University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
SEC Outdoor Championships
Blankenship Achieves SEC Pole Vault Gold
May 17, 2015 | Track & Field
| Name | Event/Place/Mark |
|---|---|
| Jake Blankenship | Pole Vault/1st/18-3 (5.56) |
| Tavis Bailey | Discus/4th/189-11 (57.88) |
| Wesley Edwards | High Jump/t-7th/6-8.25 (2.04) |
| Christian Coleman | 100m (F)/7th/10.23 (+0.4) |
» Full Results
| Name | Event/Place/Mark |
|---|---|
| Felicia Brown | 100m (F)/5th/11.44 |
| Felicia Brown | 200m (F)/4th/22.78 |
| Chelsea Blaase | 5000m/3rd/16:14.61 |
» Full Results
Blankenship forged through two separate lightning delays to capture the 2015 SEC Men's Pole Vault Championship on Saturday night. He becomes UT's 13th SEC champion in the pole vault and secures the 19th pole vault title in program history.
Brown ran the fastest 200-meter dash of her career on Saturday -- a time that also happened to be the second-fastest in program history. Her 22.78 ranks behind only Kelli White's 22.58 and caps a string of quality sprint performances late in the 2015 season.
May 16, 2015
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Jake Blankenship shook off his streak of runner-up finishes at the conference meet and cruised to his first-ever SEC championship in the men's pole vault, closing for Tennessee the third and final day of the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Mike Sanders Track Complex.
After finishing in second place at this winter's SEC Indoor Championships as well as last spring's SEC Outdoor Championships, Blankenship captured the elusive conference crown with a winning vault of 18 feet, three inches (5.56). He outlasted a field of 19 competitors, including two-time champion Andrew Irwin of Arkansas and freshman upstart Audie Wyatt of Texas A&M.
With the win, Blankenship secures Tennessee's 19th individual SEC championship in the men's pole vault and the first since 2011 when Joe Berry claimed his third title with a winning vault of 17 feet, 8.5 inches. He is also the 13th SEC pole vault champion in Tennessee's history.
Blankenship was on his game from the get-go and maintained his focus through two separate lightning delays. Passing on the first three heights, the junior captain entered the competition at 17 feet, 5.5 inches and easily cleared on his first attempt. But that momentum would have to be bridled as the first lightning delay halted the competition for more than 50 minutes. When the pole vault resumed, Blankenship picked up right where he left off in going up and over the bar 17 feet, 8.5 inches, doing so once again on just one attempt.
Lightning would literally strike twice, again stopping competition for another lengthy delay. Returning to the pole vault pit as one of just two competitors remaining, Blankenship flexed his muscle by easily clearing the 17 foot, 11.75-inch bar before another clearance 18 feet, three inches. That height marked the threshold for event runner-up Wyatt, who missed on three attempts at that mark to seal the championship for Blankenship.
With the title secured, Blankenship took a stab at the SEC Championships record--a mark of 19 feet, 0.25 inches (5.80) set by former Volunteer and Olympian Lawrence Johnson. A new PR would have given Blankenship the title, but he came up just short on all three attempts and was left with a considerable consolation prize in his first SEC gold medal.
Blankenship wasn't alone on the medal stand on Saturday as distance ace Chelsea Blaase secured a third-place finish in the women's 5000 meters. Blaase's time of 16:14.61 provided her with the perfect bronze trifecta to round out her junior season as the St. Jospeh, Illinois, native also placed third at the fall's SEC Cross Country Championships and again in the 5000 at the SEC Indoor Championships back in February.
Saturday marked the first time in the outdoor season that Blaase had competed in the 5k and her time currently ranks 30th in the NCAA East Region, likely settling her qualification to the NCAA East Regional in the event. Blaase will also qualify in the 10,000 meters where her school-record time of 32:28.39 is No. 3 in the East.
Despite coming away cruelly without a medal, Felicia Brown made a splash on Saturday as she finished fourth in the women's 200-meter dash and fifth in the 100-meter dash. Looking sharp in the two marquee sprint events, Brown was particularly impressive in the 200 when she posted a career-best time of 22.78. It was the first time in her career that she had eclipsed the 23-second mark and was also the second-fastest time recorded in program history.
Brown will go into next week's regional finals as the country's No. 7 ranked sprinter in the 200-meters.
Running through the rain-soaked conditions, Brown started her day in the women's 100-meter dash final, placing fifth overall with a new career-best time of 11.44 seconds. The result gave UT its first top-five finish of the weekend and also got the women's squad onto the team leaderboard with an initial four points.
The Tennessee men, who had entered the competition ranked 24th, closed out the SEC Championships in 12th place with 28.50 points. Florida came away with the team championship with 130.50 points. The UT women were 14th with 15.0 points as Arkansas claimed the SEC Championship at 127.50.
Other notable Vol performances from the final day at the SEC Outdoor Championships include Tavis Bailey's (189-11/57.88) fourth-place finish in the men's discus and Christian Coleman's (10.23) seventh-place position in the men's 100-meter dash final. Coleman was the only freshman to run in the final heat of the 100.
Meanwhile, the women saw a pair of PRs in two field events. Competing in the women's triple jump, sophomore Brielyn Rogers notched back-to-back career-bests in the preliminary round, turning in a jump of 40 feet, 8.75 inches (12.41) on her second attempt before following that performance with a mark of 40 feet, 10.5 inches (12.46) on attempt three. She placed 12th overall in the competition, an improvement of five places from last year's SEC Championships.
In the women's javelin, Maria Jimenez made a splash in her first SEC Championships after bursting from the gates with a new personal-best on her very first throw. Her mark of 158 feet, two inches (48.22) carried her into the event finals and held over her final three attempts as she placed ninth in the competition. Jimenez was the first UT women's javelin competitor to reach the final of the SEC meet since 2012 when Katherine Dresch also placed ninth.
Only two collegiate events remain in the 2015 outdoor season and Tennessee will now return to Knoxville to await the announcement of the official qualifiers for the NCAA East Regional. The Regional runs May 28-30 in Jacksonville, Florida, and the top 48 individuals on the East Region qualifying list, as well as the top-24 relay teams, will be selected to compete.
Another congratulations to SEC POLE VAULT CHAMPION @JacoblankPV (18-3/5,56)! #SECTF pic.twitter.com/uFv2ad9Ghx
-- UT Track & Field/XC (@Vol_Track) May 17, 2015
MEN'S RESULTS AT SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday
Javelin: 6. Kyle Quinn, 227-4 (69.29)
800m (prelim): 22. Chase Hilton, 1:51.83 - dna; 24. Nick Kaiser, 1:52.00 - dna ; 27. Antonio Carter, 1:55.50 - dna
200m (prelim): 10. Christian Coleman, 21.20 (-0.6) - dna
400mH (prelim: 11. Jalen Hunter, 53.19! - dna
Friday
1500m (prelim):Drew Kelley, 3:53.18! - dna
Shot Put: 4. Matthew Hoty, 61-5.0 (18.72); 7. Tavis Bailey, 57-3.0 (17.45)
400m (prelim): 12. Nathan Strother, 47.06 - dna
100m (prelim): 7. Christian Coleman, 10.19! (+2.8) - adv
Saturday
Pole Vault: 1. Jake Blankenship, 18-3.0 (5.56); Tyler Porter - nh; Michael Maira - nh
Discus: 4. Tavis Bailey, 189-11 (57.88); 13. Matthew Zajac, 164-11, 50.26
High Jump: t7. Wesley Edwards, 6-8.25 (2.04)
100m (FINAL): 7. Christian Coleman, 10.23 (+0.4)
5000m: 16. Austin Whitelaw, 14:36.18; 29. Kyle Walter, 14:56.17
4x400: 9. Tennessee `A' (Coleman, Carter, Strother, Hunter), 3:12.44
WOMEN'S RESULTS AT SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday
200m (prelim): 2. Felicia Brown, 23.04 (-0.6)! - adv
Friday
Long Jump: 17. Cidae'a Woods, 19-0.25 (5.80) - dna
Pole Vault: 10. Erin Champion, 13-1.75 (4.01)
400m (prelim): 22. Felecia Majors, 55.73 - dna
100m (prelim): 7. Felicia Brown, 11.32 (+2.5) - adv
Saturday
Triple Jump: 12. Brielyn Rogers, 40-10.5 (12.46)! (+1.8)
Javelin: 9. Maria Jimenez, 158-2 (48.22)!
100m (FINAL): 5. Felicia Brown, 11.44! (+0.9)
200m(FINAL): 4. Felicia Brown, 22.78! (+0.9)
5000m: 3. Chelsea Blaase, 16:14.61
! - 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
