Feb. 28, 2009
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky senior Ashley Trimble capped off the first night of the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships with a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the women’s pentathlon Friday night at Nutter Field House.
Trimble became the first person in school history to capture an indoor SEC women’s pentathlon title with a school-record and NCAA provisional-qualifying score of 3,991.
Trimble outperformed seventeen women from nine SEC schools this evening. The Wildcat entered the final event, the 800m run, in fifth place and 123 points behind the leader. Trimble darted out to an early lead in the race and never looked back; winning by over six seconds with a personal-best time of 2:14.72. As a result of her 800m finish, Trimble earned 897 points to pass the top four competitors and win by 46 points.
The Columbus, Ohio native also scored a personal-best time in the 60m hurdles of 8.45 to start off the evening. That mark ranks sixth all-time at UK. She then followed that up with a season-best high jump clearance of 5-2.25 to finish 12th. However, Trimble finished lower than she had hoped in the women’s shot put with a throw of 34-7 but bounced back in the long jump with a second-place finish and a leap of 19-0.50.
“This feels so great,” Trimble said. “I was a little nervous after the shot put because it was shaky, but it feels great. In the 800m, the coaches just gave me a race plan and I followed it to victory. I was scared before the final results were announced, but now I’m just excited. My hard work paid off.”
“Ashley is one of the hardest-working girls on our team,” UK assistant coach for multi-events James Thomas said. “She fought through a lot of things to get here and earned the opportunity to become a champion. She PR’d in the hurdles and the 800 and she started us out with a championship. I couldn’t be happier.”
Sophomore Danielle Sampley finished sixth overall in the pentathlon with a solid all-around performance. Sampley finished fourth in the 60m hurdles with a season-best time of 8.68. In the high jump, the Wildcat set a personal-best mark with a clearance of 5-3.25. Sampley placed sixth overall to pick up three points for the Cats to go along with Trimble’s 10 – as a result the UK women are tied for first with Mississippi State at 13 after one event.
Three other Wildcats took the track tonight alongside Trimble and Sampley Friday night. Sophomores Ashley Newby, Natalie Wise and freshman Precious Nwokey also competed for the Cats in the multi-event.
Newby placed ninth overall after tying her personal-best high jump mark of 5-5.75 which ranks 10th all-time at UK. She also earned a season-best finish in the 60m hurdles. Newby concluded her night with a season-best time in the 800m run.
It was a collegiate debut for Nwokey in the pentathlon. The freshman finished 10th overall with season-best marks in the high jump and the 60m hurdles.
Wise placed 12th overall with her top season marks in the 60m hurdles and long jump.
On the men’s side, freshman Kevin Carney competed in the heptathlon for the second time this season. Sixteen men from eight institutions joined the UK freshman on the track. The first four events finished Friday, while the remaining three events will be completed on Saturday.
The two multi-event contests were the only events held on the first night of competition.
Carney kicked off the heptathlon in the 60m dash with a personal-best time of 7.58 to finish 16th. In the long jump, the Wildcat landed in the same position with a leap of 19-11.75. Carney placed eighth in the shot with a distance of 39-7. In the final event of the evening, Carney placed ninth in the high jump, clearing a height of 6-0.75.
Competition resumes Saturday with field events at 10:00 a.m. ET and running contests at 2:10 p.m. The championships come to a close on Sunday with field events kicking off at 10:00 a.m. and running events beginning at 1:30 p.m. Live results can be found at UKathletics.com.
The UK men entered the meet ranked 19th in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association polls released this week. Seven SEC men’s squads and five women’s teams; are ranked in their respective top-25 rankings.
Complete results and a recap of this weekend’s action will be available at UKathletics.com.
