DES MOINES, Iowa ? It was a record-setting day for the University of Kentucky men?s track and field team led by the veteran 4x400m relay squad at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Drake University?s Jim Duncan Track in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday. The UK men posted their best NCAA Outdoor finish by placing ninth nationally while the Cats? 25 points marked a program-best total in the 87-year history of the Men?s Championships.
The UK men’s 4×400 meter relay team broke the school varsity record by almost a second in the meet?s final event. The Cats finished third in a blistering pace of 3:02.00, beating the 2006 school record of 3:02.97. Seniors Nathan Browning and Justin Harrison along with junior Jose Acevedo were on both record teams while sophomore Kwasi Obeng joined the veterans on this year’s squad replacing departed senior Luis Luna. The Cats? time ranks third in the nation this year.
Browning ran a fantastic opening split for the Cats in the first lap of the event, coming to the exchange point even with defending champion Baylor and Texas A&M. Harrison busted out an impressive second lap as he moved into lane one behind the Baylor runner?s outside shoulder while battling A&M for second. The top three teams broke away from the rest of the field halfway through the race.
Obeng took the baton from Harrison in third, just steps behind A&M in second place. Baylor, undefeated in 28 straight races, maintained its lead going into the final exchange. Acevedo hauled in the baton from Obeng and sprinted out of the exchange zone, passing the A&M runner in the first 200 meters. In the final 200 meters Acevedo battled the Aggie anchor down the straightaway but was edged out at the line to end the exhilarating race.
?To think we could have run this fast and place third without Luis Luna makes you believe anything is possible in track and field,? said UK sprints coach Erin Tucker. ?We replaced Luna, one of the most respected guys in the country, with a relatively unknown guy in Obeng who probably has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen. My two seniors, Browning and Harrison, stepped up big in the first two legs to put us in a position to be successful. Jose took over in the end and brought us home. I could not have asked for anything better.?
With the 4x400m relay team?s third-place finish, UK secured its highest point total of 25 and best finish in NCAA Outdoor Championship history by placing ninth in the country. The previous best finish and point total for the Cats was in 1994 when the Blue and White tied for 13th with 17 points. The 2008 Cats finished behind fellow SEC squads LSU and Auburn who tied for second overall behind men?s champion Florida State but UK placed ahead of rivals Florida, Tennessee, Louisville and Arkansas in the final standings.
?It?s very satisfying to finish in the top-10 in the country,? said UK head coach Don Weber. ?To have athletes come through the way they did shows the progress of our program and it extends beyond just the people who competed here. I am especially pleased.
?All of the competitions are exciting but the relays always have a bit of extra drama to them. We traditionally have had strong relay teams. There have been a couple of times at national meets when we kind of sputtered, but we ran full- throttle today. It was really special to see, especially for the seniors. The 4×400 meter relay has been the engine that has driven the development of our program for a long time. To see the seniors go out in that way was very satisfying for everybody.?
Junior Rashaud Scott became a two-time Championship scorer after placing eighth in the men’s shot put with a throw of 60-0.25. Scott was crowned the National Champion in the men’s discus Friday. Scott?s eighth-place finish added one point to the Cats? record point total.
In the women?s heptathlon, rookie Danielle Sampley finished 21st overall as the second-ranked freshman in the nation totaling 5266 points in her first Outdoor Championship appearance. Sampley finished with a strong final day in the long jump and ran a personal record time in the 800 meter run. The Wildcat finished seventh in the long jump with a leap of 19-8. Later, Sampley placed eighth in the 800m run with a personal-best time of 2:21.51.
LSU won the women?s title by beating Arizona State in the women?s 4x400m relay, the meet?s final event.
On Friday, Scott became the first UK athlete in a dozen years to win an NCAA title since former Olympian sprinter Tim Harden won a National Championship for the Cats by winning the Indoor 55 meter dash for the Blue and White in 1996. Scott became the first Wildcat man to win an NCAA Outdoor field event and just the second UK Outdoor Men’s Event Champion overall joining Harden who won the 100 meter dash in 1995.
Scott threw the winning distance on his first attempt of the finals to jump from eighth place to first and was able to maintain the lead through the final two throws of competition. Earlier Scott qualified for the final three throws of the day in seventh place overall. The Bronx, N.Y., native?s distance was just two inches off his personal-best throw of 199-10 that earned Scott the Mideast Regional Championship last month. Scott earned the Cats 10 points with the win.
Freshman Grant Lindsey placed second in a back-and-forth affair between the three final jumpers of the evening. Lindsey was the first to clear 7-3.75 on his initial attempt to set a personal record. At the next height of 7-5, the rookie cleared the bar on his first-ever attempt at the height in competition to break the UK varsity record of 7-4.50 set by Eugene Grundy in 1997. When the next bar raise went to 7-6, Lindsey got the crowd involved leading a rhythmic clap, but could not clear the bar on three attempts. The second-place tie by Lindsey in the high jump gave the Cats seven points.
Senior Andy Fryman finished eighth nationally in the men’s hammer throw after placing tenth in the discus earlier Friday. Fryman’s personal-best hammer throw toss of 216-8 on his third attempt ranks second all-time at UK. The veteran?s eighth-place finish added a point to the Cats? total.
Several Wildcats will move on to post-season competition at the USATF Junior Championships next weekend and the Olympic Trials later this month. Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for post-season awards and accomplishments.
Wildcat Scorers by Event ? NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
MEN (points earned)
Discus
1. Rashaud Scott ? 199-8 (10) NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPION
High Jump
T2. Grant Lindsey ? 7-5 (7)
4x400m Relay
3. Nathan Browning ? Justin Harrison ? Kwasi Obeng ? Jose Acevedo 3:02.00 (6)
Hammer Throw
8. Andy Fryman ? 216-8 (1)
Shot Put
8. Rashaud Scott ? 60-0.25 (1)
FINAL MEN’S TOP 10 TEAM STANDINGS
1) Florida State 52
T2) LSU 44
T2) Auburn 44
4) Texas 35
5) Texas A&M 32
6) Arizona State 28
T7) Baylor 27
T7) Southern California 27
9) KENTUCKY 25
10) Colorado 24
