Three Vols, one relay team advance in NCAA outdoor championships

Vols open 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships by earning three spots in Friday’s finals.

Three Tennessee men’s track and field athletes and one relay team advanced in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Two veteran Vols advanced in the 400-meter hurdles at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on the first day of competition.

Tennessee graduate student Clement Ducos received an automatic bid into the finals with a victory in Heat 3 of the event. He finished the race in 48.64 seconds.

Tennessee fifth-year senior Ja’Kwan Hale qualified for his first NCAA final as an individual. He recorded a time of 49.88 and posted an eighth-place overall finish.

Tennessee is one of three programs to have multiple qualifiers in the event, joining Alabama and Texas Tech. The NCAA final will be contested Friday at approximately 10:27 p.m. EDT.

Vols’ fifth-year senior Emmanuel Bynum placed third in the 400-meter dash and eighth overall, recording a time of 44.50 seconds.

He will compete in the finals of the event, which will be contested at approximately 10:02 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Bynum and Ducos were part of the Vols’ 4×400-meter relay team, combining with Rasheeme Griffith and Christian Parker to finish third in their heat and eighth overall (3:04.28). The finals for the 4×40-meter relay will be contested Friday at approximately 11:02 p.m. EDT.

T’Mars McCallum, Griffith and Kevin Burr Jr. also earned Second-Team All-America status on Wednesday.

McCallum finished 15th in the 100-meter dash. Griffith was 13th in the 400-meter hurdles and Burr Jr. posted an 11th-place finish in the javelin.