Tennessee sophomore Igor Olaru broke the University of Tennessee’s all-time record in the men’s hammer throw on May 1, leading Friday’s performances for the Vols and Lady Vols at three different meets: the Jim Green Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky; East Coast Relays in Jacksonville, Florida; and Music City Challenge in Nashville.
Olaru competed in the men’s hammer invitational at Kentucky and delivered six throws that surpassed the previous school mark. His best effort was a toss of 73.05 meters (239-8) on his fifth attempt, making him the top collegiate finisher at the meet and second overall. This performance exceeded Georgios Korakidis’ former program record by more than eight feet and placed Olaru seventh nationally during this outdoor season.
At the East Coast Relays, Marc Anthony Ibrahim led a strong showing for Tennessee with a win in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, clocking 49.85 seconds. Calvin Wetzel finished second with a season-best time of 50.27 seconds, earning him a No. 19 national ranking this season.
In other events on Friday, Davonte Howell ran an outdoor personal best of 20.70 seconds to win his heat and place eighth overall in the men’s 200-meter dash at North Florida. John Robinson IV posted a time of 20.95 seconds to finish sixth at Kentucky.
Tennessee distance runners also competed late Friday at the Music City Challenge. True freshman Oliver MacDonald ran unattached and took second place overall in the men’s 1,500-meter with a time of 3:41.66; if he had been competing attached to UT, his mark would have set a new freshman record for Tennessee and ranked third all-time for the school.
The Lady Vols were represented by three athletes in Nashville’s women’s 5,000-meter event. Unattached freshman Faith Chepchumba won with a time of 16:03.73 while junior Jaci Sievers finished seventh overall with her personal-best time of 16:23.24; Kaitlyn Vanderkolk finished twelfth while competing unattached.
The university said its track athletes will continue competition Saturday across both Lexington and Jacksonville.
