More than 50,000 fans packed Nissan Stadium for Night 3 of CMA Fest to see performances by John Anderson, Maren Morris, Chris Young, Old Dominion, Lady Antebellum, Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line.
More than 50,000 fans packed Nissan Stadium for Night 2 of CMA Fest to see performances by Trace Adkins, Rascal Flatts, Sam Hunt, Kelsea Ballerini, Eric Church and Blake Shelton.
But the crowd also got a couple of surprises: Dustin Lynch and Brett Young made unannounced visits to the stage.
EUGENE, Oregon – Tennessee junior Christian Coleman became the second person in NCAA history to win four sprint national championships in one year as he won the 100m and 200m dashes on day three of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship at Historic Hayward Field on Friday.
After sweeping the 60m and 200m championships during the indoor season, he came back and won the 100m and 200m titles on Friday. Only #VFL Justin Gatlin has ever accomplished that feat as he pulled it off in 2002.
Coleman won the NCAA Championship in the 100m with a time of 10.04. The Atlanta native jumped out to a lead thanks to his lightning start and held on as he won by .08 seconds over Houston’s Cameron Burrell. Coleman had set the collegiate record during the prelims as he ran a time of 9.82 seconds. That was the fourth-fastest time by an American ever, and made Coleman the ninth-fastest person in the world. He wasn’t able to match that time as the race was run into a 2.1 m/s headwind.
Coleman became the first person to sweep the 60m and 100m races in the same year since Jeff Demps of Florida did it in 2010. Coleman’s title is the sixth in Tennessee history following Reggie Jones (1974), Sam Graddy (1984), Terry Scott (1985) and Justin Gatlin (2001 and 2002). Tennessee now has the second-most 100m National Champions in NCAA history, behind only USC’s eight titles.
Coleman had to come back 35 minutes after the end of the 100m and run in the 200m dash final. The Atlanta native, posted a time of 20.25 despite running into a 3.1 headwind. Coleman had a fierce challenge from LSU’s Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake. Coleman jumped out to the lead, but Mitchell-Blake made up ground on the straightaway, however Coleman was able to hold him off at the line as he won 20.25 to 20.29.
The 200m title was the fourth 200m championship in school history as Coleman joined Reggie Jones (1975) and Justin Gatlin (2001 & 2002). Tennessee now has 10 men’s sprint titles in school history, as they became the third school in the NCAA to hit that milestone as they joined USC (12) and Florida State (10).
This was Coleman’s fifth career NCAA Championship as he also claimed the indoor 200m title last season. Coleman now ranks second in Tennessee history with five individual national championships. Justin Gatlin notched six national titles during his Tennessee tenure. This is the third straight year that the 100m and 200m titles have been swept as Arkansas’ Jarrion Lawson (2016) and USC’s Andre De Grasse (2015) have done it the past two years.
Sophomore Zach Long recorded a 12th place appearance in the 5000m final. Long crossed the line in 14:42.94 in the 5000m race. Long earned second team All-America honors with his finish. Long closed the race with a final 400m of 1:01.47 which was his fastest split of the competition. The race went out slow with the first with the first six full laps being run in 1:12 or higher, but that got faster as the race went on.
Matthew Zajac posted a mark of 54.81m (179-10) on his first throw in the discus competition. He finished in 18th place after ending the first flight in seventh place in his first career NCAA Championship appearance. Zajac finished the season ranked seventh in school history in the event with his best mark of 58.22m (191-0) which came at the SEC Championship as he earned a bronze medal in the event.
The Tennessee men’s team finished in a tie for seventh place with SEC rival LSU. The Vols tallied 20 points with all of those earned by Coleman’s two first-place finishes. The women’s squad finished the competition with two points and will not have anyone competing on day four of the NCAA Championship.
10 Vols earned 12 All-American honors during the 2017 Outdoor Championship. LONG ADD. Coleman was a first-team All-American in the 100m and 200m races. Zach Long (5000m), Nathan Strother (400m), Cameron Brown (Hammer) and Seth Whitener (Hammer) earned second-team All-America honors. The men’s 4x400m team of Mustaqeem Williams, Ari Cogdell, Malik Elion and Strother earned second-team honors as well. On the women’s side, Chelsea Blaase earned first-team All-America honors with a seventh place finish in the 10,000m race and Shania Collins notched a spot on the second team for the 200m dash.
A select few Vols will continue their season as they compete at the USATF Championships from June 23-25 as they attempt to make the USA Team for this summer’s World Championship in London.
KNOXVILLE — With the Tennessee Basketball program set to get an early jump on the 2017-18 season during a summer tour Spain and France, the Volunteers held their first of 10 extra summer practices Friday at Pratt Pavilion.
The trip overseas, which runs Aug. 2-12, will see the Vols make stops in Barcelona, Valencia and Paris. The 11-day trip will feature three exhibition games against European clubs and plenty of sightseeing — unique and valuable opportunities for building team chemistry heading into the college season.
“We’re all excited about this trip for a lot of reasons,” rising junior Kyle Alexander said. “Some of us — myself included — have never been overseas before. So that whole experience will be something new for a lot of us. But also, the opportunity to get some extra team practice time during the summer and then play three actual games, that’s going to help our development as a team. We’re very fortunate to have an opportunity to make a trip like this, and we plan to make the most of it.”
NEWCOMER JERSEY NUMBERS
Four of Tennessee’s five newcomers were on hand for Friday’s workout as forwards Zach Kent (Magnolia, Delaware) and Derrick Walker (Kansas City) as well as junior college transfer Chris Darrington (Toledo, Ohio; Vincennes University) and graduate transfer James Daniel III (Hampton, Virginia; Howard University) are officially enrolled. Only forward Yves Pons (Fuveau, France) has yet to arrive on Rocky Top.
All five newcomers have been assigned their jersey numbers. 3 – James Daniel III 15 – Derrick Walker 32 – Chris Darrington 33 – Zach Kent 35 – Yves Pons
Rising junior Brad Woodson has switched jersey numbers and will wear No. 12.
THE TRAINING ROOM
With preparation for Europe underway, three Vols are sidelined with injuries.
James Daniel III remains limited as he recovers from a chipped bone in his left ankle — the same injury that caused him to miss all but two games last season at Howard.
Also continuing to progress in his rehab is guard Lamonte Turner, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder last month. Barring any setbacks, Turner could return to full participation by the end of the summer.
Forward John Fulkerson, who continues to rehab the dislocated right elbow and fractured right wrist that limited him to just 10 games last season, underwent surgery on his left shoulder last month to repair a torn labrum. The Kingsport, Tennessee, native is sidelined indefinitely.
All three will be unavailable for this month’s Rocky Top Summer League, which begins June 15.
EUROPEAN TOUR ITINERARY
DAY 1 | AUG. 2 | DEPARTURE
Overnight flight to Barcelona
DAY 2 | AUG. 3 | BARCELONA
Orientation walking tour
Las Ramblas
La Boqueria Food Market
Practice (optional)
Welcome dinner
DAY 3 | AUG. 4 | BARCELONA
Guided tour of the city
1992 Olympic sites
Montjuïc Hill
Olympic team-building experience
DAY 4 | AUG. 5 | BARCELONA
Guide tour of La Sagrada Família GAME ONE
DAY 5 | AUG. 6 | BARCELONA | VALENCIA
Travel to Valencia via Cambrils
Catamaran cruise with BBQ lunch
Evening at leisure
DAY 6 | AUG. 7 | VALENCIA
Bullfighting museum & arena GAME TWO
DAY 7 | AUG. 8 | VALENCIA
Beach time in Valencia
Paella cooking class (optional)
DAY 8 | AUG. 9 | VALENCIA | PARIS
Tour City of Arts & Sciences
Mercado Central
Evening flight to Paris
DAY 9 | AUG. 10 | PARIS
Guided tour of the city
Champs-Élysées
Arc de Triomphe GAME THREE
DAY 10 | AUG. 11 | PARIS
Visit the Louvre Museum
Eiffel Tower (evening)
Seine River cruise
Farewell dinner
DAY 11 | AUG. 12 | RETURN
Flight back to the United States
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics John Currie officially introduced new Tennessee head baseball coach Tony Vitello during an introductory press conference today at Robert M. Lindsay Field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The entire press conference as well as a full transcript can be found at the links above.
Vitello comes to Tennessee after four seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas, where he helped lead the Razorbacks to three NCAA tournaments, including a trip to Omaha for the College World Series in 2015.
-UT Athletics
UT baseball coach Tony Vitello / Credit: UT Athletics
Love and Theft’s Stephen Barker Liles and wife Jenna welcomed a new addition to their family on June 8: daughter Rayni Bell, who joins big brother Jett (3).
Love and Theft had to cancel their CMA Fest performance on Thursday afternoon (June 8) because Jenna went into labor. Newcomer Filmore covered their vacant spot on the Chevrolet Park Stage.
Heads up cma friends ! We may have to cancel or move this show today at 2:35 cuz Im at the hospital n my wife’s in labor ! Keep ya posted!-s
More than 50,000 fans packed Nissan Stadium for Night 1 of CMA Fest to see performances by Brett Eldredge, Cole Swindell, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Luke Bryan.
But the crowd also got a couple of surprises: both Garth Brooks and Lauren Alaina made unannounced visits to the stage. Garth treated fans to a set of some of his biggest hits, including “The Thunder Rolls,” “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” “The River” and “Friends in Low Places,” while Lauren joined Cole onstage to sing “Middle of a Memory.”
Other highlights from the evening included crowd-favorites “Drunk on a Plane” by Dierks; “Vice” and “Automatic” by Miranda; and Luke closing the evening with a set that featured “That’s My Kind of Night” and “Country Girl (Shake It for Me).”
It’s been said that wide receivers are tough to coach.
They can be arrogant, stubborn, self-centered.
But there is another trait among wideouts that Tennessee’s new receivers coach Kevin Beard welcomes.
“I love ‘em cocky,’’ Beard said. “I love ‘em. Why? That’s who you are. That’s all the great receivers.
“It’s not about, `Oh, you can’t handle those guys because they’re cocky.’ No, you’ve got to explain to them when and when not to exercise those actions. Once you learn how to cultivate them and coach them up on when should and shouldn’t, you’ve got a great football player. So I like them cocky.’’
Beard also likes them big and fast. That’s what he looks for when he recruits receivers.
“You have two things you just can’t teach and that’s speed and size,’’ Beard said. “But more than anything, one thing I find myself writing down: Are they dynamic? Can I just get the ball in their hands and forget what everybody else is doing? They’re going to figure out a way to make a play. You can win with those type guys.
“As a coach you’re always trying to figure out a game plan. If you’ve got a guy that’s dynamic, you just call the play and let him go do what he does. That’s one of the things I look for — just a guy that has juice.’’
Beard’s definition of juice might be different from some.
“A lot of people say `juice’ like the rah rah guy,’’ Beard said. “No, I want a guy you can see on the field that he loves to play the game of football. And every play he makes, you can see it in his body language.
“He’s not just `get up off the ground and go back to the sideline or go back to the formation.’ Now I’m not talking about getting no penalties, but I want the guy that you can tell he’s excited about playing football. I love those type of guys.’’
While Beard says he likes size, would he take a 5-foot-8 receiver who is dynamic?
“I would,’’ he said, “but the only thing is, you don’t want your team full of 5-8 dynamic guys. Then you’re like, `We need to get bigger.’
“You have to pick and choose, and in this conference, you need physical guys. So with this being considered one of the most physical conferences in the country, you can’t have too many 5-8 guys.
“They can be physical but they’re small. And everybody’s big in this gladiator league, so you don’t want to fill your team up with too many 5-8 guys.’’
On the heels of the June 7 release of her new single, “Legends,” Kelsea Ballerini partnered with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and NASH Icon for a night of karaoke at Ascend Amphitheater on Thursday evening (June 8). Three lucky karaoke contestants—Kaila Dakota, Chelsea Rhodes and Karen Meiers—got the chance to show off their pipes on the Cracker Barrel Country Roads Stage in the contest dubbed Kelsea Ballerini’s Legends of Country Karaoke, which was hosted by NASH Icon’s Jason Addams.
Karen’s cover of Reba McEntire’s “Fancy” netted her the $500 Visa gift card grand prize, while Chelsea and Kaila received $100 Cracker Barrel gift cards for their renditions of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” and Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine,” respectively.
“As part of the release of my new single, ‘Legends,’ I teamed up with my friends at Cracker Barrel and NASH Icon to host the Legends of Country Karaoke,” says Kelsea. “I had so much fun listening to the fans karaoke some of my favorite songs from country music legends.”
Check out a photo gallery of the night’s events.
photos by Jason Simanek; Karen, Kaila and Kelsea close-up photos courtesy Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
![Kelsea Ballerini Teams With Cracker Barrel & NASH Icon for a Night of Legendary Karaoke [Photo Gallery]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/1446/2017/06/09110134/Kelsea.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
