University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Commodore Invitational
UT Relay Teams Shine At VT Invitational
January 16, 2016 | Track & Field
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Tennessee's sprinters continued to shine on Saturday at the Virginia Tech Invitational, posting three more wins to total nine for the weekend. UT's throwers and distance runners also posted strong showings at the Commodore Invitational in Nashville.
On Friday, Christian Coleman and Kali Davis-White set the tone for the meet in their respective 60-meter races. Coleman won the men's 60 meters with a PR and nation's best time of 6.56 and Davis-White tied the national mark with a PR of 7.28 in the women's 60 meters.
"What a tremendous results on those 60-meters last night," Tennessee director of track and field and cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "It was a great environment to be a part of. Both Christian and Kali had prelims that went extremely well, they looked ready for the finals and really put it together to pop it off. I know those were PRs for both of them and they really looked good doing what they needed to do."
Tennessee had a big team presence in Blacksburg on Friday as UT posted six combined wins. "We spent some time talking to the team about carrying momentum from Day 1 to Day 2," Sullivan said. "We were able to do that again today. We carried it over and competed extremely well."
Davis-White continued to shine on Saturday, winning the women's 200 meters with a PR of 23.44. That time is the fourth-fastest mark in the nation. Felecia Majors took third place in 23.82, good for the 12th-fastest mark in the country.
Entering the week, Sullivan said that Tennessee would continue to focus on the relay teams this weekend. The men's 4x400 relay and the women's 4x400 relay did not disappoint, winning their respective finals. The men's team of Ari Cogdell, Christian Coleman, Mustaqeem Williams, Nathan Strother clocked a 3:11.44, good for the seventh-fastest time in the country this season. The women's squad of Layla White, Felecia Majors, Lenysse Dyer and Felicia Brown set the nation's top mark at 3:36.23.
"I'm very pleased with the relays," Sullivan said. "The women's 3:36.23 is one of the better times that Tennessee has run in a long while. I was very proud of the effort there with two true freshmen in Dyer and White holding themselves together and competing well. They looked good and 3:36 can develop into a very fast time from there.
"On the men's side, it was great to see Mustaqeem Williams in the lineup, in the meet and in his first competition in a couple of years now. He had very good composure and we really got a good leg out of him in the 4x400. Christian Coleman as well. He is back on that 4x400 split 46 seconds and gave us what we needed. I think the men are going to run really fast as the season progresses."
Erin Champion competed unattached in the women's pole vault and both she and freshman Kristen Denk cleared 3.92 meters.
At the Commodore Invitational in Nashville, Cameron Brown continued his impressive start to the indoor season in the weight throw. Brown won with a distance of 21.71 meters (71-2.75) and Seth Whitener took third with a PR of 17.46 meters (57-3.50).
"Our representatives up at Vanderbilt competed well," Sullivan said. "Our guys in the weight throw really did what it took, working off a lot of hard work this week. Cassie Wertman as well. She has been under quite a bit of a load this week and competed right through it. We were proud of those efforts."
In Reno, Nev., Jake Blankenship cleared 5.30 meters on Friday night to take ninth place in the elite men's division. Volunteer assistant coach Russ Johnson received the Coach of the Year award for the University Division for his work with Blankenship over the last year.
Tennessee next heads to Birmingham, Ala., to co-host the Conference Clash Power Five Invitational with Auburn from Jan. 22-23 at the Birmingham CrossPlex. This unique meet features 15 schools from Power Five conferences and pits the SEC against the other four Power Five conferences combined. The eight SEC teams (Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt) will combine for one score and the other seven Power Five schools (Arizona, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Purdue, USC, Texas) will combine for the other score.
Tennessee Men - Virginia Tech Invitational
FRIDAY
60m: 1. Christian Coleman, 6.56!; 6. Malik Elion, 6.87!; 25. Darryl Harris, 7.28!
500m: 1. Ari Cogdell, 1:02.97!; 17. Jalen Hunter, 1:07.31!
Long Jump: 10. Darryl Harris, 6.73m (22-1.00)
Pole Vault: 1. Ocean Walters-Carlson, 4.75m (15-7.00); Nate Harper, nh
SATURDAY
200m: 4. Nathan Strother, 21.87; 7. Jalen Hunter, 22.04!; 10. Malik Elion, 22.10
4x400m Relay: 1. Tennessee 'A': Ari Cogdell, Christian Coleman, Mustaqeem Williams, Nathan Strother, 3:11.44
High Jump: 6. Wesley Edwards, 2.00m (6-6.75); 8. Jonathan Mays, 1.95m! (6-4.75)
Tennessee Men -Commodore Invitational
SATURDAY
800m: 11. Trey Quealy, 1:59.04!
1 mile: 18. Jack Little, 4:19.31
3000m: Andre Hillsman, dns
Weight Throw: 1. Cameron Brown, 21.71m (71-2.75); 3. Seth Whitener, 17.46m! (57-3.50); 8. Matthew Zajac, 15.77m (51-9.00)
National Pole Vault Summit
FRIDAY
9. Jake Blankenship, 5.30m
Tennessee Women - Virginia Tech Invitational
FRIDAY
60m: 1. Kali Davis-White, 7.28!; 3. DeAndra Greer, 7.52; 7. Maia McCoy, 7.59
300m: 1. Felicia Brown, 37.22; 4. Layla White, 38.52!; 5. Lenysse Dyer, 39.15
500m: 8. London Freeland, 1:16.53
Long Jump: 1. Cidae'a Woods, 6.03m (19-9.50); 5. Chyna Ries, 5.75m (18-10.5)
SATURDAY
200m: 1. Kali Davis-White, 23.44!; 3. Felecia Majors, 23.82; 7. Maia McCoy, 24.90!; 9. DeAndra Greer, 25.31
4x400m Relay: 1. Tennessee 'A': Layla White, Felecia Majors, Lenysse Dyer, Felicia Brown, 3:36.23
Triple Jump: 6. Cidae'a Woods, 12.30m (40-4.25); 7. Brielyn Rogers, 12.11m (39-8.75); LaChyna Roe, F
Pole Vault: 4. Kristen Denk, 3.92m (12-10.25)
Tennessee Women -Commodore Invitational
FRIDAY
Weight Throw: 24. Savannah Marlow, 15.37m
SATURDAY
1 mile: 23. Peighton Meske, 5:13.94!; 25. Emma Reed, 5:16.55!; Caroline Duer, dns
3000m: 4. Julia Rizor, 9:54.67!; 10. Jessica Rizor, 10:07.40!
Shot Put: 2. Cassie Wertman, 15.85m (52-0.00)
! - 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
