University of Tennessee Athletics
Coleman, Turner Earn SEC Awards
February 07, 2017 | Track & Field
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Tennessee junior Christian Coleman and freshman Domonique Turner earned SEC Weekly Awards on Tuesday.
Coleman was named the SEC Men’s Runner of the Week as he earned his second honor of the day. He was tabbed as the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week earlier today. Turner earned her first SEC weekly award as she was selected SEC Freshman of the Week.
Turner collected two personal bests and two second place finishes at the Virginia Tech “Doc Hale” Elite Meet. Turner finished first amongst collegians in the 60m Hurdles as she set a personal best of 8.36 seconds. That mark ranks sixth on Tennessee’s all-time list of 60m hurdle results.
Turner also finished second in the high jump, just short of her personal best of 1.66m as she cleared 1.64m on her third attempt. The Lakeland, Fla. native followed those performances with a new personal best in the 200m dash, cutting her time from 25.71 to 25.54.
The SEC tabbed Coleman after the Atlanta native ran the top 60m time in the world on Friday. Coleman extended his national lead in the 60m dash as he posted a time of 6.51 seconds in the finals of the meet in Blacksburg, Va.
Coleman now owns two of the top three times in the world during the 2017 calendar year. He now ranks second on Tennessee's all-time record book for 60m dash times after Friday's performance, trailing only Leonard Scott’s 6.48 mark set in 2001. Coleman also ranks 11th all-time amongst collegians in the 60m dash.
Coleman cruised to the final in 6.72 seconds as he slowed over the final 10m and still secured his spot as the number one qualifier.
Coleman has not lost a race this year, finishing first every time he has taken to the track in the 60m and 200m races. Coleman now holds the top time in the NCAA and the world during the 2017 indoor season in both the 60m and 200m dash.
This is the sixth time overall and second time this year that Coleman has earned the SEC Runner of the Week Award. He won the award three times as a sophomore and once as a freshman. He has also earned recognition from the SEC as the SEC Freshman of the week twice. He earned the SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Indoor Runner of the Year after earning the Cliff Harper Award for the top scorer at the SEC Indoor meet last year.
Tuesday’s awards are the third and fourth SEC weekly awards Tennessee has won in 2017 as Shania Collins won the women’s runner of the week award on January 10.
Coleman’s USTFCCCA National Athlete of the week honor is the second national weekly honor of his career. He won the award last year on February 16 as he won the 60m and 200m events at the Tyson Invitational.
