Bowman speeds up at 3,000

Sarah Bowman is off to a fast start in 2009.

The University of Tennessee All-American won the 3,000 meters with a personal best time at the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday night

Bowman, a two time SEC champion in the event, finished with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of nine minutes, 11.31 seconds to break the Nutter Field House record of 9:13.42. Her nearest challenger was Knoxville resident and professional runner Treniere Clement in 9:31.65.

Bowman's time ranks as the third-best ever turned in by a Lady Vol, falling behind Patty Wiegand's 1991 and 1990 NCAA Indoor Championship marks of 9:09.83 and 9:10.26.

Lynne Layne of the Lady Vols won the long jump at 19 feet, 4 3/4 inches. Annie Alexander was second in the shot put with a provisional throw of 54-7 1/4.

Men's Track: Evander Wells of UT finished second in the 200 meters at the Kentucky Invitational with a provisional qualifying time of 20.90.

Men's Tennis: Davey Sandgren and John-Patrick Smith of the UT men's tennis team won twice to advance to the quarterfinals of the singles draw at the SEC Coaches' Indoor Championships in Lexington, Ky.

Sandgren and Smith teamed up to beat Drake Bernstein and Javier Garrapiz of Georgia, 8-1 to advance to the semifinals of the doubles tournament.

Women's Tennis: The No. 24 UT women's tennis team picked up four singles victories and a doubles win in its spring opener at the University of Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Caitlin Whoriskey, Natalie Pluskota, Rosalia Alda and Maria Sorbello won singles matches.

Pluskota and Jennifer Meredith were doubles winners.