April 14: UT's Scott pursues two-sport stardom

- A spring ago, Tennessee's Leonard Scott wwas a split personality. 

Football and track. Routes and sprints. He almost expected a cornerback to jump out at 
him in the middle of the 100-meter dash. 

As the Sea Ray Relays begin this week, Scott is of one mind. His only route will be 
around campus to the Tom Black Track. 

"It was tiresome last year, I'm not going to lie about it," Scott said after practicing 
handoffs for the 4x100-meter relay. "I knew when I made the agreement to come here I 
wanted to do both. The first year, I hadn't established myself yet for football. 
Everybody knew I could come out here and run. That was a given." 

Another given: In a short time, Scott has established he can make the big play in both 
sports. By the time he caught his first pass for the Vols last fall as a redshirt 
freshman, he had won an NCAA 60-meter indoor national title. On the gridiron, Scott
followed that feat up by catching two touchdown passes and returning a kickoff 100 yards
for a touchdown against Georgia. 

Scott realizes he is far from a finished product on the football field as he attempts 
to master the transition from high school running back to SEC receiver. Still, he 
relishes the opportunity to go solo in track this spring. 

Last year, a hamstring injury from spring football left Scott far short of 100 percent 
for the SEC and NCAA outdoor meets. He was a last-minute qualifier for the NCAA meet 
and missed the finals by .004 seconds, the price of several weeks of missed training. 
This year, he's not only fit, but already has run two 100-meter races, which is two 
more than he had this time last year.  His 200-meter times are falling, the result of 
working longer distances and getting stronger. 

"Just doing track is a wonderful thing for him," UT sprints coach Vince Anderson said. 
"And he's more fit and has more understanding of all the small parts of preparing for 
a race. He's really becoming a track man. And he takes it very seriously. He
sees being great at track as something that helps him in football." 

Most of what he accomplished as a rookie was on talent alone, Anderson said. But talent 
alone won't get Scott where he is capable of going in the SEC, much less the national 
level. 

"Last year," Scott said, "I thought I could just come out here put my shoes on and run. 
You can't do that in this conference. You've got to know what you're doing." 

Said Anderson, "He's at a whole other level in the 200 this year. Hopefully, he'll put 
a good one down Friday." 

A year ago at the Sea Ray meet, Scott captured the public fancy by running an eye-popping 
9.83 100 meters. Trouble was, he did in with a gale-force wind at his back, more than 
three times the allowable limit for a record or an NCAA qualifying time.

The season is young. His best 100 is a wind-aided 10.18, but his 20.59 in the 200 was 
legal. He'll hook up with a strong field in both events Friday. He's already been 
beaten twice outdoors by Florida's Bernard Williams, who will be here for the Sea Ray
meet. On Saturday, Scott will come back for the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. 

"I most definitely want to see my 100 down in nine or 10-oh something," Scott said. 
"I think this is the weekend it could happen. My goal in the 200 is 20.3-something.

"I'm getting stronger and I'm ahead of my game. A lot of people think because I'm not 
winning races that I'm behind, but if you think about it, I'm building something right 
now. When it's all said and done, it's going to be phenomenal." 

    Source: geocities.com/sprintingelite