University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Texas Relays
Track and Field Closes Out Texas Relays
March 28, 2015 | Track & Field
March 28, 2015
AUSTIN, Texas -- Junior Jake Blankenship matched his lifetime-best effort in the pole vault on Saturday, grabbing a third-place finish as Tennessee concluded its weekend at the 88th Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
Matthew Hoty and Cassie Wertman were also in action on Saturday, competing in the men's and women's shot put. Hoty finished in eighth-place in the men's competition while Wertman placed 13th in the women's. In all, Tennessee departs the Lone Star State with seven top-10 finishes at the Texas Relays, including two inside the top five. Those figures jump to nine and three when including the men's discus finishes for Tavis Bailey and Matthew Zajac at the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, Texas, on Thursday night. Bailey placed second in that event while Zajac was seventh.
Indoor All-American and national runner-up Blankenship made his outdoor season debut on Saturday, competing in the Elite Section of the pole vault at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Amidst a highly competitive field that featured reigning NCAA indoor pole vault champion Shawn Barber, not to mention a handful of professional vaulters both domestic and international, Blankenship more than held his own in matching his career-best mark of 19 feet, 0.25 inches (5.80 meters). That height is the same he achieved only two weeks ago at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. He finished third in the event behind Barber and former Ole Miss standout Sam Kendricks.
Barber's winning vault of 19 feet, 4.5 inches (5.90) set a new Mike A. Myers Stadium record.
Later that afternoon, Hoty would collect Tennessee's seventh top-10 finish of the weekend by placing eighth in Section A of the men's shot put. His best throw of the night came on his final attempt -- a mark of 58 feet, 9.5 inches (17.92). Hoty had entered the finals of the competition in the ninth position behind an effort of 57 feet, two inches (17.42) on his second attempt.
Wertman closed out the Relays for UT, placing 13th in the women's pole vault. Her throw of 47 feet, 10.5 inches came sandwiched in between two fouls. She did not advance to the finals.
With the Texas Relays now in the books, Tennessee turns its attention to a pair of meets next weekend. UT will send athletes to both the Florida Relays and the Stanford Invitational next weekend, both of which run April 3-4.
MEN'S RESULTS AT TEXAS RELAYS
Thursday
Pole Vault (Sec. B): 2. Tyler Porter, 5.40m (17-8.50)!; Michael Maira - nh
Friday
Javelin (Sec. A): 6. Kyle Quinn, 68.19m (223-8)
Discus (Sec. A): 8. Tavis Bailey, 56.87m (186-7)
Discus (Sec. B): 6. Matthew Zajac, 51.12m (167-08)
Saturday
Pole Vault (Elite): 3. Jake Blankenship, 5.80m (19-0.25)
Shot Put (Sec. A): 8. Matthew Hoty, 17.92m (59-9.50)
WOMEN'S RESULTS AT TEXAS RELAYS
Friday
Pole Vault (Sec. B): 10. Erin Champion, 3.85m (12-7.50)
Saturday
Shot Put (Sec. A): 13. Cassie Wertman, 14.59m (47-10.50)
RESULTS AT BOBCAT INVITATIONAL
Thursday
Discus: 2. Tavis Bailey, 58.74m (192-8); 7. Matthew Zajac, 53.75m (176-4)
! - 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
