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2001-OUTDOOR- Ignited Tennessee's NCAA title run by claiming high-scorer
honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with 22 points and three All-America
certificates to his name...Gatlin won dual NCAA titles in the 100M dash and
200M dash, the first freshman to double in the events at the NCAA Outdoors since
1976...His career best 10.08 100M dash winning time at the NCAAs (June 2) stands
tied as a U.S. Junior Record and gives him Tennessee's freshman record in the
event...Gatlin also stands second on Tennessee's all-time 100M dash list...Gatlin
won the 200M dash NCAA title with a wind-aided 20.11 (June 2)...In the NCAA
prelims, Gatlin sprinted to a jaw-dropping, wind-aided 19.86, 2001's fastest
time in all conditions in the world at the time, in the 200M dash (May 30)...Gatlin
also ran a strong second leg on Tennessee's two fastest 4x100M relays in school
history at the NCAA Championships...Gatlin was part of the school-record 4x100M
relay effort, a 38.66 timing, at the NCAA Outdoor semifinals (May 30)...Gatlin
also contributed to the point total by running the second leg of Tennessee's
second-place 4x100M relay in 38.80, the second-fastest time in school history...Gatlin
won USATF honors as Athlete of the Week following his powerful NCAA performance...Gatlin
made history again by becoming the first male to ever win three events at the
USATF Junior National Championships (June 16-17)...Gatlin won the 100M dash
(10.36), 200M dash (20.43) and the 110M hurdles (14.01) to make history and
earn honors as male Verizon Outstanding Athlete of the Meet at the USA Juniors
in Raleigh, N.C. ...Garnered acclaim as SEC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year
and SEC Outdoor Track Freshman of the Year...Named Outdoor Athlete of the Year
in the South Region by the U.S. Track Coaches Association...Gatlin clocked his
NCAA automatic 100M dash time of 10.12 (wind-aided at 2.4 mps) to win the event
at the Gatorade Track Classic in Knoxville (April 7)...Served as high-point
man for the Vols by contributing 25.5 points to Tennessee's first SEC Outdoor
title since 1991, just half a point away from the Commissioner's Trophy...Gatlin's
torrid automatic qualifier of 20.29 came in the 200M dash preliminaries at the
SEC Outdoors (May 11)...At the time, the 20.29 was the second-fastest in the
world for 2001...Time of 20.29 stands second all-time on the school 200M dash
best list...At the SECs, Gatlin won the 200M dash (20.32), took second in the
100M dash (10.26), finished fourth in the 110M hurdles (13.88) and ran the second
leg of Tennessee's winning 4x100M relay (39.57)...Clocked a 200M dash time of
20.55 to place second at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville (April 13)...Holds
a 13.74 (wind-aided at 2.6 mps) provisional time in the 110M hurdles courtesy
of winning the event at the Gatorade Track Classic...The freshman utility man
also is a valuable relays contributor...Gatlin ran the second leg on Tennessee's
three fastest 4x100M relay efforts of the year...Gatlin was part of a then school-record
39.00 4x100M relay effort at the Baldy Castillo Invitational (March 24) in Tempe,
Ariz., the second-fastest time in the NCAA and an automatic qualifier...Ran
the second leg on a 39.23, second-place 4x100M relay at the Penn Relays (April
28)...Also ran the second leg on Tennessee's provisionally-qualified, second-place
4x400M relay (3:04.89) at the Baldy Castillo Invitational, tied for the eighth-fastest
in school history...Gatlin ran a 45.1split on that 4x400M relay effort, the
fastest of any current Vol...Gatlin ran his familiar second leg on a school,
Tom Black Track and meet record 4x200M relay (1:20.90) in a gold-medal performance
at the Sea Ray Relays (April 14)...Gatlin ran anchor on the first-place shuttle
hurdle relay team at the Penn Relays to set a meet record with a 54.73 clocking.
2001-INDOOR- Named
SEC Indoor Track Freshman of the Year...Won dual All-America honors (60M dash
and 200M dash) with fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Indoors...Served as Tennessee's
high scorer with 10 points at the NCAA Indoors (60M dash, fourth, 6.71; 200M,
fourth, 20.65)...Clocked the fastest time by any freshman in the 60M dash and
200M dash at the NCAA Indoors and SEC Indoors...Gatlin's career-best 60M dash
and 200M dash times stand second and fifth, respectively, on the all-time Tennessee
list...Clocked his second 6.61 60M dash of the year in the preliminaries at
the SEC Indoors (Feb. 24) in Lexington, Ky. ...Dropped an astounding 20.52 in
the preliminaries of the 200M dash to post the fastest qualifying time at the
SEC Indoors...The 20.52 also stood as the NCAA's fastest time and a school indoor
record (until teammate Leonard Scott took back both honors with a 20.47 in the
finals the next day)...Both his 60M dash and 200M dash stand as the fastest
freshman times in the nation during the 2001 indoor season...Finished second
in the finals of the 60M dash (6.63) and 200M dash (20.58) at the SEC Indoors...His
runner-up honors in the 60M dash and 200M dash helped complete a 1-2-3 Vol sweep
in both events, the first time an SEC school has accomplished the feat...Gatlin
contributed 16 valuable points, second-most among Vols, to the Tennessee effort
at the SEC Indoors...Tied his fastest 60M dash (6.61) to take the win, Littlejohn
Coliseum Record and an automatic qualifying time in his first race as a Vol
at the Clemson Indoor Invitational (Dec. 8)...Sped to a provisional 20.91 in
his second-place finish at the Pepsi Valentine's Invitational (Feb. 10) at Virginia
Tech...Raced to the win and a 7.86 provisional time in the 60M hurdles at the
Meyo Invitational (Feb. 3) at Notre Dame...Won the 55M dash in an automatic
qualifying 6.26 (6.72c) at the Tennessee All-Comers Meet (Jan. 7)...Won the
200M dash in 21.31 at the New Year's Invitational (Jan. 13) at Virginia Tech...Also
ran the third leg of the winning Vol 4x400M relay (3:13.84) and took fifth in
the 60M hurdles in 8.06 at the New Year's Invitational...Posted second in the
60M dash (a provisional 6.70) and 200M dash (a provisional 20.92) while winning
the long jump with a 23-4 1/2 mark...Also had the fastest 60M dash preliminary
time, a 6.74, and ran the second-fastest leg (47.6) on Tennessee's second-place
mile relay effort (3:13.97) at the Meyo Invitational...Also ran a provisional
6.68, second-place 60M dash finish and the first leg and second-fastest split
(47.9) on the winning Vol 4x400M relay (3:11.53) at the Pepsi Valentine's Invitational...
Took second in 6.27 (6.73c) in the 55M dash at the Tennessee Indoor Invitational
(Feb. 16)...Contributed a PR 24-1 long jump to take second at the Tennessee
All-Comers Meet.
HIGH SCHOOL- Expected
to bolster the sprint and hurdle corps immediately...Finished third in 10.36
in the 100M dash at the FootLocker National Outdoor Championships in Raleigh
in June 2000...Scored 36 points (won the 100M dash, 110M hurdles, 300M hurdles
and third in the long jump) for Woodham High to win the 2000 team state title...Owns
a top time of 13.66 in the 110M hurdles...Clocked a 53.00 in the 400M hurdles...Helped
his team to a third-place finish in the 1999 Florida state championships and
and a second-place finish at the regionals.
