The Tennessee Volunteers men'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 Vols host their home outdoor meets at the newly renovated Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium, located on the university's Knoxville, Tennessee campus. Their rich tradition of success features 4 national titles, 7 finishes as national runner-ups, 62 NCAA individual champions, numerous All-Americans, 25 Olympians, 43 SEC championships (a conference-leading 25 outdoor wins), and 109 combined scoring appearances in the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. The team is led by current head coach Duane Ross who took over the program after Beth Alford-Sullivan in May 2022.
| Tennessee Volunteers track and field | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1901 |
| 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 | Volunteers or "Vols" |
| Colors | Orange and white[4] |
| NCAA Indoor National Championships | |
| 2002 | |
| NCAA Outdoor National Championships | |
| 1974, 1991, 2001 | |
| NCAA Indoor National Runner up | |
| 1985, 1994, 1995 | |
| NCAA Outdoor National Runner up | |
| 1982, 1983, 1992, 2002 | |
| NCAA Indoor Tournament Appearances | |
| 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 | |
| NCAA Outdoor Tournament Appearances | |
| 1950, 1951, 1956, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 | |
| Conference Indoor Championships | |
| 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1996 | |
| Conference Outdoor Championships | |
| 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 2001, 2002, 2007 | |
History
The Tennessee Volunteers men's track and field program began in 1901 and first started intercollegiate competition in 1909 when the SIAA was formed. Records before the 1921 season were not kept, and are therefore incomplete. The Vols did not compete in the 1918 and 1919 seasons due to World War I. The team later joined the Southeastern Conference in 1933 where they have competed for the past 75 years. The sport was also kept on hold from 1943–1946 because of World War II and would later resume outdoor meets in 1947 and indoor meets in 1960.
Since the formation of the SEC the Tennessee Volunteers have been a consistent force in competition winning a combined 43 SEC titles, 3 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships and 1 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship.[5][6]
Several coaches are responsible for the historical success of the UT track & field program. Chuck Rohe finished with a record of 87–10 (.896) and won an astonishing 15 consecutive SEC titles. Stan Huntsman took over the program in 1971 and would continue the success started by Rohe. During his tenure he led the Vols to a record of 93-26-3 (.775), 20 SEC titles and won the program's first NCAA title. In 1986 Doug Brown became the 4th coach for the Vols track & field team and finished with a 53–8 (.869) record and won 4 SEC titles and 1 NCAA title. Bill Webb took the program over following the 1995 season and would finish with a 52–1 (.981) record and an unprecedented 4 SEC titles and 2 NCAA titles, becoming the first coach to win multiple national titles at Tennessee.[7]
Christian Coleman became the first Vol to win The Bowerman,[8] an award that honors collegiate track & field's most outstanding athlete of the year. In 2017, Coleman swept NCAA titles in the 60 meters indoors and 100 meters outdoors, setting collegiate records in both.
Head coaches
Source[9]
| # | Coach | Years | Seasons | National Championships | Conference Championships | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor | Outdoor | Indoor | Outdoor | ||||
| 1 | John Bender | 1920 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | M. B. Banks | 1921 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | A.W. Hobt | 1922-1926 | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | Bill Britton | 1927-1935 | 9 | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | Blair Gullion | 1936-1938 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | John Barnhill | 1939-1941 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | Sim Efland | 1942 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 8 | Walter Mehl | 1947 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | Carlton Crowell | 1948-1950 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | Louis Schneider | 1951 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 11 | John Sines | 1952-1959 | 8 | – | – | – | – |
| 12 | Ralph Patterson | 1960-1962 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 13 | Chuck Rohe | 1963-1971 | 9 | – | – | 8 | 7 |
| 14 | Stan Huntsman | 1971-1985 | 15 | – | 1 | 7 | 13 |
| 15 | Doug Brown | 1986-1995 | 10 | – | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Bill Webb | 1996-2009 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | J.J. Clark | 2010-2014 | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | 2015-2022 | 8 | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | Duane Ross | 2023- | 2 | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 1 | 3 | 18 | 25 | |||
Yearly Record
| Season | Coach | NCAA | Conference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor | Outdoor | Indoor | Outdoor | ||
| SIAA | |||||
| 1920 | John Bender | – | – | – | 14th |
| 1921 | M. B. Banks | – | – | – | – |
| 1922 | A.W. Hobt | – | – | – | 6th |
| Southern Conference | |||||
| 1923 | A.W. Hobt | – | – | – | 3rd (14) |
| 1924 | A.W. Hobt | – | – | – | T-6th (9) |
| 1925 | A.W. Hobt | – | – | – | – |
| 1926 | A.W. Hobt | – | – | – | 18th (1.5) |
| 1927 | Bill Britton | – | – | – | – |
| 1928 | Bill Britton | – | – | – | T-14th (5) |
| 1929 | Bill Britton | – | – | – | T-10th (7) |
| 1930 | Bill Britton | – | – | – | 7th (16.5) |
| 1931 | Bill Britton | – | – | – | 11th (6) |
| 1932 | Bill Britton | – | – | – | T-14th (5) |
| Southeastern Conference | |||||
| 1933 | Bill Britton | – | – | – | T-5th (15) |
| 1934 | Bill Britton | – | – | – | 6th (16.3) |
| 1935 | Bill Britton | – | – | – | T-6th (14) |
| 1936 | Blair Gullion | – | – | – | T-5th (21) |
| 1937 | Blair Gullion | – | – | – | T-8th (6) |
| 1938 | Blair Gullion | – | – | – | 9th (5) |
| 1939 | John Barnhill | – | – | – | 11th (2) |
| 1940 | John Barnhill | – | – | – | 10th (5.167) |
| 1941 | John Barnhill | – | – | – | 5th (17.5) |
| 1942 | Sim Efland | – | – | – | 9th (8) |
| 1943-1946 No Team | |||||
| 1947 | Walter Mehl | – | – | – | 8th (7.5) |
| 1948 | Carlton Crowell | – | – | – | T-9th (9) |
| 1949 | Carlton Crowell | – | – | – | T-6th (16) |
| 1950 | Carlton Crowell | – | T-32nd (2.1) | – | 5th (28.3) |
| 1951 | Louis Schneider | – | 41st (1/6th) | – | 3rd (33) |
| 1952 | John Sines | – | – | – | 4th (33.5) |
| 1953 | John Sines | – | – | – | T-3rd (25) |
| 1954 | John Sines | – | – | – | 9th (7) |
| 1955 | John Sines | – | – | – | 7th (16) |
| 1956 | John Sines | – | T-46th (1) | – | 8th (13) |
| 1957 | John Sines | – | – | – | 9th (9) |
| 1958 | John Sines | – | – | – | 8th (18.82) |
| 1959 | John Sines | – | – | – | 9th (7) |
| 1960 | Ralph Patterson | – | – | – | T-9th (1) |
| 1961 | Ralph Patterson | – | – | – | 11th (5) |
| 1962 | Ralph Patterson | – | – | – | 10th (2) |
| 1963 | Chuck Rohe | – | – | 7th (0) | 8th (7) |
| 1964 | Chuck Rohe | – | – | 1st (41) | 1st (61) |
| 1965 | Chuck Rohe | – | T-40th (4) | 1st (50) | 1st (72) |
| 1966 | Chuck Rohe | 39th (1) | T-32nd (6) | 1st (42) | 1st (91) |
| 1967 | Chuck Rohe | – | T-5th (24) | 1st (58) | 1st (72) |
| 1968 | Chuck Rohe | 6th (12.75) | T-14th (10) | 1st (75) | 1st (108) |
| 1969 | Chuck Rohe | T-4th (16) | 9th (28) | 1st (111) | 1st (118.5) |
| 1970 | Chuck Rohe | T-4th (14) | 13th (16) | 1st (92.5) | 1st (74) |
| ^1971 | Rohe/Huntsman | 10th (8.25) | 13th (16) | 1st (80) | 1st (148) |
| 1972 | Stan Huntsman | T-23rd (4) | T-10th (16) | 2nd (62) | 1st (154) |
| 1973 | Stan Huntsman | T-8th (8) | 5th (24) | 1st (80) | 1st (190) |
| 1974 | Stan Huntsman | T-9th (7) | 1st (60) | 1st (69) | 1st (207.5) |
| 1975 | Stan Huntsman | T-40th (7) | 6th (60) | 4th (33.5) | 1st (215) |
| 1976 | Stan Huntsman | 3rd (40) | 3rd (40) | 2nd (40) | 1st (179) |
| 1977 | Stan Huntsman | – | 14th (13) | 2nd (54.5) | 1st (168) |
| 1978 | Stan Huntsman | 28th (6) | T-17th (4) | 2nd (112) | 1st (173) |
| 1979 | Stan Huntsman | T-4th (24) | T-11th (20) | 2nd (106) | 2nd (133) |
| 1980 | Stan Huntsman | 3rd (38) | T-18th (11) | 3rd (102) | 3rd (87) |
| 1981 | Stan Huntsman | 3rd (33) | 3rd (50) | 1st (140) | 1st (156) |
| 1982 | Stan Huntsman | T-5th (23) | 2nd (94) | 1st (138) | 1st (171.5) |
| 1983 | Stan Huntsman | 5th (26) | 2nd (102) | 1st (127) | 1st (121) |
| 1984 | Stan Huntsman | T-20th (8) | 27th (19) | 1st (114) | 1st (112) |
| 1985 | Stan Huntsman | 2nd (23) | T-9th (25) | 1st (127) | 1st (129.5) |
| 1986 | Doug Brown | 10th (10) | T-21st (13) | 1st (119) | 1st (158) |
| 1987 | Doug Brown | T-26th (6) | T-27th (19) | 2nd (110) | 2nd (128.5) |
| 1988 | Doug Brown | 51st (1) | – | 3rd (97) | 4th (88) |
| 1989 | Doug Brown | – | 56th (3) | 2nd (114) | 4th (78) |
| 1990 | Doug Brown | T-13th (10) | T-11th (21) | 2nd (92) | 2nd (124.3) |
| 1991 | Doug Brown | T-31st (7) | 1st (51) | 1st (146) | 1st (183) |
| 1992 | Doug Brown | 35th (2) | 2nd (46.5) | 3rd (108) | 2nd (149) |
| 1993 | Doug Brown | 3rd (25) | 4th (44) | 2nd (81) | 3rd (183) |
| 1994 | Doug Brown | 2nd (40) | 3rd (38) | 2nd (87) | 2nd (145) |
| 1995 | Doug Brown | 2nd (26) | 5th (31) | 2nd (88) | 2nd (155.5) |
| 1996 | Bill Webb | 11th (19) | T-10th (19) | 1st (92) | 2nd (124.3) |
| 1997 | Bill Webb | T-10th (16) | T-47th (5) | 3rd (71.5) | 4th (88) |
| 1998 | Bill Webb | – | T-51st (4) | 5th (108) | 4th (149) |
| 1999 | Bill Webb | T-15th (15) | T-12th (22) | 4th (81) | 3rd (183) |
| 2000 | Bill Webb | 13th (14) | 15th (17) | 5th (58) | 3rd (107.75) |
| 2001 | Bill Webb | 9th (19) | 1st (50) | 3rd (88) | 1st (155.5) |
| 2002 | Bill Webb | 1st (62.5) | 2nd (57) | 2nd (130) | 1st (147) |
| 2003 | Bill Webb | 5th (23) | T-7th (30) | 4th (69) | 2nd (111.5) |
| 2004 | Bill Webb | T-56th (2) | T-13th (20) | 6th (60) | 4th (108) |
| 2005 | Bill Webb | T-16th (14) | T-19th (14) | 3rd (89) | 3rd (109) |
| 2006 | Bill Webb | 5th (25) | 6th (30) | 2nd (106) | 2nd (126.5) |
| 2007 | Bill Webb | T-10th (21) | 4th (31) | 2nd (115.5) | 1st (129.5) |
| 2008 | Bill Webb | 5th (26) | 13th (21) | 3rd (99.5) | 3rd (97.5) |
| 2009 | Bill Webb | 38th (5) | 48th (5) | 3rd (78) | 8th (53) |
| 2010 | J.J. Clark | – | 45th (5) | 10th (24.5) | 9th (46) |
| 2011 | J.J. Clark | T-39th (5) | T-64th (1) | 7th (46.3) | 8th (49) |
| 2012 | J.J. Clark | – | T-56th (3) | 7th (40.5) | 10th (30) |
| 2013 | J.J. Clark | T-40th (5) | T-77th (.75) | T-8th (32) | T-11th (33) |
| 2014 | J.J. Clark | – | T-18th (12) | 9th (34) | 11th (24.5) |
| 2015 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | 17th (11) | T-18th (10.5) | 7th (48) | 12th (28.5) |
| 2016 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | 3rd (34) | 6th (30) | 8th (24.5) | 9th (46) |
| 2017 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | T-10th (20) | T-7th (20) | 10th (23.5) | T-9th (25.5) |
| 2018 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | T-53rd (3) | 55th (3) | 7th (44) | 6th (65.5) |
| 2019 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | T-35th (7) | T-61st (1) | 6th (50) | 7th (68) |
| 2020 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | – | – | 5th (67) | – |
| 2021 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | 9th (21) | 11th (21) | 6th (50) | T-6th (67) |
| 2022 | Beth Alford-Sullivan | 3rd (31) | 3rd (34) | 6th (50) | 3rd (83) |
| 2023 | Duane Ross | 11th (18) | T-22nd (11) | 5th (54) | 3rd (87) |
| 2024 | Duane Ross | T-44th (3) | T-8th (32.5) | ||
| Total | 1 | 3 | 18 | 25 | |
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.
^Chuck Rohe coached the 1971 team through the indoor season, while Stan Huntsman took over the program for the outdoor championships.
NCAA Individual Event Champions
The Vols have claimed 26 NCAA Indoor individual championships and 36 NCAA Outdoor individual champions all-time.[9]
|
|
Conference Individual Event Champions
Tennessee Vol athletes have won a total of 174 SEC Indoor individual titles, and 228 SEC Outdoor individual crowns through the end of the 2022 season.[9]
|
|
Tennessee Volunteer Olympians
Through the 2020 Summer Olympics, 25 Tennessee athletes have represented 6 different nations at the Olympic Games, winning a total of 4 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze medals.[9]
Medalists
| Athlete | Country | Olympics | Event | Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Gatlin |  United States | 2004 Athens | 100 m | Gold |
| 4x100 m relay | Silver | |||
| 200 m | Bronze | |||
| 2012 London | 100 m | Bronze | ||
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 100 m | Silver | ||
| Sam Graddy | United States | 1984 Los Angeles | 4x100 m relay | Gold |
| 100 m | Silver | |||
| Lawrence Johnson | United States | 2000 Sydney | Pole vault | Silver |
| Timothy Mack | United States | 2004 Athens | Pole vault | Gold |
| Aries Merritt | United States | 2012 London | 110 m hurdles | Gold |
Participants
^Did not compete due to boycott.
See also
References
External links
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