University of Tennessee Athletics
NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW
March 10, 2016 | Track & Field
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- With 14 entries in the 2016 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, Tennessee brings a major presence to the Birmingham CrossPlex this Friday and Saturday.
ESPN3 will carry live online video for both days of competition. Friday's coverage starts at 6:25 p.m. ET and Saturday's coverage starts at 4:55 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will also air coverage from both days on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
"The NCAAs ends up being the the superstars, the rock stars of everybody's program," Tennessee director of track and field and cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "We are taking 14 kids down to Birmingham, which is a very large number. Both our men's and women's teams have great representation. We are in six events on each side."
UT has 14 entries and 13 student-athletes competing at NCAAs this week. Tennessee has six NCAA entries on the men's side and eight entries on the women's side, more than doubling the number of student-athletes UT sent to the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships (six total, four men, two women) in Sullivan's first year as the Vols' director of track and field/cross country. UT's 14 combined entries are its most since Tennessee had 21 in 2008 when it sent seven men's entries and 14 women's entries.
Christian Coleman and Felicia Brown will compete in three events each after qualifying for their respective 60-meter, 200-meter and 4x400 races. Kali Davis-White will run in the women's 60 meters and 200 meters. Nathan Strother and Felecia Majors have qualified for the men's and women's 400 meters, respectively. Jake Blankenship will compete in the men's pole vault, Cameron Brown will compete in the men's weight throw and Cassie Wertman will compete in the women's shot put. UT's men's 4x400 features Ari Cogdell, Coleman, Antonio Carter and Strother. The Tennessee women's 4x400 includes Lenysse Dyer, Majors, Layla White and Felicia Brown.
Blankenship and Felicia Brown are on the Watch Lists for the 2016 Bowerman Awards.
The Tennessee men are ranked No. 6 and the UT women are No. 9 in the pre-NCAA Championships edition of the USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings.
The UT men have been in the top 15 in each of this season's eight rankings and have been in the top 10 for seven-straight weeks, dating back to Jan. 25 with a high rank of No. 2 on Feb. 15.
The Tennessee women started the season at No. 32 and have been in the top 14 since Jan. 25. They were as high as No. 7 on Feb. 15 and Feb. 29 and have been in the top 10 over the last four weeks.
Tennessee Men
Coleman, a sophomore, is making his second-straight trip to NCAA Indoors. He took fifth in the 60 meters in 2015. Coleman, who was named the men's co-winner of the Cliff Harper Award (top point scorer at SEC Championships), was the 2016 SEC champion in the men's 60 meters, winning this past weekend with a time of 6.56. His best 60-meter time this season of 6.54 from last month's Virginia Tech "Doc Hale" Elite Meet is tied for the second-fastest mark in the nation. Coleman took silver at SECs in the 200m with a career-best mark of 20.54 that ranks third in the nation and ties for seventh-best in the world.
Strother is making his first trip to NCAA Indoors, qualifying for the men's 400m. Strother clocked a PR 46.25 at the Tyson Invitational three weeks ago and ranks 13th nationally and second in UT history with that time. His 46.25 is the fastest indoor 400m by a Vol since Gary Kikaya set the Tennessee mark at 45.71 in 2003.
Tennessee's 4x400 of Cogdell, Coleman, Carter and Strother took silver at SECs with a time of 3:07.07. That time is the second-fastest in UT history and the best since the quartet of Justin Gatlin, Dwayne Bell, Leonard Scott and Kikaya set the school mark at 3:05.63 in 2002. Cogdell and Carter will compete their first NCAA Indoor Championships.
Blankenship, who has been on The Bowerman Women's Watch List throughout the 2016 indoor season, is headed to his third NCAA Indoors. He took second in the men's pole vault 2015, clearing 19-0.25, and finished fourth in 2013 at 18-4.50. Blankenship earned bronze at last week's SEC Championships, clearing 17-4.50. He enters next week's NCAA Championships with the nation's top mark this season at 18-9.25, which he cleared at last month's Virginia Tech "Doc Hale" Elite Meet. Already one of UT's greatest pole vaulters, Blankenship seeks to become just the third Vol to win an NCAA indoor pole vault title. Lawrence Johnson won NCAA indoor gold in 1994 and 1996 and Tim Mack won in 1995.
Cameron Brown will compete at NCAA Indoors for the third time after competing in 2014 and 2015. Brown is a two-time SEC Indoors champ (2015, 2016) in the men's weight throw after defending his conference title last week with a throw of 22.28m (73-1.25). His season-best throw is 22.86m (75-0.00), which ranks second in the nation.
Tennessee Women
Felicia Brown is making her second trip to NCAA Indoors. She previously competed in the 200 meters at the 2014 NCAA Indoors, finishing 10th. Brown, who was named to The Bowerman Women's Watch List on Wednesday, is enjoying a stellar senior campaign. She has gotten faster with each meet and enters next week's championships with the world's top 200-meter time, a school-record 22.45 she ran last week at SECs to win gold. Brown also ranks fifth in the nation in the 60 meters with a time of 7.23 she ran in the prelims at SECs.
Davis-White has shined in her first season at UT and will compete in NCAA Indoors for the first time. She is tied for 11th in the nation in the 60 meters with a time of 7.28 and ranks 14th in the 200 meters at 23.23. Both of those marks are career highs and both rank in Tennessee's top 10 all-time. Davis-White ran her 23.23 in the 200 meters at the Conference Clash Power 5 Invitational, which was at the same site as this year's NCAAs.
Majors returns to the NCAA Indoors after making nationals as a freshman in 2014 when she placed 13th in the 200 meters (23.71) and16th in the 400 meters (53.63). She took fourth in the 400 meters at the 2016 SEC Championships with a PR time of 52.49. That time ranks 14th in the nation.
Blaase will run in the women's 5000 meters at NCAA Indoors for the third-straight year. As a junior in 2015, she took fourth place with a time of 16:14.61. As a sophomore in 2014, she placed 11th in 16:38.34. Blaase, who earned All-America honors after finishing 14th at the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championships, took gold in the 5000 meters and the 3000 meters at SECs. She owns the nation's fifth-best 5000-meter time of 15:43.81, which she ran at the Husky Classic two weeks ago.
UT's 4x400 of Dyer, Majors, White and Brown set a school record at the 2016 SEC Championships, winning in 3:30.56. This is Tennessee's first women's 4x400 squad to reach NCAA Indoors since Ellen Wortham, Brittany Jones, Kianna Ruff and Martinique Octave ran at the 2012 championships. Freshmen Dyer and White will compete in their first NCAAs.
Wertman is competing in her second NCAA Indoors. She took 12th in the shot put at last year's championships with a throw of 15.98 meters (52-5.25). Wertman captured silver at last week's SEC Championships with an indoor career-best of 17.24 meters (56-6.75). That mark ranks ninth in the nation.
Vols Competing At 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships
Men
60m: T2. Christian Coleman, 6.54
200m: 3. Christian Coleman, 20.54
400m: 13. Nathan Strother, 46.25
4x400m: 12. Ari Cogdell, Christian Coleman, Antonio Carter, Nathan Strother, 3:07.07
Pole Vault: 1. Jake Blankenship, 5.72m (18-9.25)
Weight Throw: 2. Cameron Brown, 22.86m (75-0.00)
Women
60m: T5. Felicia Brown, 7.23; T11. Kali Davis-White, 7.28
200m: 1. Felicia Brown, 22.45; 14. Kali Davis-White, 23.23
400m: 14. Felecia Majors, 52.49
5000m: 5. Chelsea Blaase, 15:43.81
4x400m: 4. Lenysse Dyer, Felecia Majors, Layla White, Felicia Brown, 3:30.56
Shot Put: 9. Cassie Wertman, 17.24m (56-6.75)
Friday Track Events
| Start Time (CT) | Event | Competing For Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| 6:30 p.m. | Men's 60m Semifinals | Christian Coleman |
| 6:38 p.m. | Women's 60m Semifinals | Felicia Brown, Kali Davis-White |
| 6:55 p.m. | Men's 400m Semifinals | Nathan Strother |
| 7:10 p.m. | Women's 400m Semifinals | Felecia Majors |
| 7:45 p.m. | Men's 200m Semifinals | Christian Coleman |
| 7:55 p.m. | Women's 200m Semifinals | Felicia Brown, Kali Davis-White |
| 8:25 p.m. | Women's 5000m Finals | Chelsea Blaase |
Friday Field Events
| Start Time (CT) | Event | Competing For Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| 5 p.m. | Men's Weight Throw | Cameron Brown |
| 5:30 p.m. | Men's Pole Vault | Jake Blankenship |
Saturday Track Events
| Start Time (CT) | Event | Competing For Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| 4:45 p.m. | Men's 60m Final | |
| 4:55 p.m. | Women's 50m Final | |
| 5:10 p.m. | Men's 400m Final | |
| 5:20 p.m. | Women's 400m Final | |
| 5:50 p.m. | Men's 200m Final | |
| 6 p.m. | Women's 200m Final | |
| 6:40 p.m. | Men's 4x400m Final | |
| 6:55 p.m. | Women's 4x400m Final |
Saturday Field Events
| Start Time (CT) | Event | Competing For Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| 5 p.m. | Women's Shot Put | Cassie Wertman |
