Reggie Juin (The Herald/Submitted Photo)

Jamol James (The Herald/Submitted Photo)

Jarael Nelvis (The Herald/Submitted Photo)

Arnez Hardnick (The Herald/Submitted Photo)

Like Chase Brannon in the men’s pole vault, the Tennessee men’s 4×100-meter relay team entered the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships not projected to score. As Brannon did a day earlier, though, the Vol 4×1 quartet did what it took to earn points Saturday on the national stage at Drake Stadium.

While their time of 40.21 seconds didn’t satisfy the Big Orange tandem of junior Reggie Juin, freshman Jamol James, sophomore Jarael Nelvis and junior Arnez Hardnick, the seventh-place finish and two points they earned for their program did provide gratification for a young UT men’s squad that returns all of its NCAA event qualifiers next season.

By scoring in the 4×1 for the first time since 2007, the Tennessee men also produced points in more than one event for the first time since that season and improved their point total at this meet to three, finishing in a tie for 56th. That’s up from 65th in 2011.  Florida claimed the men’s title with 50 points, followed by LSU (48) and Texas A&M (40).

The Lady Vols, who did not have any competitors on the final day, finished with 21 points and tied for ninth place. The women’s outcome was the program’s best at the NCAA Outdoor meet since placing fourth in 2005 and gave Clark the 11th top-10 national finish of his tenure at Rocky Top. LSU’s women captured the title, scoring 76 points to hold off Oregon (62) and Texas A&M (38).

... read the rest of the story by Subscribing now.