LaChyna Roe, Cidae'a Woods, Brielyn Rogers |
| Friday - 5 p.m. | Women's Pole Vault | Morgan Allen |
| Saturday - 11 a.m. | Men's High Jump | Wesley Edwards, Jonathan Mays |
| Saturday - 11 a.m. | Women's Pole Vault | Kristen Denk |
| Saturday - 12 p.m. | Women's Triple Jump | LaChyna Roe, Brielyn Rogers, Cidae'a Woods |
