University of Tennessee Athletics
NCAA Track & Field East Prelims Preview
May 25, 2016 | Track & Field
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee will be well-represented in Jacksonville, Fla., this week as the Vols head to Hodges Stadium for the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships East Preliminary Round from May 26-28.
UT has 34 entries in the NCAA East Preliminary round over 23 events with 30 individual entries and four relays. The Vols have 15 entries on the men's side and 19 on the women's side.
"We are excited to head down to Jacksonville," Tennessee director of track and field and cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "We had a great week of training, a great recovery off of the SEC Championships, but then also great preparation for this first round of the NCAAs. Everybody is excited and everybody is fired up. We have got a lot of work ahead of us down in Florida, but if we put together our pieces of the puzzle we will be looking really good for Eugene. That's the goal - to come back from Florida in place for Eugene."
Qualifying to the NCAA final championships competition is accomplished through performance in the preliminary championships competition at each site for events contested at those competitions. Twelve competitors from each individual event and 12 teams from each relay event advance from each preliminary championships competition site to the final championships competition. Qualification, through competition in an event at a preliminary championships competition, requires participation in that event at the final championships competition. Any individual or relay team must remain eligible for advancement throughout all rounds of the championships.
Felicia Brown will have the busiest week on the women's side as she is slated to compete in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 4x100 and 4x400. Brown is the reigning SEC Indoor, NCAA Indoor and SEC Outdoor champion in the 200 meters, running a 22.26 (-1.3) at SECs two weeks ago to record 2016's second-fastest time in the world. She is a perfect 8-0 in 200-meter finals in 2016 with five wins during the indoor season and three during the outdoor season. Last week, Brown was named to the Pre-NCAA Prelims edition of The Bowerman Watch List. She also owns the East Prelim's No. 10 time in the 100 meters at 11.25 and has run anchor on the Vols 4x100 and 4x400 all season.
Christian Coleman will compete in the men's 100 meters, 200 meters, 4x100 and 4x400. Coleman's 10.11 100-meter time from April's Seminole Invitational ranks fourth at the East Prelims and is a U.S. Trials qualifying mark and Olympic A standard. His 20.42 200-meter time from the SEC Outdoor Championships ranks seventh at the East Prelims and is also a U.S. Trials qualifying mark and Olympic A standard.
Jake Blankenship, who is on the Pre-NCAA Prelims edition of The Bowerman Watch List, defended his SEC Outdoor Championship title in the men's pole vault by clearing a Sam Bailey Track facility-record 5.65 meters (18-6.5) to defeat Texas A&M's Audie Wyatt on May 14. Blankenship's 5.65m (18-6.5) is currently tied for the second-best outdoor mark in the nation. He battled back from an injury that limited him from the end of the indoor season through the first half of the outdoor season. Blankenship qualified for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials when he cleared 5.72 meters (18-9.25) back in February. That mark was the top men's pole vault of the indoor season and stands as to top mark by an American collegiate pole vaulter this year.
Felecia Majors, who will run in the women's 400 meters, 4x100 and 4x400, owns the East Prelims' third-fastest 400-meter time at 51.29, which she recorded at the SEC Outdoor Championships. That mark is also a U.S. Trials qualifying mark and Olympic A standard.
Chelsea Blaase owns the second-fastest qualifying time in the women's 10,000 meters in a U.S. Trials-qualifying 32:08.39, which she clocked at the Stanford Invitational in early April.
Nathan Strother ran a PR 45.61 in the men's 400 meters in the finals of the SEC Championships and enters the East Prelims with the seventh-best time.
2016 NCAA East Preliminary Round Schedule
Thursday, May 26
12 p.m. ET - Men's Hammer First Round: Cameron Brown (Flight 2)
12 p.m. ET - Women's Javelin First Round: Maria Jimenez (Flight 3)
3:30 p.m. ET - Men's Long Jump First Round: Mustaqeem Williams (Flight 2)
4:30 p.m. ET - Men's Pole Vault First Round: Jake Blankenship (Flight 1), Tyler Porter (Flight 2)
6:30 p.m. ET - Women's 100m First Round: Felicia Brown (Heat 3), Kali Davis-White (Heat 4)
6:45 p.m. ET - Women's Long Jump First Round: Cidae'a Woods (Flight 3)
6:55 p.m. ET - Men's 100m First Round: Christian Coleman (Heat 4), Mustaqeem Williams (Heat 1)
7:20 p.m. ET - Women's 400m First Round: Felecia Majors (Heat 6), Lenysse Dyer (Heat 5), Layla White (Heat 4)
7:45 p.m. ET - Men's 400m First Round: Nathan Strother (Heat 5), Ari Cogdell (Heat 3)
9 p.m. ET - Women's 10,000m Semifinal: Chelsea Blaase (Heat 1)
Friday, May 27
12 p.m. ET - Men's Javelin First Round: Kyle Quinn (Flight 3)
4 p.m. ET - Men's Discus First Round: Matthew Zajac (Flight 2)
5 p.m. ET - Women's Pole Vault First Round: Kristen Denk (Flight 1), Erin Champion (Flight 2)
6 p.m. ET - Women's 400m Quarterfinal:
6:15 p.m. ET - Men's 400m Quarterfinal:
6:30 p.m. ET - Women's 100m Quarterfinal:
6:45 p.m. ET - Men's 100m Quarterfinal:
8 p.m. ET - Women's 200m First Round: Felicia Brown (Heat 4), Kali Davis-White (Heat 5), Maia McCoy (Heat 1)
8:25 p.m. ET - Men's 200m First Round: Christian Coleman (Heat 4), Mustaqeem Williams (Heat 4)
Saturday, May 28
3:30 p.m. ET - Women's Shot Put First Round: Cassie Wertman (Flight 4)
6 p.m. ET - Women's 4x100 Quarterfinal: (Heat 3)
6:15 p.m. ET - Men's 4x100 Quarterfinal: (Heat 2)
6:30 p.m. ET - Women's Triple Jump First Round: Cidae'a Woods (Flight 2), Brielyn Rogers (Flight 2)
7:35 p.m. ET - Women's 200m Quarterfinal:
7:50 p.m. ET - Men's 200m Quarterfinal:
8:05 p.m. ET - Women's 5000m Semifinal: Chelsea Blaase (Heat 1)
8:45 p.m. ET - Men's 5000m Semifinal: Austin Whitelaw (Heat 2)
9:25 p.m. ET - Women's 4x400 Quarterfinal: (Heat 1)
9:45 p.m. ET - Men's 4x400 Quarterfinal: (Heat 1)
