Emmanuel Bynum, Jacious Sears record top times in New Mexico Collegiate Classic

Tennessee’s Emmanuel Bynum and Jacious Sears record top times in New Mexico Collegiate Classic.

Tennessee took part in the first day of competition on Friday at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic at Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In the men’s 400-meter, Emmanuel Bynum (45.45 seconds) recorded the second fastest time in the world and the top time posted in the NCAA in 2024.

In the women’s 200-meter, Jacious Sears (22.57 seconds) recorded a personal best indoor time was and indoor personal best.

Tennessee’s personal best times on Friday

T’Mars McCallum – Men’s 200m – 20.88
Zyaire Nuriddin – Men’s 200m – 21.00
Jacious Sears – Women’s 200m – 22.57
Dennisha Page – Women’s 200m – 23.12
Jonah Ross – Women’s 200m – 23.37
Layla Anderson – Women’s 200m – 23.69
Kyla Robinson-Hubbard – Women’s 200m – 23.70
Christian Parker – Men’s 400m – 46.78
Clement Ducos – Men’s 400m – 46.97
Javonya Valcourt – Women’s 400m – 52.75
Brianna White – Women’s 400m – 53.37
Ka’Myya Haywood – Women’s 400m – 54.74

Jacious Sears sets top mark in 60-meter dash

A look at Tennessee’s top marks at the Ted Nelson Invitational.

Tennessee sprinter Jacious Sears won the 60-meter dash in the Ted Nelson Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M, Saturday in College Station, Texas.

Sears recorded a time of 7.10 seconds in the finals of the event. Her time is the top mark in the NCAA this season.

Saturday marked the second consecutive week Sears set a top mark. She posted a mark of 22.88 seconds in the women’s 200-meter dash at the Gamecock Opener on Jan. 13.

Tennessee graduate transfer Dennisha Page placed second among collegiate athletes in the 60-meter dash. She recorded a personal-best 7.23 finish.

Emmanuel Bynum finished the 400-meter dash in 46.05 seconds for the Vols, which is the second best time of the season in both the NCAA and in the world.

Freshman jumper Grant Campbell recorded a mark of 2.16 meters (7 feet, 1 inch) in the high jump at Texas A&M on Saturday.

The Maryville, Tennessee native is fifth on the Vols’ all-time list in the event.

Jacious Sears named SEC Runner of the Week

Tennessee’s Jacious Sears named SEC Runner of the Week.

Tennessee sprinter Jacious Sears was named co-SEC Women’s Runner of the Week when the conference announced its weekly indoor track and field awards Tuesday.

Spears, a junior and five-time All-America performer, received the honor after her performances at the Gamecock Opener on Jan. 14 in Columbia, South Carolina.

She won the 200-meter dash, recording a time of 22.88 seconds. Her mark ranks as the fastest time on the 2024 World Athletics top list and as the fastest mark on the 2023-24 collegiate list.

Spears, a native of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, also recorded a time of  7.25 seconds in 60-meter dash preliminaries. The time stands as the No. 5 mark in the NCAA, and the No. 9 mark in the world.

She is the only collegiate sprinter with top five marks in the two events this season.

Spears shared SEC Co-Women’s Runner of the Week honors with Sanu Jallow of Arkansas.

Tennessee adds two assistant coaches ahead of 2023 season

Tennessee adds two assistant coaches ahead of 2023 season.

Tennessee head coach and director of cross country and distance Sean Carlson hired two assistant coaches for the upcoming cross country season.

Carlson announced Judy Pendergast and Danny Kilrea have joined Tennessee’s distance staff.

“I am thrilled to welcome Danny and Judy to our staff,” Carlson said in a press release. “They were both decorated athletes in their careers, but more importantly, are great people. Both of them will be tremendous resources for our student-athletes.”

Pendergast comes to Tennessee after serving as an assistant coach at Harvard last season. She worked with Harvard’s men’s and women’s middle distance runners, coaching two cross country All-Americans, 10 individual Ivy League champions, three indoor NCAA championship qualifiers and 12 outdoor NCAA qualifiers.

Kilrea comes to Tennessee after coaching men’s and women’s distance runners at Notre Dame, his alma mater. He was a captain of the Fighting Irish’s cross country team in 2021, winning a ACC championship.

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Dylan Jacobs earns Indoor National Scholar Track Athlete of the Year honors

Tennessee’s Dylan Jacobs earns Indoor National Scholar Track Athlete of the Year honors.

Tennessee distance specialist and graduate student Dylan Jacobs was named 2023 National Indoor Scholar Athlete of the Year by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Jacobs is the first Vol to receive the honor.

Jacobs transferred to Tennessee from Notre Dame. He is pursuing a master’s degree in Business and Human Resources at the University of Tennessee.

Jacobs won three SEC championships and claimed the Vols’ first national title in the 5,000-meter run.

He announced intentions in competing professionally, signing with On Running. Jacobs will remain in Tennessee and train with Vols’ distance coach Sean Collins.

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Duane Ross agrees to contract extension through 2027-28

Tennessee head coach Duane Ross agrees to contract extension through 2027-28.

Tennessee head coach and director of track and field Duane Ross agreed to a contract extension through 2027-28 on Wednesday.

In one year under Ross, the Vols and Lady Vols totaled 15 school records, 32 All-America honors and 22 Southeastern Conference medals during the indoor and outdoor seasons.

“In just one season, Duane has started building the foundation to restore our track & field program as one of the nation’s truly elite programs,” Tennessee Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Danny White said in a press release. “It was an encouraging sign of progress to see both programs finish in the top five at both SEC championship events for the first time since 2008, and watching our women’s program place in the top-10 nationally at indoors and outdoors for the first time since 2009 was eye-opening.”

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Charisma Taylor earns three All-America certificates

Charisma Taylor earns three All-America certificates.

Tennessee graduate student Charisma Taylor earned three All-America certificates Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Taylor achieved first-team All-America honors with a sixth-place finish in the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.41 meters (21 feet, 0.5 inches).

Taylor also achieved second-team All-America status in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.94. She finished in tenth place and failed to qualify for the finals.

Taylor, Jacious Spears, Nicole Sreenan and Jonah Ross finished tenth in the 4X100-meter relay, completing the race in 42.35 seconds.

Sears, a senior, qualified for the finals of both the 100-meter and 200-meter events. She posted a time of 11.06 seconds in the 100-meter and finished the 200-meter in 22.49 seconds.

Lady Vol Chandler Hayden made her debut in the national championships. She finished 19th in the hammer throw with a mark of 61.47 meters.

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Javonte Harding, Rasheeme Griffith highlight NCAA outdoor championships opening night

Tennessee’s Javonte Harding and Rasheeme Griffith highlight NCAA outdoor championships opening night.

Tennessee competed at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Wednesday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Junior Javonte Harding finished fifth in the men’s 200-meter semifinals (19.88 seconds), joining Justin Coleman and Justin Gatlin as the only Tennessee sprinters to record a sub-20 second time in the event.

Harding will compete in Friday’s final at 10:37 p.m. EDT.

He also competed in the 100-meter dash, finishing 17th and recording a time of 10.12 seconds.

In the 400-meter semifinals, junior Rasheeme Griffith finished in third place (49.00 seconds). He advances to Friday’s final at 10:27 p.m. EDT.

Tennessee graduate student Rasheem Brown recorded a personal best time in the 110-meter hurdles semifinals (13.53).

Brown advances to the finals on Friday at 9:42 p.m. EDT.

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31 Tennessee athletes to compete at NCAA East Regional preliminary rounds

31 Tennessee student-athletes to compete at NCAA East Regional preliminary rounds.

Tennessee’s men’s and women’s track and field teams will have 31 student-athletes compete in the NCAA East Regional preliminary round in Jacksonville, Florida.

The NCAA East Regional preliminary round will be contested May 24-27 at Hodges Stadium and hosted by the University of North Florida.

Tennessee’s student-athletes who qualified for the regional preliminaries are listed below.

Men (19 athletes, 25 entries)

100m: 18. Javonte Harding (10.13), 30. T’Mars McCallum (10.21)
200m: 4. Javonte Harding (20.12), 21. Nigel Green (20.44)
400m: 3. Emmanuel Bynum (44.58)
800m: 31. Joe Hoots (1:48.54)
1,500m: 41. Canaan Anderson (3:42.26)
5,000m: 10. Dylan Jacobs (13:36.93), 20. Yaseen Abdalla (13:44.16), 29. Nate Kawalec (13:48.74)
10,000m: 2. Dylan Jacobs (28:01.53), 32. Karl Thiessen (29:04.26), 41. Nate Kawalec (29:20.92)
110mH: 1. Devon Brooks (13.26), 7. Rasheem Brown (13.43), 13. Leonard Mustari (13.51), 14. Jesse Henderson (13.54), 40. Sam McLendon (13.88)
400mH: 3. Jakwan Hale (49.18), 6. Rasheeme Griffith (49.33), 8. Clement Ducos (49.68)
4x100m Relay: 5. Tennessee (38.85)
4x400m Relay: 6. Tennessee (3:02.89)
Long Jump: 13. Leonard Mustari (7.78m/25-6.25)
Triple Jump: 29. Garison Breeding (15.44m/50-8)

Women (12 athletes, 16 entries)

100m: 3. Jacious Sears (10.96)
200m: 3. Jacious Sears (22.45), 45. Jonah Ross (23.42)
400m: 20. Javonya Valcourt (52.47)
5,000m: 46. Rachel Sutliff (16:15.70)
10,000m: 29. Rachel Sutliff (33:54.26)
100mH: 6. Charisma Taylor (12.84)
400mH: 13. Kyla Robinson-Hubbard (56.81)
4x100m Relay: 8. Tennessee (43.48)
4x400m Relay: 6. Tennessee (3:29.57)
High Jump: 3. Cheyla Scott (1.85m/6-0.75)
Pole Vault: 31. Sarah Schmitt (4.10m/13-5.25)
Long Jump: 8. Charisma Taylor (6.51m/21-4.25)
Triple Jump: 3. Charisma Taylor (13.99m/45-10.75), 48. Suzan Ogunleye (12.67m/41-7)
Hammer Throw: 16. Chandler Hayden (63.32m/207-9)

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Dylan Jacobs makes third appearance on The Bowerman watch list

Tennessee’s Dylan Jacobs makes third appearance on The Bowerman watch list.

Tennessee distance specialist Dylan Jacobs made his third consecutive appearance on The Bowerman award men’s watch list in an update from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA).

Jacobs, a graduate student and transfer from Notre Dame, is one of 10 NCAA Division I athletes in contention for the award, honoring the nation’s top male and female athletes.

He made his latest appearance on the watch list Thursday, one week after breaking Tennessee’s program record in the 10,000-meter run.

Christian Coleman was the last Vol to win the award. Coleman competed for Tennessee from 2014-17 and claimed the award during his final season.