Alexander, Wortham Pace Tennessee

Tennessee won three events and carved out runner-up finishes in six others Saturday to close out its stay at the University of Central Florida Invitational at the UCF Track & Field Complex in Orlando.
After redshirting indoors this season and outdoors in 2010, Lady Vol Annie Alexander made a triumphant return to competition, sweeping victories in the women’s discus throw and shot put. The junior opened the day with a toss of 180 feet, eight inches to seize the discus crown and came back later in the afternoon to win the shot with a blast of 54-7 1/4. She has tallied 15 career wins in the discus and six outdoor titles in the shot during her college career.
“It’s good to have Annie back from her redshirt year and start the season out with a couple of wins,” UT Director of Track & Field J.J. Clark said. “She had a solid day in the discus and is getting her rhythm back in the shot. John Frazier (throws coach) will continue working with her and have her ready to go come SEC and NCAA time.”
Junior Ellen Wortham cruised to Tennessee’s third victory of the day, winning the 400-meter hurdles. The 2010 SEC runner-up and USA Championships eighth-place finisher in the event, Wortham opened her 2011 campaign with a time of 58.32 to cross the line first. She also played a role in a runner-up effort for UT’s 4x400m relay, aiding the unit to a 3:40.66 readout while handling the third leg. Joining her were freshman Kianna Ruff, who also delivered a runner-up showing in the 800m at 2:09.75, junior Ashley Harris and Martinique Octave. Wortham also added a PR effort of 14.07 in the 100m hurdles and had a PR in the long jump at 19-4 on Friday night.
“Ellen continues to develop and get better and better from meet to meet,” Clark said. “It was a good weekend for her with a couple of PRs, a win in the 400m hurdles and a good effort on the relay. She just gets it done, and we look forward to seeing what she can do as the season goes on.”
The Vols produced four second-place performances, including individual results in the men’s 400 and 1500 meters and relay tallies in the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m events. They also had a third-place finish in the 400 and a fourth-place outcome in the 1500m.
In the men’s 400, junior Deaundra Dailey delivered the fastest time by a collegian in that race, punching out a career-best 47.74 mark that was second only to the 47.42 readout of Reggie Witherspoon of adidas/Wexp. Classmate Varick Tucker was third, crossing the line in 47.92 for the Big Orange.
Redshirt freshman Jordan Chaney led a UT parade of four personal-record marks in the 1500, grabbing second in 3:54.67. Freshman Jake Rainey was fourth in 3:57.70, followed by junior Steve Fassino in sixth at 4:01.23 and freshman Ford Bell in ninth at 4:05.34.
The Vol baton corps carded the other silver finishes. First, it was the 4x100m combination of redshirt freshmen Reggie Juin and Dentarius Locke, true freshman Jarael Nelvis and senior Nathan Grace taking second in 40.32 and notching the fastest readout by a college quartet. The 4x400m unit also posted the top time by a collegiate quartet, with Dailey, Grace, junior Joe Franklin and Tucker checking in second in 3:11.49.
“It’s nice to see Deaundra, Jordan and the other guys run PRs in the outdoor opener,” Clark said. “As a coach, you hope they can do that, but it doesn’t always happen. I like what Jordan did toward the end of the indoor season, and he continues to come along really well for our team.”
Elsewhere, junior Minor Bowens was fourth in the men’s discus at 148-5, sophomore Matt Bergquist ran a fifth-place time of 56.27 in the men’s 400m hurdles in his return home, junior Terry Benson checked in fifth with a career-best 14.31 in the men’s 100m hurdles and the Lady Vol 4x100m relay tandem also took fifth, running 46.11. Carrying the stick for UT were Harris, sophomore Kia Jackson, Octave and junior Brittany Jones.
“It was a good meet for us on both sides,” Clark said. “We definitely have room for improvement, but we’re off to a good start even though we really haven’t unleashed our full roster on both sides.”