University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
War Eagle Invitational
Track Earns 4 Wins on Final Day at Auburn
April 18, 2015 | Track & Field
April 18, 2015
AUBURN, Ala. -- Tennessee wrapped up its weekend at the War Eagle Invitational in a big way on Saturday, collecting four wins, six PRs, 17 top-five finishes, and one new facility record on the day. Senior Tavis Bailey swept the men's discus and shot put competitions, Jake Blankenship won the men's pole vault, and freshman Nathan Strother prevailed in the 400-meter dash.
"We had good conditions to compete in all weekend," said director of track and field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan. "Auburn did a great job of running the meet and they put on a really nice event here."
Bailey's dual-win day began with a victory in the men's discus--an event he has now won in back-to-back weeks after taking the top spot at last week's Tennessee Relays. Bailey's winning throw came in at 198 feet, four inches (60.46). Teammate and true freshman Matthew Zajac was also solid in the discus competition, picking up his highest collegiate finish in fourth at 167 feet, two inches (50.96).
"We were pleased to see Tavis jump up to the 60-meter mark," Sullivan said. "That was a goal he had set for himself coming into the weekend and he did a great job of executing it."
From there, Bailey rediscovered the winning formula in the shot put. He won the event with an effort of 59 feet, seven inches and picked up his first individual win in the shot put since March of 2013. Fellow senior Matthew Hoty was third in the event at 58 feet, one-half inch (17.69).
Not long thereafter, Strother put down a time of 47.00 in the men's 400-meter dash to seal the first outdoor win of his collegiate career. It is his second win of 2015 after he won the 300 meters at the Hokie Invitational during the indoor season.
Blankenship put an exclamation point on Tennessee's successful day when he shattered the men's pole vault record at the Hutsell-Rosen Track of 17 feet, 4.25 inches by successfully clearing 18 feet, 9.25 inches (5.72) en route to the individual victory. Also breaking the facility record was Vol senior Tyler Porter, who put forth a mark of 17 feet, 4.5 inches to place second overall. It was Porter's second runner-up finish of the year after placing second at the Texas Relays last month.
"The end of the meet was a great cap to the day with Jake and Tyler really showing out," said Sullivan. "Jake did a great job. He just missed his PR at the end, but setting the new facility record is a great accomplishment. And Tyler came in and backed him up with a solid showing of his own. We had a bit of an equipment malfunction but those two kept focused and got the job done."
Six Volunteers took away new career-best marks on Saturday, including Felicia Brown's new personal record in the 100-meter dash of 11.49. That time was good enough for second in the preliminary heats, advancing Brown to Saturday's final where she placed third overall with a time of 11.52. On the men's side, Christian Coleman also advanced to the finals of the 100-meter dash. He finished in second place at 10.35 after advancing from the prelims with a 10.48.
Brown and Coleman tacked on a couple more top-five finishes in the women's and men's 200-meter dash, respectively. Brown notched her second PR of the day in the race, recording a 23.15 to come in second. Meanwhile, Coleman broke 21 seconds for the second straight week, turning in a 20.99 to finish in third place.
"We got a really nice 200 out of Felicia," said Sullivan. "She ran a really well executed race and that was something she was focused on. She's made some great strides over these last two weekends."
Caroline Duer posted her best-ever finish for the Orange and White on Saturday, running a 4:59.00 in the women's 1500 meters to place second. Meanwhile, Chase Hilton followed last week's third-place finish in the 800 meters at the Tennessee Relays with a runner-up finish at Auburn. His second-place time clocked in at 1:51.61.
Of UT's 17 top-five finishes on Saturday, 14 also placed inside the top three. Tennessee's grand total for the weekend comes to 20 top-five finishes, including 15 in the top three. Of the 34 entrants Tennessee submitted across 17 events this weekend, only eight had finishes outside the top 10 in any event.
"I wanted to give a special shout-out to Drew Kelley," Sullivan concluded. "He went out and PRed in the 800 meters (1:54.67) and he's running competitively and is starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together."
Next weekend the Volunteers travel to the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia. The Relays run April 23-25 and UT is currently slated for 20 events over the weekend.
MEN'S RESULTS AT WAR EAGLE INVITATIONAL
Friday
Hammer: 5. Carson Frost, 172-09 (52.66); 6. Deon McAdoo, 169-10 (51.76)
Saturday
Discus: 1. Tavis Bailey, 198-04 (60.46); 4. Matthew Zajac, 167-02 (50.96)
110mH (prelims): 12. Jalen Hunter, 15.55 - dna
100m (prelims): 3. Christian Coleman, 10.48 - adv
Pole Vault: 1. Jake Blankenship, 18-9.25 (5.72); 2. Tyler Porter, 17-4.50 (5.30); Michael Maira - nh
400m: 1. Nathan Strother, 47.00; 12. Malik Elion, 50.77
Shot Put: 1. Tavis Bailey, 59-7.00 (18.16); 3. Matthew Hoty, 58-0.50 (17.69)
100m (FINAL): 2. Christian Coleman, 10.35
800m: 2. Chase Hilton, 1:51.61; 7. Antonio Carter, 1:53.04; 11. Drew Kelley, 1:54.67!
400mH: 5. Jalen Hunter, 53.58!
200m: 3. Christian Coleman, 20.99; 7. Nathan Strother, 21.70; 8. Jalen Hunter, 21.79!; 11. Malik Elion, 22.10
WOMEN'S RESULTS AT WAR EAGLE INVITATIONAL
Friday
Javelin: 2. Maria Jimenez, 142-09 (43.51)
Saturday
Pole Vault: 5. Erin Champion, 13-1.50 (4.00)
100mH (prelims): 16. Brielyn Rogers, 15.15 - dna
100m (prelims): 2. Felicia Brown, 11.49! - adv
1500m: 2. Caroline Duer, 4:59.00
400m: 6. London Freeland, 56.88; 10. Megan Linder, 58.29
100m (FINAL): 3. Felicia Brown, 11.52
200m: 2. Felicia Brown, 23.15!; 10. London Freeland, 24.72!; 22. Megan Linder, 25.94; 27. Brielyn Rogers, 27.05
! - 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
