Gary Kikaya Class: Senior Hometown: Kinshasa, Congo Height / Weight: 6-1 / 174 Event: 200/ 400 Experience: 1L

2002-Outdoor- Won Ed Murphey Award for outstanding track performance at team banquet by virtue of his NCAA-winning 400m dash effort ... Won Volunteer Award for toughest track competitor at team banquet ... Seemingly got faster every time he touched the track as he broke records in his specialty multiple times ... Became the first Volunteer to win the NCAA 400m dash, although Anthony Blair tied for the NCAA Indoor 440 yd. title in 1980 ... Won the 400m dash at the NCAA Outdoors with a thunderous 44.53 in the finals to shatter his own school record (June 1) ... Kikaya’s time of 44.53 stood as the third-fastest time in the world in 2002 and fastest by a collegian ... Became the last Vol to cross the finish line in Tennessee’s runner-up team effort at the NCAA Indoors, as Kikaya anchored the 4x400m relay to a fifth-place, 3:02.83 finish, running a 45.2 split despite his school-record 44.53 effort in the 400m dash earlier in the day ... Broke school records in the indoor 400m dash, outdoor 400m dash, indoor 4x400m relay, outdoor 4x200m relay, outdoor 4x400m relay ... Besides being a world-class 400m man, Kikaya’s relay skills played a crucial role in Tennessee landing its first-ever designation by Track & Field News as the nation’s top overall relay squad ... More Kikaya fireworks came when he set the school 400m dash record twice in two days at the SEC Outdoors ... Kikaya won the 400m dash with a blazing 44.86 (May 12) at the SECs to rewrite his school record from a day earlier ... In the prelims, Kikaya ran a 45.00 to break the 1974 time of 45.04 by Vol great Darwin Bond ... Won the 400m dash (45.46) and 4x400m relay (3:02.14) at the Sea Ray Relays ... The Sea Rays 4x400m relay time of 3:02.14 broke the school record, meet record and stood as 2002’s 11th-fastest time in the world, ahead of 15 national teams from around the globe ... Kikaya pulled the 400m dash and 4x400m relay double one week earlier at the Sea Ray Relays with a 45.53 and 3:07.88 timing ... Kikaya led off Tennessee’s school-record 1:20.20 winner in the 4x200m relay, the fastest time in the world in 2002, and clocked a 44.5 anchor leg on the second-place 4x400m relay in 3:06.32 at the Penn Relays ... Won the 400m dash in 45.53 and anchored the winning 4x400m relay to a 3:07.88 finish to lead the Vols to the team victory at the Gatorade Classic and defend a 32-year home winning streak.

2002-Indoor- Kikaya has come through as an immediate impact signee with his ability to produce in the 400m dash and 4x400m relay ... Continuing a monster first season for the Vols, Kikaya broke the indoor school record in the 400m dash twice more during the NCAA Indoors to move the total to four times he has broken the school indoor record from Feb. 9 to March 9 ... Kikaya’s game effort in the 400m dash proved essential to the Vol NCAA title run ... Ran a 46.07 to notch the second-fastest NCAA 400m dash prelim time (March 8) ... In the finals, clocked in at a blistering 45.93 to post the current indoor school 400m dash record to earn third at the NCAA Indoors, despite entering the meet with the 11th-best time ... Continued his heroic NCAA Indoor effort by anchoring Tennessee’s second-place 4x400m relay (3:06.87) in an unthinkable 44.9 split after running the 400m dash finals earlier in the day ... Chiseled his name as the indoor school record holder again in the 400m dash with a 46.51 to claim fifth at the SEC Indoors (Feb. 24) ... Kikaya’s blazing 45.5 anchor leg led the Vols’ 4x400m relay to second place in 3:05.63, easily an automatic qualifier as the second-fastest time in the nation and shattering the Tennessee indoor school record in the event ... Broke the school indoor 400m dash record, the first time of the season, with a 46.77 to earn third at the Armory Invitational (Feb. 9) in New York ... Took third in the 400m dash with a 47.88 to help the Vols to the win at the SEC Eastern Division Challenge at Florida ... Proved a valuable relay man with anchor legs on Tennessee’s two fastest 4x400m relay clockings of the season -- a 3:09.68 at the SEC Eastern Division Challenge and 3:10.49 at the Kroger Invitational at Virginia Tech.

BEFORE TENNESSEE- Sprint specialist recruited to augment the Vol speedsters...Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, but attended Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg, South Africa for the last two years...Stands as the national record holder in the 200M dash (21.14) and 400M dash for the Democratic Republic of Congo...Clocked a 21.14 in the 200M dash in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 2001...Sprinted to a 45.58 in the 400M dash at Roodeport, South Africa at altitude...Clocked a 46.08 400M dash at sea level in Durban, South Africa...Led his team to the South African Sport Union championship.