May 22, 2004

Dr. Michael T. Petty, team chiropractor for the Tennessee men's athletics department, has been selected as a team physician for the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials the Sacramento Sports Commission announced this week. The U.S. Olympic Trials, also known as the USA outdoor championships in non-Olympic years, will be held July 9-18 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, Calif., the site of last year's NCAA outdoor championships.

If they meet the Olympic 'A' standard, the top-three finishers in most events at the U.S. Olympic Trials advance to form the U.S. track and field Olympic team. Petty's responsibilities to the prospective members of the U.S. Olympic track and field team at the trials mirror his efforts when he accompanies the track and field Vols to a championship meet.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Petty said. "I'm extremely excited. I'll be available at the request of any athlete to evaluate, examine and treat anything that falls in my scope. I'll be helping people deal with chiropractic and mechanical issues and evaluation of joint and muscle function."

Petty, a Tennessee grad, began his association with the athletics department in 1996, when he began working with the football team. He served the football team in the SEC championship seasons of 1997 and and the national championship season of 1998.

Petty added Tennessee track and field responsibilities in 1999, when he accompanied the Volunteers to the NCAA outdoor championships in Boise, Idaho. That year collegiate record holder Tom Pappas captured the NCAA decathlon title. Petty's association with the track and field team has been fruitful. Since 1999, Petty has worked with several Tennessee individual NCAA champions, including Pappas, Justin Gatlin, Leonard Scott, Gary Kikaya, Stephen Harris and Jabari Greer. Additionally, Petty has been on site as an integral member of the Tennessee training staff taking care of the Vols in the NCAA championship years of 2001 (outdoor) and 2002 (indoor). The Vols have also claimed two SEC outdoor team titles under Petty's care.

Petty also continues to work with former Vols and Olympic hopefuls still training in Knoxville, including Pappas, the 2003 world indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon champion, and Harris, the 2003 NCAA decathlon champion.

"I'm signed up for 12 hours a day at the trials," Petty said. "I'm planning on being available for all 10 days [there are two rest days in the middle of the schedule]. My main intent originally was to just be there for Tom [Pappas] and Stephen [Harris] in the decathlon if I was selected. Then I looked at the schedule and saw how many other former Vols would also be competing. I'd like to be there for Tim Mack [pole vault], Lawrence Johnson [pole vault], Justin Gatlin [sprints], Leonard Scott [sprints], Jebreh Harris [800-meter run], Anthony Famiglietti [steeplechase], Dawane Wallace [110 hurdles] and any of our current guys who qualify the trials."

Petty is originally from Shelbyville, Tenn. He graduated as valedictorian of Life Chiropractic College in 1986. Petty has been in private practice at Concord Chiropractic Clinic in Farragut, Tenn., since then. He is married to the former Frances Hanks, his wife of 24 years.

VOLS VAULT IN POST-SEC RANKINGS UPDATES
Tennessee climbed up two of the three national rankings updates after its SEC outdoor performance.

The Volunteers made the biggest jump in the Trackwire 25, available at www.trackwire.com. Tennessee leaped from 23rd with 11 projected NCAA points last week to a season-best tie for 14th and 19 points in this week's Trackwire 25. The leap could be mostly attributed to Paul Cross' and Marc Sylvester's improvement in the 800-meter run. The Trackwire 25 attempts to project the finish at the NCAA meet by analyzing national event leader lists and other factors.

Tennessee improved to 12th with 42.35 points in the May 20 Trackshark.com rankings. The Vols stood 14th with a 51.40 total in the April 8 rankings, the only other update of the season. The Trackshark.com rankings rely on a computer formula that places the most weight on projected conference and NCAA finishes, while also favoring teams from the strongest conferences.

However, the Vols dropped from fifth to sixth in the U.S. Track Coaches Association Team Power Ranking despite increasing their score from 394.5 to 402.9, a season-best total. The USTCA Team Power Ranking attempts to reward teams fielding comlete squads across all events. Tennessee has won the USTCA Team Power Ranking title nine times since 1991, most recently the 2003 outdoor season.