The University of Tennessee track and field teams look to pick up where they left off last year with the opening of the 2010 indoor season. For the Lady Vols, only 11 teams stand in their way.
Lady Vols
The reigning NCAA National Indoor champion and SEC champion Lady Vols hit the road Jan. 15 to begin their 2010 indoor season in Lexington at the Kentucky Invitational. The Lady Vols enter January ranked No. 12, according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Preseason Rankings.
All-American thrower Annie Alexander returns after a successful first year donning the orange and white, winning three SEC titles as a freshman in throwing events in 2009. Also returning is the All-American duo of senior Phoebe Wright and sophomore Chanelle Price, leading the way for UT in the 800-meter event.
“This year we expect to do big things,” Price said. “Even though we lost some key runners this year like Celrise Law and Sarah Bowman, we still have high expectations. No one ever really expects us to pull anything off, but we are excited to shock people again this year. If people step up individually, we can win a national championship.”
The Lady Vols boast two National Indoor Championships and five SEC Indoor titles in the last five years. The 2010 season includes trips to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Hokie Invitational Jan. 22 through Jan. 23, New York, N.Y., for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational Feb. 5 through Feb. 6, and Fayetteville, Ark., for the SEC Indoor Championships beginning Feb. 26.
Men
As for the men in orange, a third-place SEC finish last season sheds light on a potentially promising 2010 with several of last year’s top finishers making their way back to Knoxville.
Joe Berry, the 2009 SEC champion pole vaulter, long sprinter Samdi Fraser, 800-meter standout Joe Franklin, long distance runner Michael Spooner, and All-American senior sprinters Kyle Stevenson and Evander Wells all return for the Vols. Wells placed fourth in the 200 meter at NCAA Indoors last season, and Stevenson, an SEC Academic Honor Roll member, will again serve as an asset to the 4×100 relay team.
J.J. Clark, UT’s first and only director of track and field for both the Vols and Lady Vols, will continue to lead the UT indoor track programs with two teams under his watch this year. Clark has led the Lady Vols track and field and cross country teams since 2002, but he knows what his men are capable of in the upcoming 2010 season.
“We lost some key athletes from last year, but I believe just as on the women’s side, people will step up and get it done,” Clark said. “Who, when and where, we have to wait and see. We have enough fire power to do that.
“The men’s program has always been a strong one, and we are going to maintain that work ethic and just try to add a little more to it.”
The UT men’s track and field team heads to Lexington for the Kentucky Invitational alongside the Lady Vols to kick off their indoor season on Jan. 15.
