University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Alabama Relays
Track Closes Productive Opening Weekend
March 21, 2015 | Track & Field
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Felecia Majors and Felicia Brown went one-two in the women's 400-meter dash and Nathan Strother established a new career-best in the men's 400 as Tennessee wrapped up its weekend at the Alabama Relays on Saturday.
For the day, UT tallied 10 finishes inside the top 10 -- seven of which also landed inside the top five. The Volunteers will leave Tuscaloosa with 15 top-10 finishes, 10 top-five placements, and one individual win.
Running in the 400 meters, Majors narrowly edged teammate Brown by just one-hundredth of a second on her way to earning her first career win in the event. Majors, an honorable mention last season in the 400, clocked in at 53.72 while Brown finished runner-up at 53.73.
Tennessee enjoyed more 400-meter success on the men's side as freshman Nathan Strother strode to a second-place finish on Saturday night. The Norcross, Georgia, native recorded a career-best time of 47.17 en route to the runner-up finish. Also recording a new PR in the event was redshirt freshman Jerimy Strainge, who finished 15th at 51.73.
"The day went very well for us," said director of track and field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan. "I was very excited about our 400-meter efforts. Fe Majors had a career win with Fe Brown pressing right along with her the whole way. And Nate Strother put forth a tremendous effort in the men's 400 and was pushing hard for a win. Dan Waters and the Alabama staff put on a great track meet and it was great to open up the outdoor season at such a phenomenal facility."
The Volunteers saw continued success in the field events, getting two top-10s in the men's discus, a fourth-place finish in the women's pole vault, and a fifth-place mark in the women's long jump. All-American Tavis Bailey came in second in the discus throw behind an effort of 191 feet, seven inches (58.40). Not far behind came true freshman Matthew Zajac, whose throw of 174 feet, seven inches (53.21) was good for seventh in his collegiate debut.
"Tavis had a great debut in the discus throw competition which utilized a non-reverse throw," added Sullivan. "So he was basically using a half-throw and opened up very well. We also got a nice debut from Matthew Zajac, who opened up his college career with a throw of over 174 feet."
Erin Champion came up just shy of matching her career best in the pole vault, but settled for a fourth-place finish with a mark of 12 feet, 11.5 inches (3.95). Meanwhile, freshman Cidae'a Woods used a leap of 18 feet, 11.25 inches (5.77) to place fifth in the long jump.
Tennessee got another strong finish from the men's distance medley relay team. Nick Kaiser, Strainge, Chase Hilton, and Antonio Carter teamed up to record a time of 9:59.11 in the event -- good enough for fourth place overall. In the 4x400-meter relay, the Tennessee women were 11th (3:52.80) and the men came in 14th (3:19.23).
Other notable performances from the day include Cassie Wertman's ninth-place finish in the women's discus (142-5/43.43) and Wesley Edward's tie for 10th in the men's high jump (6-6.75/2.00).
Next up, Tennessee splits in two different directions as one group of Volunteers takes on the 88th Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin on March 25-28, while the other heads to North Carolina for the Raleigh Relays March 27-28.
MEN'S RESULTS AT ALABAMA RELAYS
Thursday
Hammer Throw: 18. Deon McAdoo, 53.66m (176-0); 20. Carson Frost, 50.78m (166-7)
Friday
Pole Vault: 8. Tyler Porter, 5.05m (16-6.75); 9. Michael Maira, 4.90m (16-0.75)
1500m: 11. Austin Whitelaw, 3:52.53; 15. Kyle Walter, 3:53.78; 39. Drew Kelley, 4:06.98
Sprint Medley Relay: Tennessee `A' (Strother, Strange, Carter, Kaiser) - dnf
Javelin: 3. Kyle Quinn, 69.89m (229-3)
Shot Put: 2. Matthew Hoty, 17.70m (58-1.0)
Saturday
High Jump: t10. Wesley Edwards, 2.00m (6-6.75)
Discus: 2. Tavis Bailey, 58.40m (191-7); 7. Matthew Zajac, 53.21m (174-7)
DMR: 4. Tennessee `A' (Kaiser, Strainge, Carter, Hilton), 9:59.11
400m: 2. Nathan Strother, 47.17!; 15. Jerimy Strainge, 51.73!
4x400m Relay: 14. Tennessee `A' (Strother, Strainge, Edwards, Carter), 3:19.23
WOMEN'S RESULTS AT ALABAMA RELAYS
Friday
100m: 13. Cidae'a Woods, 12.48
Sprint Medley Relay: 18. Tennessee `A' (Brown, Majors, Freeland, Johnson), 4:55.45
High Jump: Cidae'a Woods - nh
Shot Put: 3. Cassie Wertman, 15.10m (49-6.50)
Saturday
Discus: 9. Cassie Wertman, 43.42m (142-5)
Pole Vault: 4. Erin Champion, 3.95m (12-11.5)
Long Jump: 5. Cidae'a Woods, 5.77m (18-11.25); Brielyn Rogers - f
100mH: 23. Cidae'a Woods, 14.82 (+0.0)
400m: 1. Felecia Majors, 53.72; 2. Felicia Brown, 53.73; 12. London Freeland, 56.73
4x400 Relay: 11. Tennessee `A' (Brown, Majors, Freeland, Rogers), 3:52.80
! - 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
