The Tennessee Volunteers women's track and field program represents the University of Tennessee in the sport of track and field. The indoor and outdoor programs compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Lady Vols host their home outdoor meets at the newly renovated Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium, located on the university's Knoxville, Tennessee campus. They formally held meets indoors at Stokely Athletic Center until the arenas demolition in 2012, but will soon have a new indoor track facility sometime in the 2020s.[3] The team is led by current head coach Duane Ross who took over the program after the firing of Beth Alford-Sullivan in May 2022.
| Tennessee Volunteers women's track and field | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1969 |
| University | University of Tennessee |
| Athletic director | Danny White |
| Head coach | Duane Ross[1][2] (May 2022-present season) |
| Conference | SEC |
| Location | Knoxville, TN |
| Indoor track | Stokely Athletic Center (Until 2012) (Capacity: 12,700) New Indoor Track Facility (2023- )[3] |
| Outdoor track | Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium (Capacity: 7,500) |
| Nickname | Lady Volunteers |
| Colors | Orange and white[4] |
| NCAA Indoor National Championships | |
| 2005, 2009 | |
| NCAA Outdoor National Championships | |
| 1981* | |
| NCAA Indoor Tournament Appearances | |
| 1981*, 1982*, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 | |
| NCAA Outdoor Tournament Appearances | |
| 1976*, 1977*, 1978*, 1979*, 1980*, 1981*, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 Asterisk = AIAW | |
| Conference Indoor Championships | |
| 1984, 2005, 2007, 2009 | |
| Conference Outdoor Championships | |
| 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 | |
Along with all other UT women's sports teams, it used the nickname "Lady Volunteers" (or the short form "Lady Vols") until the 2015–16 school year, when the school dropped the "Lady" prefix from the nicknames of all women's teams except in basketball.[5] In 2017 the university announced the return of the “Lady Volunteer” name.[6]
Throughout the program's history, the Lady Vols have produced 23 NCAA Indoor Individual Champions, 14 NCAA Outdoor Individual Champions, won 8 conference titles, and 3 team national championships. While not as successful historically as the Tennessee men's program, the Lady Vols have appeared in 33 NCAA Indoor Championships (4th most in SEC) and 37 Outdoor Championships (3rd most in SEC). Additionally, the program has finished as national runner up 7 times in Indoor Track and 2 times in Outdoor Track, and produced 4 Olympic Medalists.[7]
Head coaches
editSource[8]
| # | Coach | Years | Seasons | National Championships | Conference Championships | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor | Outdoor | Indoor | Outdoor | ||||
| 1 | Terry Crawford | 1974–1984 | 11 | – | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Gary Schwartz | 1985–1988 | 4 | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | Dorothy Doolittle | 1989–1997 | 9 | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | Myrtle Ferguson | 1998–2002 | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | J.J. Clark | 2003–2014 | 12 | 2 | – | 3 | – |
| 7 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | 2015-2022 | 8 | – | – | – | – |
| 8 | Duane Ross | 2023- | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |||
Yearly Record
editSource[8]
| Season | Coach | NCAA | Conference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor | Outdoor | Indoor | Outdoor | ||
| Independent (AIAW) | |||||
| 1976 | Terry Crawford | – | 4th (AIAW) | – | – |
| 1977 | Terry Crawford | – | 4th (AIAW) | – | – |
| 1978 | Terry Crawford | – | 13th (AIAW) | – | – |
| 1979 | Terry Crawford | – | 3rd (AIAW) | – | – |
| 1980 | Terry Crawford | – | 4th (AIAW) | – | – |
| Southeastern Conference | |||||
| 1981 | Terry Crawford | 2nd (AIAW) | 1st (AIAW) | – | 1st (197) |
| 1982 | Terry Crawford | 2nd (AIAW) | 2nd (126) | – | 1st (214) |
| 1983 | Terry Crawford | 2nd (44) | 4th (87) | – | 1st (223) |
| 1984 | Terry Crawford | 2nd (48) | 2nd (124) | 1st (148.5) | 1st (207) |
| 1985 | Gary Schwartz | 6th (22) | 7th (30) | 3rd (94.5) | 2nd (109) |
| 1986 | Gary Schwartz | 2nd (26) | 4th (36) | 3rd (87.3) | 3rd (87.5) |
| 1987 | Gary Schwartz | 2nd (30) | 4th (33) | 4th (79) | 4th (80) |
| 1988 | Gary Schwartz | 10th (12) | 21st (12) | 3rd (79) | 3rd (84) |
| 1989 | Dorothy Doolittle | T-32nd (2) | 37th (6) | 2nd (100) | 3rd (91) |
| 1990 | Dorothy Doolittle | T-9th (14) | 6th (28) | 3rd (83) | 3rd (106) |
| 1991 | Dorothy Doolittle | T-6th (24) | 5th (33) | 3rd (91) | 3rd (84) |
| 1992 | Dorothy Doolittle | T-13th (12) | T-9th (21) | 4th (69) | 5th (75.5) |
| 1993 | Dorothy Doolittle | – | 18th (25) | 5th (54) | 5th (81) |
| 1994 | Dorothy Doolittle | 11th (17) | 5th (30) | 4th (73.3) | 3rd (125) |
| 1995 | Dorothy Doolittle | 18th (11) | 9th (23) | 4th (64) | 3rd (125) |
| 1996 | Dorothy Doolittle | – | T-49th (3) | 7th (83) | 9th (106) |
| 1997 | Dorothy Doolittle | – | T-18th (14) | T-7th (33) | 7th (64) |
| 1998 | Myrtle Ferguson | T-31st (7) | T-15th (15) | 6th (69) | 7th (5.5) |
| 1999 | Myrtle Ferguson | T-32nd (6) | T-20th (12) | 5th (54) | 6th (81) |
| 2000 | Myrtle Ferguson | – | – | 8th (35) | 6th (71.25) |
| 2001 | Myrtle Ferguson | T-58th (1) | T-60th (2) | 10th (64) | 9th (125) |
| 2002 | Myrtle Ferguson | T-42nd (3) | T-39th (6) | 7th (21) | 6th (52.25) |
| 2003 | J.J. Clark | T-23rd (8) | T-22nd (12) | 9th (25) | 7th (55) |
| 2004 | J.J. Clark | 4th (43) | T-7th (24) | 2nd (99.5) | 6th (78.5) |
| 2005 | J.J. Clark | 1st (46) | 4th (40) | 1st (135.5) | 3rd (108.3) |
| 2006 | J.J. Clark | T-18th (13) | 18th (15) | T-3rd (78.5) | 5th (78) |
| 2007 | J.J. Clark | 3rd (30) | T-27th (9) | 1st (120) | 4th (89) |
| 2008 | J.J. Clark | T-8th (19) | T-13th (21) | 2nd (116) | 4th (85) |
| 2009 | J.J. Clark | 1st (42) | T-10th (21) | 1st (42) | 3rd (106) |
| 2010 | J.J. Clark | 2nd (36) | T-26th (10) | 4th (77) | 7th (62) |
| 2011 | J.J. Clark | T-7th (24) | T-11th (20) | 3rd (78) | 5th (92) |
| 2012 | J.J. Clark | T-48th (3) | T-9th (21) | 4th (68) | 5th (97) |
| 2013 | J.J. Clark | – | – | 8th (29) | 9th (39.5) |
| 2014 | J.J. Clark | – | T-59th (1) | 7th (35) | 10th (28) |
| 2015 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | T-38th (5) | T-56th (3) | 10th (22) | 14th (15) |
| 2016 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | 7th (30) | T-29th (8) | T-4th (77) | 4th (62) |
| 2017 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | – | T-62nd (2) | 12th (14.5) | T-11th (27) |
| 2018 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | T-40th (4) | T-25th (11) | 11th (21) | 4th (78) |
| 2019 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | T-21st (10) | T-66th (1) | 8th (40) | 9th (45.5) |
| 2020 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | – | – | T-8th (43) | – |
| 2021 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | T-40th (3) | T-46th (5) | 9th (32) | 9th (38) |
| 2022 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | 16th (12) | T-62nd (1) | 6th (50) | 9th (34) |
| 2023 | Duane Ross | T-7th (24) | T-10th (19) | 3rd (56.33) | 5th (67) |
| 2024 | Duane Ross | T-17th (13) | 8th (38) | ||
| Total | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
Note: The 2020 season was canceled after the SEC Indoor Championships due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the SEC Outdoor and both NCAA Championships were not held.
NCAA Individual Event Champions
editThe Lady Vols have claimed 23 NCAA Indoor individual titles, 14 NCAA Outdoor individual crowns, 13 AIAW individual champions, and 3 DGWS wins.[8]
|
|
Conference Individual Event Champions
editThrough the end of the 2022 season, the Lady Vols have won a total of 76 SEC Indoor individual championships, and 111 SEC Outdoor individual titles.[8]
|
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Tennessee Lady Volunteer Olympians
editThrough the 2020 Summer Olympics, 18 current and former Lady Vols have represented 8 different nations in the Olympic Games. They have brought home a total of 8 medals, including 6 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze medal.[8]
Medalists
edit| Athlete | Country | Olympics | Event | Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benita Fitzgerald-Brown |  United States |
1984 Los Angeles | 100 m hurdles | Gold |
| Tianna Madison | United States |
2012 London | 4x100 m relay | Gold |
| 2016 Rio | Long Jump | Gold | ||
| 100 m relay | Gold | |||
| LaVonna Martin | United States |
1992 Barcelona | 100 m hurdles | Silver |
| DeeDee Trotter | United States |
2004 Athens | 4x400 m relay | Gold |
| 2012 London | 4x400 m relay | Gold | ||
| 400 m | Bronze |
Participants
edit
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Tennessee athletics parts ways with track and field director Beth Alford-Sullivan".
- ^ "Tennessee tabs Duane Ross, NCAA coach of the year in 2021, to lead track and field program".
- ^ a b "Focused on the Future, White Launches "My All" Campaign".
- ^ "General Information". UTSports.com. June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
- ^ Megargee, Steve (June 26, 2015). "Tennessee set to make move to a lone 'Lady Vols' team". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
- ^ "University of Tennessee announces return of Lady Vols logo for all sports".
- ^ "Division I women's indoor track championships records book" (PDF). fs.ncaa.org. 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Tennessee Track & Field - 2019-20 Record book" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-10-30.