The motto of the US Postal Service is “rain, sleet or snow.”
For the government agency, this simply means that through any conditions, the mail will be delivered. This guarantee of performance, however, is a trait that can now be applied to junior Ellen Wortham, a member of the UT track and field team. Over the weekend, Wortham fought through mucky weather conditions for a near-perfect performance at the Sea Ray Relays, held at Tom Black Track.
From Wortham’s first event, it was clear that the meet was going to be a special one. She came out on Friday with a commanding victory in the 400-meter hurdles. She ran through rainy weather and finished with a time of 57.48 seconds, besting the nearest competitor by more than two seconds.
“Winning the 400 hurdles was definitely the highpoint,” Wortham said. “I was defending champion in that, and it’s my main event.”
Wortham’s victory was not unexpected. She is undefeated in the event this season and currently holds the No. 2 overall time in the NCAA, to go along with the No. 7 overall time in the world this year. Being so close to the top in her event is a driving force for Wortham.
“It’s definitely motivating to be second, especially when the girl is only a hundredth of a second in front of me,” Wortham said. “I just got to work hard every day and try to get my form as perfect as it can get so that I can get there.”
This attitude of Wortham is not lost on J.J. Clark, director of track & field for UT.
“Ellen is a competitor,” Clark said. “She matches up well when she has to compete, and that’s a strong point for her. When she’s there with that top person, she’ll be ready to match up with her and answer.”
Following her 400 performance, Wortham took fifth overall in the 100-meter hurdles, but it was on the next, and last, day of the competition that she shined.
Wortham finished Saturday with not one, but three first-place relay finishes.
Wortham started strong in the shuttle hurdle relay, as the grouping of Bianca Blair, Jená Murphy, Kristyn Sweeney and her finished first with a time of 58.63 seconds. This was the first time the Lady Vols had won the Shuttle Hurdle relay since 1994, and Clark put this improvement up to the hard work of the group as a whole.
“Coach Seagrave (women’s sprint coach) put together a real nice sprint group,” Clark said. “And lately, we’re all starting to see the result of the hard work.”
What was surprising about the result of the relay was not the victory, but rather that up until a couple days before the race, the Lady Vols were not planning on running it.
“We didn’t really plan on doing it until a little before,” Wortham said. “And for us to come out and do well was really exciting for us.”
Following this event, Wortham was also a part of the winning 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relays.
“My teammates all ran well in the relays,” Wortham said. “And overall it was just a good day for the sprinters.”
Because of her accomplishments throughout the meet, Wortham was awarded the Tony Wilson award for excellence in women’s track events. Despite these accolades, though, Wortham does not feel like she’s done enough yet.
“I definitely want to come out as SEC champion, but I’m more focused on getting my time down than I am with places,” Wortham said. “I know if I get my time down then everything else will fall into place. I need to work on my form and my race pattern … I just got to get that little bit faster that I need.”
For Clark, however, the improvements Wortham needs to make to get better are seemingly outweighed by some of the things she has already done, as well as what she has the ability to do.
“She offers a lot, not only in hurdles, but also sprints and jumps,” Clark said. “She can help us win championships. And you know, that’s why we recruited her.”
