LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky track and field squads close their regular seasons this weekend when they travel to Philadelphia to compete in the prestigious 113th annual Penn Relays hosted by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field.
Activities in the Penn Relays begin Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT and continue on Friday and Saturday. The meet will serve as Kentucky’s final tune-up before traveling to the Southeastern Conference Championships May 10-13 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Kentucky is coming off a successful weekend last week as split squads traveled to the Triton Invitational in LaJolla, Calif., and the Oregon Invitational in Eugene, Ore.
The Wildcat distance and mid-distance athletes charted a strong weekend at the Oregon Invitational. Three Kentucky athletes notched NCAA regional-qualifying marks, highlighted by junior John Richardson (Ocean City, N.J.), who won his heat of the men?s 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:44.80. Senior Georganne Way (Lititz, Pa.), who qualified for the women?s 800-meter run last weekend at the Sea Ray Relays, recorded a regional-qualifying mark in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:27.28, marking a season-high. Junior Lavera Morris (Orlando, Fla.) also had a qualifying mark of 2:07.47 in the women?s 800 meter.
At the Triton Invitational, junior Kentucky thrower Alek Grietens (Nipomo, Calif.), in a return to his home state, continued his steady improvement in the men?s hammer throw with the fourth-best toss in school history ? a throw of 184-10. Grietens, who has consistently recorded personal-best marks in the hammer throw throughout the season, topped his previous PR of 183-4, achieved in the Auburn Tiger Track Classic two weeks ago. The Golden State native has increased his personal record by nearly 12 feet since the beginning of the season.
Sophomore thrower Ashley Muffet (North Canton, Ohio) also notched a personal best, recording a throw of 160-2 in the women?s discus, which is the fifth-best discus toss in the Southeastern Conference this season. Muffet also recorded her season-best in the shot put with a throw of 49-1.
Complete results and a recap of this weekend’s action will be available at ukathletics.com.
