Over the weekend, the Vols split up to head into two top-competition meets: the Virginia Tech Challenge, hosted by Virginia Tech, and the USC Invite at the University of South Carolina. Both meets gave Tennessee athletes the opportunity to continue refining their marks for the upcoming indoor SEC Championships next weekend.
Virginia Tech Challenge
The men’s pole vault continued to dominate the podium. Cade Gray secured first place with a 5.69-meter jump, a new indoor personal record for him. Gray was recently named SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week on Feb. 10, as he is ranked within the top 10 in the NCAA Division 1 in pole vault.
Ismaila Sawaneh also jumped a 5.69-meter, placing second as he PR’d for his indoor record as well, making both Gray and Sawaneh take the top marks in the SEC for the 2025-26 season so far. Blake Sifferlin finished the sweep with his third-place 5.64-meter jump. This is an all-time record for him as he soared past his old best, 5.50 meters. The men’s pole vault team is the No. 1-ranked pole vault team in the nation this season.
Grant Campbell also seems to be heading his way through the season. He took first place in the men’s high jump with a 2.20-meter jump, a new indoor PR for him by 0.2 meters. Campbell is ranked No. 12 nationally. In women’s pole vault, Skye Tolbert placed 4th with a 4.34-meter jump, as she continues to be amongst the top in the SEC for women’s pole vault consistently.
USC Invite
Traunard Folson placed 1st in the men’s 200-meter, with his time of 20.55 seconds, a new PR and a No. 7 ranking in the D1 2026 season. TMars McCallum came in right behind Folson with a 20.77-second time, just shy of a new PR.
Calvin Wetzel placed fifth in the men’s 400-meter with a time of 46.85, a new PR by more than a whole second, placing him amongst elite rankings within the SEC. Serges Taha continued to pull the trend for the top three when he secured third place in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, with a final time of 7.89 seconds.
Endia Smith finished off this weekend with a second-place finish in the women’s triple jump, with a 12.41-meter jump.
The confidence gained from these performances positions the Vols well as they prepare to compete against the SEC’s best. Tennessee will finalize its indoor season with the SEC Championships, held Feb. 26-28 at Bryan College Station in Texas at the Fasken Indoor Track & Field.
