COLUMBIA, Mo. ? Senior sprinter Luis Luna (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) ran the second-fastest 400 meter time in school history and freshman Jenna Martin (Nova Scotia, Canada) set the freshman school record in the 400 as three Kentucky athletes qualified for their respective finals to conclude the opening day of the NCAA Mideast Regional hosted by the University of Missouri at Audrey J. Walton Stadium.
The final day of the NCAA Mideast Regional will take place on Saturday beginning at Noon EDT at Audrey J. Walton Stadium with the women?s hammer throw. Live results and text commentary will be available at ukathletics.com. A complete updated Kentucky notes package in preparation for Saturday?s action will be released Saturday morning as several UK athletes will aim to punch their tickets to Sacramento, Calif., for the NCAA Championships to be held June 6-9.
Luna finished first in the preliminaries of the men?s 400-meter dash with a collegiate-best time of 46.15, matching the time set by Arnold Payne in 1996. He has been impressive this postseason, having recorded a then-collegiate best time of 46.31 at the Southeastern Conference Championships two weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, Ala., which was, at that time, the fourth-fastest in school history in the 400. Luna will compete in the finals, which take place at 6:15 p.m. EDT Saturday.
Martin ran a strong race to finish second in her heat. The standout freshman turned on the jets over the final 100 meters of the race to finish with a collegiate-best time of 52.60, third all-time at UK. That time bested her previous personal-record mark of 53.18 set at the SEC Championships and broke the previous freshman school record of 52.65 set by Michelle Brown in 1994. Martin is set to participate in Saturday?s final, which takes place at 6:20 p.m. EDT.
Junior mid-distance runner John Richardson (Ocean City, N.J.) ran a smart race in the men?s 1,500 meter, finishing fourth in his heat and qualifying for Saturday?s final with a time of 3:44.10. Saturday?s final commences at 5:20 p.m. EDT.
Throwers Alek Grietens (Nipomo, Calif.) and Ashley Muffet (North Canton, Ohio) failed to advance to the finals of their respective events. Grietens had a throw of 175-1 in the hammer throw, while Muffet recorded a toss of 47-8.0 in the shot put.
Complete results and a recap of Saturday’s action will be available on ukathletics.com.
Kentucky?s Schedule/Results at the NCAA Mideast Regional (Friday, May 25, 2007 ? Columbia, Mo.)
Men’s Hammer Throw ? 12 p.m. EDT
28. Alek Grietens – 175-1
Women?s Shot Put ? 3 p.m. EDT
15. Ashley Muffet – 47-8.0
Men?s 4×100 Relay (Preliminaries) ? 4 p.m. EDT
14. Mikel Thomas, Gordon McKenzie, Brandon Austin, Jose Acevedo – 40.44
Men?s Discus ? 4:30 p.m. EDT
9. Gavin Ball – 174-10
Men?s 1,500-Meter Run (Preliminaries) ? 4:30 p.m. EDT
4. John Richardson – 3:44.10 Q
Men’s 100-Meter Dash (Preliminaries) ? 5:50 p.m. EDT
21. Jose Acevedo – 10.73 (-0.7)
Men?s 400-Meter Dash (Preliminaries) ? 6:30 p.m. EDT
1. Luis Luna – 46.15 Q
19. Nathan Browning – 47.45
-Justin Harrison – DQ
Women’s 400-Meter Dash (Preliminaries) – 6:50 p.m. EDT
6. Jenna Martin – 52.60 q
Men?s 800-Meter Run (Preliminaries) ? 7:10 p.m. EDT
16. Stephan Smith – 1:51.22
Women?s 800-Meter Run (Preliminaries) ? 7:30 p.m. EDT
10. Lavera Morris – 2:08.14 16. Georganne Way – 2:10.46
Men?s 400 Hurdles (Preliminaries) ? 8 p.m. EDT
28. Mikel Thomas – 1:16.85
Men?s 200-Meter Dash Preliminaries ? 8:50 p.m. EDT
11. Jose Acevedo – 21.29
Women?s 5,000-Meter Run ? 10 p.m. EDT
18. Taylor Miller – 17:22.22
