The University of Tennessee Track and Field team, long one of the great names in collegiate track and field, topped off an outstanding year capturing its third NCAA championship title this past June at the Outdoor meet in Eugene, Ore. The Volunteers, who also won the Southeastern Conference title outdoors, were led by Head Coach Bill Webb, SEC and National Coach of the Year, assistant coaches George Watts and Vince Anderson and administrative assistant Chuck Vogel. The Tennessee team was led by 19-year old Justin Gatlin from Pensacola, Fla., who became the first freshman since Auburn’s Harvey Glance in 1976 to sweep the100-meter and 200-meter races at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Gatlin began his sweep by taking the 100 with a career-best 10.08 seconds, equaling the third-fastest legal time in the world last year. Less than an hour later Gatlin was back on the track in the 200-meter where he obliterated the field, winning by a whopping .45 seconds. The two victories made Gatlin the 29th sprinter to win the 100 and 200 since the meet began in 1921. The Vols received the Sears Trophy, emblematic of the national Championship, in ceremonies at the 2001 Tennessee-Syracuse football game in Knoxville.
