March 10, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky senior Terri-Ann Grant cleared a mark of 1.78m/5-10.00 in the women’s high jump Friday, and finished ninth at the NCAA Championships held at the Jacksons Indoor Track in Nampa, Idaho.
Grant just barely missed out on earning points for the Wildcats, tying the mark of eighth-place finisher Jeannelle Scheper of South Carolina, but falling based number of attempts. By finishing ninth, Grant becomes a second-team All-America honoree.
Grant, who transferred to Kentucky from Georgia Tech, missed on her first attempt at the initial bar, but cleared it on her second attempt and then cleared the next height progression of 5-08.75 on her first try. At 5-10.00, Grant clipped the bar on her initial jump, but advanced to the next height by clearing it on her second attempt. Grant finally bowed out at 5-11.25.
Grant recorded the second best high jump mark in program history at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet on Jan. 28. There, the Kingston, Jamaica native cleared each of the first three heights on her first attempt. She then clipped the bar on her first attempt at the 1.79m/5-10.50 mark, but cleared it on her second try to move up to 1.82m/5-11.50. With the event down to two competitors, Grant sealed up first place by clearing 5-11.50, the second-highest mark in program history. Grant finally bowed out on the NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 1.85m/6-00.75, which would have been both a program record and a meet record.
Grant’s performance in the high jump Friday evening concluded Kentucky’s indoor track and field season. One of the highlights of the Wildcats’ indoor season came at the 2012 Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championships, where senior distance runner Luis Orta became the first student-athlete to win the men’s 3,000-meter and 5,000m runs in the same championships since Georgia’s Ian Burrell in 2007. Orta was Kentucky’s first-ever winner in the 3,000m, and was Kentucky’s first winner in the 5K since Richard Ede in 1987. Orta was the men’s co-recipient of the Cliff Harper Trophy, award to the high-points scorer of the meet, and was later named the SEC Men’s Runner of the Year.
Kentucky will begin its outdoor season March 16 at the Bulls Invitational in Tampa, Fla. The SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held in Baton Rouge, La., this year, while the NCAA preliminaries will be in Jacksonville, Fla., and the NCAA Championships will be in Des Moines, Iowa.
For all Kentucky track and field news, including full coverage of the Wildcats during the outdoor season, follow UK on Twitter at “KentuckyTrack” and go to UKathletics.com.
