Wright wins 800-meter run

The No. 2 Tennessee Lady Vols track and field team continued to look strong at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.

Sophomore Phoebe Wright won the championship division of the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 7.56 seconds.

UT also had five top-three finishes as it stayed on course for the upcoming SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships (Feb. 29-March 2) at Arkansas.

"We had a good final day and a good solid meet overall," UT coach J.J. Clark said. "We definitely showed that we are getting into our rhythm, and I saw us coming together as a team.

"That's something that's going to make us stronger in the weeks to come as we head into the SEC and NCAA Indoor Championships."

Freshman Jeneba Tarmoh set a personal record in the 200 at 23.27 for second. Junior Alicia Essex made an NCAA provisional qualifying pole vault of 12-11 3/4 to place second.

In the shot put, freshman Annie Alexander was first among the college ranks and second overall with a put of 55-4 1/4.

The Lady Vols 4x400 relay team of Courtney Champion, LaTonya Loche, Brittany Jones and Cleo Tyson finished third in 3:36.05.

Women's Swimming: UT signee Jenny Connolly set two Indiana state records at the Indiana high school championships at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis. She also broke the national public high school record in the 100-yard back. Connolly will join UT for the 2008-09 season after graduating from William Henry Harrison in West Lafayette, Ind.

The state record in the 100 was 55.24, a mark Connolly bested in both the prelims and finals. In the prelims, she broke the national public high school record in 53.53, erasing the 53.68 mark Misty Hyman set for Shadow Mountain (Ariz.) in 1996. Her time of 54.00 in the finals earned the All-American the state title in the 100 for the third year in a row.

Connolly also won the 100 fly for the second consecutive year with a state record 53.91.