GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Lady Vol senior sprint star Jacious Sears turned in a historic performance for the Big Orange on Saturday at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, storming to a time of 10.77 seconds in the 100-meter dash in her first individual race of the 2024 outdoor season. Her time ranks as the second-fastest performance in NCAA history and was just 0.02 seconds off the collegiate record of 10.75 held by former LSU Tiger Sha’carri Richardson.
With a legal tailwind of +1.6 m/s, Sears’ performance shattered her own school record in the event and established the world lead for 2024. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, native ranks No. 15 on the world all-time list and No. 7 on the U.S. all-time list after Saturday’s performance.
Over the last five full outdoor seasons, Tennessee head coach Duane Ross has developed five collegiate women’s sprinters to sub-11 times over 100 meters. Sears sits second all-time with her mark of 10.77 and dipped under 11 seconds three times last season (10.94w, 10.96, 10.97w). Ross’ former North Carolina A&T standouts Cambrea Sturgis (10.92 in 2021), Kayla White (10.95 in 2019) and Grace Nwokocha (10.97 in 2022) each rank inside the top-20 all-time under wind-legal conditions, while former Aggie Symone Darius also posted a wind-aided time of 10.87 in 2022.
Freshman thrower Aron Alvarez Aranda also made history on Saturday in the men’s discus, setting the UT freshman record in the event for the third time this season. After breaking his PR in the fourth round with a mark of 58.61m (192-3), the Bloemfontein, South Africa, native followed up with a heave of 58.89m (193-2) to top his previous record by nearly one and a half feet.
Sophomore sprinter Javonya Valcourt inched even closer to the Tennessee outdoor 400-meter school record on the women’s side, setting a PR for the second-straight week with her time of 51.15. The Bahamian’s mark ranks No. 2 in Lady Vol history, only trailing Tennessee Hall of Famer and Olympic champion DeeDee Trotter who holds the program standard at 50.00.
UP NEXT: Next week, Sean Carlson‘s distance squad will head to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the Wake Forest Invitational on Friday, April 19. UT will also send distance runners to Charlottesville, Virginia, for the UVA Challenge April 19-20.
With a legal tailwind of +1.6 m/s, Sears’ performance shattered her own school record in the event and established the world lead for 2024. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, native ranks No. 15 on the world all-time list and No. 7 on the U.S. all-time list after Saturday’s performance.
Over the last five full outdoor seasons, Tennessee head coach Duane Ross has developed five collegiate women’s sprinters to sub-11 times over 100 meters. Sears sits second all-time with her mark of 10.77 and dipped under 11 seconds three times last season (10.94w, 10.96, 10.97w). Ross’ former North Carolina A&T standouts Cambrea Sturgis (10.92 in 2021), Kayla White (10.95 in 2019) and Grace Nwokocha (10.97 in 2022) each rank inside the top-20 all-time under wind-legal conditions, while former Aggie Symone Darius also posted a wind-aided time of 10.87 in 2022.
Freshman thrower Aron Alvarez Aranda also made history on Saturday in the men’s discus, setting the UT freshman record in the event for the third time this season. After breaking his PR in the fourth round with a mark of 58.61m (192-3), the Bloemfontein, South Africa, native followed up with a heave of 58.89m (193-2) to top his previous record by nearly one and a half feet.
Sophomore sprinter Javonya Valcourt inched even closer to the Tennessee outdoor 400-meter school record on the women’s side, setting a PR for the second-straight week with her time of 51.15. The Bahamian’s mark ranks No. 2 in Lady Vol history, only trailing Tennessee Hall of Famer and Olympic champion DeeDee Trotter who holds the program standard at 50.00.
UP NEXT: Next week, Sean Carlson‘s distance squad will head to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the Wake Forest Invitational on Friday, April 19. UT will also send distance runners to Charlottesville, Virginia, for the UVA Challenge April 19-20.
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