May 9, 2012
BATON ROUGE, La. – After a long and demanding regular season schedule, the Kentucky men’s and women’s track and field teams will now head south to Baton Rouge, La., to compete in the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Bernie Moore Stadium on the campus of LSU from May 10-13.
The conference championships begin Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ET with the women’s heptathlon, while the men’s decathlon begins Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Competition continues at 12:30 p.m. Friday, 3:00 p.m. Saturday and 2:00 p.m. Sunday. Kentucky does not have anyone competing Thursday, and will begin its day Friday at 7:00 p.m. with the women’s 800-meter prelims. The Wildcats begin at 3:30 p.m. Saturday with the women’s long jump, and at 2:00 p.m. Sunday with the men’s javelin.
In the SEC rankings, Kentucky has student-athlete with a top-five time or mark in seven different events.
Junior distance runner Luis Orta owns two of those times. The 2012 SEC Men’s Indoor Runner of the Year currently has the second-fastest 3,000-meter steeplechase in the SEC, and has the fourth-fastest 5,000m time in the conference. Orta ran a career-best steeplechase time of 8:47.52 at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., the second-fastest steeplechase in Kentucky history. Orta ran a season-best time in the 5,000m at the Pepsi Florida Relays with a time of 14:09.47.
Senior Josh Nadzam ran the third-fastest 1,500m time in the SEC this year at the Payton Jordan Invitational on April 29. Nadzam won his heat in that race with a career-best time of 3:45.10.
Fellow senior Terri-Ann Grant leads the Wildcats in the high jump. Grant recorded a season-best mark of 5-11.25 at the Clyde Littfield Texas Relays on March 28. The Kingston, Jamaica native’s mark is the fourth best in the SEC so far this season.
Senior thrower Jennifer Svoboda has the fifth-best mark in the women’s shot put this year. Svoboda threw the shot put 50-10 at the Penn Relays on April 26.
Sophomore Andrew Evans has the second-best mark in the men’s discus after throwing for a season-best 188-10 at the Texas Relays. Kentucky has won four consecutive SEC Outdoor titles in the men’s discus, with Chase Madison winning in 2008, Rashaud Scott in 2009 and Colin Boevers winning in 2010 and 2011.
Freshman Raymond Dykstra claims the second-best javelin mark in the SEC this year, throwing 247-05.00 also at the Texas Relays. Dykstra’s javelin mark is not only a freshman record at UK, but it is also the program record.
Freshman women’s sprinter Keilah Tyson isn’t in the top five of the 100m or 200m, but does have the top time in each event among SEC freshmen. Tyson has the eighth-fastest 100m time in the SEC, running 11.48 at the Penn Relays, and has the 11th-fastest 200m time in the SEC, clocking 23.68 at the Texas Roadhouse Border Battle. Both of Tyson’s 100 and 200m times are Kentucky freshman records.
The SEC Championships will again mark the pinnacle of all conference championship meets this year. In the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association top-25 poll, a dozen SEC teams were featured, including seven from the men’s side and five on the women’s side. The seven ranked men’s teams are the most in the country, and include five of the top 11 teams. Among the five ranked teams on the women’s side, two are ranked in the top five.
Live coverage of the meet will air on ESPN3.com on Saturday and Sunday. That coverage will air from 5:30-8:15 p.m. ET Saturday and from 4-8 p.m. ET on Sunday. Dwight Stones, Larry Rawson and Lewis Johnson will have the call. Live results of the meet can be found at UKathletics.com.
All-sessions tickets are available at $20 for adults and $10 for youth, and provide admission for each day of the championships from May 11-13. Individual tickets can also be purchased for each day of the meet for $10 for adults and $5 for youth. Admission is free for Thursday’s action that features the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon. Fans can purchase their tickets for the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships by logging on to the website for the LSU Ticket Office at www.LSUsports.net.
A complete list of when and what events Kentucky student-athletes are scheduled to compete in is listed below. All times listed are eastern. All student-athletes, events and times of events are subject to change.
For all Kentucky track and field news and information, including daily recaps and results from the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, follow the Wildcats on Twitter at “KentuckyTrack” and go to UKathletics.com.
2012 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Bernie Moore Stadium
Baton Rouge, La.
Friday’s Lineup
Women’s 800-Meter Prelims – 7:00 p.m.
Allison Peare
Men’s 800-Meter Prelims – 7:15 p.m.
Trent Halasek
Matt Hillenbrand
Keffri Neal
Robert Scharold
Women’s 200-Meter Prelims – 7:30 p.m.
Julie Nunn
Keilah Tyson
Tamyah Pipkin
Men’s 200-Meter Prelims – 7:50 p.m.
Ben Mason
Men’s Hammer Throw Prelims & Finals – 8:00 p.m.
Andrew Evans
Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles Prelims – 8:10 p.m.
Devinn Cartwright
Shiara Robinson
Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles Prelims – 8:25 p.m.
Brandon Bagley
Men’s 10,000-Meter Finals – 9:25 p.m.
Stacey Eden
Walter Luttrell
Saturday’s Lineup
Women’s Long Jump Prelims & Finals – 3:30 p.m.
Kayla Parker
Men’s Long Jump Prelims & Finals – 3:45 p.m.
Terence Boyd
Women’s Shot Put Prelims & Finals – 4:00 p.m.
Jennifer Svoboda
ESPN3.com Live Video Feed Begins – 5:30 p.m.
Women’s 1,500-Meter Prelims – 5:30 p.m.
Katy Achtien
Megan Broderick
Allison Peare
Hiruni Wijayaratne
Megan Wright
Men’s 1,500-Meter Prelims – 5:45 p.m.
Trent Halasek
Matt Hillenbrand
Adam Kahleifeh
Josh Nadzam
Keffri Neal
Robert Scharold
Women’s Pole Vault Finals – 6:00 p.m.
Shelby Kennard
Samantha Stenzel
Men’s Discus Prelims & Finals – 6:00 p.m.
Andrew Evans
Isiah Kent
Women’s 100-Meter Hurdles Prelims – 6:00 p.m.
Kayla Parker
Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles Prelims – 6:20 p.m.
Brandon Bagley
Women’s High Jump Finals – 6:30 p.m.
Terri-Ann Grant
Joanne Imbert
Women’s 400-Meter Prelims – 6:35 p.m.
Julie Nunn
Angelica Whaley
Women’s 100-Meter Prelims – 7:15 p.m.
Tamyah Pipkin
Keilah Tyson
Men’s 100-Meter Prelims – 7:30 p.m.
Ben Mason
Men’s 3,000-Meter Steeplechase Finals – 8:05 p.m.
Luis Orta
Sunday’s Lineup
Men’s Javelin Prelims & Finals – 2:00 p.m.
Raymond Dykstra
Men’s Triple Jump Finals – 2:45 p.m.
Terence Boyd
Men’s Shot Put Prelims & Finals – 3:00 p.m.
Isiah Kent
Bradley Szypka
ESPN3.com Live Video Feed Begins – 4:00 p.m.
Women’s 4×100-Meter Relay Finals – 4:00 p.m.
Kentucky
Women’s 1,500-Meter Finals – 4:20 p.m.
*Katy Achtien
*Megan Broderick
*Allison Peare
*Hiruni Wijayaratne
*Megan Wright
Men’s 1,500-Meter Finals – 4:30 p.m.
*Trent Halasek
*Matt Hillenbrand
*Adam Kahleifeh
*Josh Nadzam
*Keffri Neal
Women’s 100-Meter Hurdles Finals – 4:40 p.m.
*Kayla Parker
Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles Finals – 4:50 p.m.
*Brandon Bagley
Women’s Discus Prelims & Finals – 5:00 p.m.
Jennifer Svoboda
Women’s 400-Meter Finals – 5:00 p.m.
*Julie Nunn
*Angelica Whaley
Women’s 100-Meter Finals – 5:20 p.m.
*Tamyah Pipkin
*Keilah Tyson
Men’s 100-Meter Finals – 5:30 p.m.
*Ben Mason
Women’s 800-Meter Finals – 5:40 p.m.
*Allison Peare
Men’s 800-Meter Finals – 5:50 p.m.
*Trent Halasek
*Matt Hillenbrand
*Keffri Neal
*Robert Scharold
Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles Finals – 6:00 p.m.
*Devinn Cartwright
*Shiara Robinson
Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles Finals – 6:10 p.m.
*Brandon Bagley
Women’s 200-Meter Finals – 6:20 p.m.
*Julie Nunn
*Keilah Tyson
*Tamyah Pipkin
Men’s 200-Meter Finals – 6:30 p.m.
*Ben Mason
Women’s 5,000-Meter Finals – 6:40 p.m.
Hiruni Wijayaratne
Men’s 5,000-Meter Finals – 7:00 p.m.
Stacey Eden
Matt Hillenbrand
Adam Kahleifeh
Walter Luttrell
Josh Nadzam
Luis Orta
Women’s 4×400-Meter Relay Finals – 7:25 p.m.
Kentucky
Men’s 4×400-Meter Relay Finals – 7:35 p.m.
Kentucky
* = Pending qualification for finals
