FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Two weeks, two championships.
After winning the Southeastern Conference Championships at Randall Tyson Track Center two weeks ago, the Tennessee Lady Volunteer track team won its first NCAA Indoor title in dramatic fashion, beating second-place Florida by ten points, followed by Miami (32), Nebraska (29), South Carolina (28), LSU and Brigham Young (26), to round out the top five.
It marked UT’s first women’s non-basketball NCAA national title.
UT coach J.J. Clark said he had little doubt in his team’s abilities to get the task done.
“This was our goal, and we knew it was attainable,” Clark said. “It is very hard to carry that (No. 1) ranking through the season and then end it with a championship.”
Adversity abounded in the meet’s opening day as Tennessee led second-place Texas by one point despite the absence of NCAA 800-meter record holder and last year’s NCAA Indoor 800 champion, Nicole Cook. In the Lady Vols’ first event, the Petersburg, Va., native wound up 12th overall after she strained her right hamstring in practice on last Sunday and did not run all week.
“It’s also a great ending and a big relief for Nicole, even though she couldn’t run,” Clark said. “She helped out any way she could, encouraging her teammates and displaying great character that you expect from your team captain.”
The Lady Vols didn’t let the absence of their team captain shake them, as sophomore Tianna Madison finished first in the long jump with a jump of 22 feet, 3 inches. Madison’s mark was the nation’s best this year, a UT school record and tied for fourth-best in the NCAA Indoor championship history.
“I was saying earlier today that I have been patient in my training and have been consistently executing,” the Elyria, Ohio, native said. “I am glad that it could all come together today, and I am proud that I could maintain my focus for so long.”
In the 200m, the Lady Volunteer freshman trio of Courtney Champion, Cleo Tyson and LaTonya Loche combined for nine points. Champion followed up her school-record 23.11-second effort at the SEC meet with another UT best, blazing a 22.98 readout to place third. Tyson and Loche also gained three additional points, securing seventh and eighth places with efforts of 23.39 and 23.45, respectively.
In the distance medley relay, junior Brooke Novak, junior Patricia Hall (St. Ann, Jamaica), senior Antoinette Gorham (Glenarden, Md.) and sophomore Felicia Guliford (Gallup, N.M.) went into the meet seeded 10th, but ran a season-best 11:15.21 to wind up seventh. The finish gave the Lady Vols two critical points it needed to cushion itself leading into day two of the competition.
“It was a gutsy performance by the DMR to scrap for a couple of points that put us into the lead after the first day,” Clark said. “It was a great effort all the way around today. Tianna in the long jump, Courtney, Cleo and LaTonya in the 200 meters and a DMR not ranked in the top eight scrapping for points.”
On day two, the Lady Vols made the most of the only two events they had on the track. In the 60m, Toyin Olupona manufactured a second consecutive runner-up finish, while Madison finished 3rd and Champion finished sixth. That race gave Tennessee 16 points and placed them in first with second-place Florida behind only six points.
In the meet’s final event, the 4x400m relay, Lady Vols ran a season-best and barely missed the school record time of 3:31.49, placing second with a reading of 3:31.76. The eight points garnered from the race provided the Lady Vols with enough points to win Tennessee’s first national championship in any sport since the men’s track team took home an indoor title of its own in 2002.
“I told the team we had two events today, and that we somehow needed to come up with 20 points to add to the 21 we got yesterday,” the third-year coach said. “We had the 60-meter dash and the 4×4, and the goal was 20 points. Coach Gilbert (Assistant Coach Caryl Smith Gilbert) got the sprinters really sharp, and when I talked to them today, I felt good about it.
“I thought we could get it done, and we took advantage of our opportunity.”
Tennessee finished the meet with all 10 athletes earning a total of 17 All-America honors.
“You can’t leave anyone out because they all contributed to us attaining this goal,” Clark said.
