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Tennessee Lady Volunteers cross country

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For the Tennessee men's cross country team, see Tennessee Volunteers men's cross country.

Tennessee Volunteers women's cross country
Founded1974
UniversityUniversity of Tennessee
Athletic directorDanny White
Head coachSean Carlson (1st season)
ConferenceSEC
LocationKnoxville, TN
CourseLambert Acres Course
NicknameLady Volunteers
ColorsOrange and white[1]
   
NCAA Championship appearances
1977*, 1979*, 1980*, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
NCAA regional appearances
1977*, 1978*, 1979*, 1980*, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Asterisk = AIAW
Conference champions
1983, 1990, 2003, 2004, 2005

The Tennessee Volunteers women's cross country program represents the University of Tennessee (UT) located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The women's program competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The women's cross country team officially started in 1974. [2]

Along with all other UT women's sports teams, it used the nickname "Lady Volunteers" (or the short form "Lady Vols") until the 2015–16 school year, when the school dropped the "Lady" prefix from the nicknames of all women's teams except in basketball.[3] The “Lady Vol” name returned in 2017.[4]

Coaching staff

The Lady Vols are currently led by first year head coach Sean Carlson who spent ten years prior to Tennessee as the head coach of the Notre Dame men's cross country and distance teams, in addition to serving as an assistant coach on the women's team. While at Notre Dame, the women's program finished in the top 30 of the NCAA Championships 8 times, and in the top 15 six times. On the men's side, Carlson developed Notre Dame into a national power, winning 3 ACC championships, and finishing in the top 10 of the NCAA Championships during each of his final three seasons. In his final season at Notre Dame, Carlson served as the head coach of the men's track team as well.[5] Former Notre Dame assistant and nationally-recognized recruiter, Nic Jacobsen followed Carlson to Knoxville, and serves as an assistant coach for both distance programs.[6] Carlson replaces former head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan (2014-2021), who was fired in May 2021. In 8 seasons under Alford-Sullivan, the Lady Vols finished in the top half of the SEC only three times. Additionally, they never once finished in the top 3 of the SEC or qualified for the NCAA Championships.[7][8]

Team history

The Tennessee Lady Volunteers women's cross country program began competing in 1974 and within three years reached their first AIAW Championship Tournament appearance. The Lady Vols won their first SEC title in 1983 and finished fourth in the NCAA Tournament. The most successful coach historically for the Lady Volunteers was J. J. Clark who won three straight conference titles from 2003 to 2005. Under his guidance the Tennessee's Lady Vols won four straight NCAA regionals, and made a program-record five consecutive NCAA Championship appearances[9] Another successful coach is Terry Crawford (1974-1983), who led the Lady Vols to 3 AIAW Championship appearances, two NCAA Championship appearances, two regional titles, an SEC Championship, and most notably a program high 4th place finish at the 1983 NCAA Championships.[10] Since 2010, the program has struggled to maintian its prior success. Overall, they have failed to record a top 3 SEC finish since 2009, and have failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships in every season since 2006.

Home Courses

The Lambert Acres Golf Club was previously the site of home cross country meets for the Volunteers from 1998-2013. The course still serves as a 27-hole golf course, and is nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and boasts 9,525 yards. Throughout its run, the course hosted the Tennessee Invitational 10 times, the NCAA South Regional in 2002, 2006 and 2008, and Southeastern Conference Championship in 1998.[11] In 2014, the Vols moved much closer to home with the opening of the new Cherokee Farm Cross Country Course on Alcoa highway across the Tennessee River from the main UT campus. The course served as the practice venue for the team in 2014 and 2015, before finally serving in competition for the 2016 season. The course has two loops, one that is 2k and the other is 1k. The course was designed specifically for viewers to use the small loop, where it is ensured that runners have to pass the same point at least three times in a race.[12]

Yearly Record

*Through July 2022
Information Source: 2022 Tennessee Cross Country Record Book – Women's Year-by-Year records
Year-by-year results
Year Head Coach Season
Record 		Winning
Percentage 		Conference
Meet 		NCAA
Regional 		NCAA
Meet
Independent
1974 Terry Crawford 3–1 .750 – – –
1975 Terry Crawford 12–5 .706 – – –
1976 Terry Crawford 27–3 .900 – – –
1977 Terry Crawford 47–11–1 .805 – 1st (AIAW) 8th (AIAW)
1978 Terry Crawford 15–3 .833 – 3rd (AIAW) –
1979 Terry Crawford 24–18 .571 – 3rd (AIAW) 14th (AIAW)
1980 Terry Crawford 42–10 .808 – 3rd (AIAW) 6th (AIAW)
1981 Terry Crawford 39–7 .848 – 4th (97) –
1982 Terry Crawford 52–14 .788 – 3rd (80) 11th (262)
Southeastern Conference
1983 Terry Crawford 42–4 .913 1st (24) 1st (47) 4th (103)
1984 Gary Schwartz 30–22 .577 3rd (67) 8th (189) –
1985 Gary Schwartz 58–31–1 .650 3rd (104) 8th (224) –
1986 Gary Schwartz 20–18 .526 6th (170) – –
1987 Gary Schwartz 51–31 .622 4th (96) 9th (302) –
1988 Missy Kane 49–19 .721 4th (115) 11th (230) –
1989 Missy Kane 85–9 .904 2nd (66) 4th (152) 6th (227)
1990 Missy Kane 74–17 .813 1st (41) 4th (103) 12th (303)
1991 Missy Kane 61–15 .803 7th (167) 8th (278) –
1992 Ann Bertucci 88–16 .846 5th (126) 9th (270) –
1993 Ann Bertucci 77–29 .726 5th (137) 10th (318) –
1994 Ann Bertucci 28–33–1 .456 8th (199) 27th (600) –
1995 Dorothy Doolittle 25–37 .403 9th (267) – –
1996 Brenda Webb 38–64 .373 9th (216) 24th (627) –
1997 Brenda Webb 68–23 .747 6th (180) 9th (279) –
1998 Brenda Webb 74–34–1 .683 3rd (73) 3rd (86) 31st (640)
1999 Brenda Webb 43–37–1 .537 9th (191) 9th (199) –
2000 Rodney Rothoff 65–30 .684 8th (196) – –
2001 Rodney Rothoff 95–35 .731 2nd (71) 6th (162) –
2002 J.J. Clark 59–34–1 .633 3rd (86) 1st (72) T-28th (657)
2003 J.J. Clark 99–31 .762 1st (57) 1st (71) 24th (513)
2004 J.J. Clark 121–25 .829 1st (55) 1st (78) 21st (488)
2005 J.J. Clark 125–32 .796 1st (48) 1st (76) 28th (641)
2006 J.J. Clark 114–40 .740 3rd (66) 3rd (80) 28th (565)
2007 J.J. Clark 104–19 .846 2nd (84) 4th (152) –
2008 J.J. Clark 101–14 .878 3rd (107) 3rd (116) –
2009 J.J. Clark 70–19 .787 2nd (80) 3rd (102) –
2010 J.J. Clark 38–79 .325 12th (326) 18th (489) –
2011 J.J. Clark 56-56 .500 7th (184) 13th (384) –
2012 J.J. Clark 68-55-1 .548 12th (285) 10th (333) –
2013 J.J. Clark 70-24-1 .737 8th (179) 9th (231) –
2014 Beth Alford-Sullivan 37-46 .446 11th (274) 19th (510) –
2015 Beth Alford-Sullivan 35-57 .380 11th (296) 19th (512) –
2016 Beth Alford-Sullivan 16-50 .242 14th (393) – –
2017 Beth Alford-Sullivan 55-78 .414 10th (231) 10th (303) –
2018 Beth Alford-Sullivan 60-14 .811 7th (197) 7th (221) –
2019 Beth Alford-Sullivan 87-10 .897 4th (170) 3rd (144) –
2020 Beth Alford-Sullivan 16-16 .500 – – –
2021 Beth Alford-Sullivan 96-18 .843 5th (136) 4th (121) –

Note: The Lady Vols did not compete in the 2020 SEC Championships due to high COVID-19 cases on the team. In 2020, the season was shortened, and NCAA regionals were not held, as teams advanced straight to the championships.

All-Americans

[13] The Lady Volunteers have a total of 11 women's cross country AIAW/NCAA All-Americans

  • Valerie Bertrand – 1989
  • Chelsea Blaase - 2014, 2015
  • Sarah Bowman – 2008
  • Kathy Bryant-Hadler – 1980, 1981, 1982
  • Sharon Dickie – 2000
  • Jasmin Jones – 1989
  • Liz Natale – 1983
  • Linda Portasik – 1980
  • Alison Quelch – 1983
  • Brenda Webb – 1977, 1978
  • Patty Wiegand – 1989

See also

References

  1. ^ "General Information". UTSports.com. June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  2. ^ http://www.utladyvols.com/sports/m-xc/guides/
  3. ^ Megargee, Steve (June 26, 2015). "Tennessee set to make move to a lone 'Lady Vols' team". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  4. ^ "University of Tennessee announces return of Lady Vols logo for all sports".
  5. ^ "White Appoints Sean Carlson as Head Coach and Director of Cross Country/Distance".
  6. ^ "Carlson Adds Nic Jacobsen to Distance Staff".
  7. ^ "Tennessee athletics parts ways with track and field director Beth Alford-Sullivan".
  8. ^ https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/utsports.com/documents/2021/7/30/TRACK_AND_FIELD_2021_22_Record_Book.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  9. ^ http://www.utladyvols.com/sports/w-xc/tennw-w-xc-body.html
  10. ^ https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/utsports.com/documents/2022/7/12/XC_Record_Book_2022.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  11. ^ http://www.utladyvols.com/sports/w-xc/lambert_acres_xc_course.html
  12. ^ "Facilities".
  13. ^ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/tenn/sports/m-xc/auto_pdf/2010CrossCountryMediaGuide.pdf [bare URL PDF]
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