The University of Kentucky track and field squads travel to Atlanta for the Yellow Jacket Invitational, at host Georgia Tech, March 31-April 1. The meet begins Friday with the hammer throw, while the remaining events start Saturday afternoon. Two weeks ago, the Cats posted six regional qualifying marks at the Baldy Castillo Invite in Tempe, Ariz. Live scoring for the meet will be available on ukathletics.com.
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Week One Recap – Baldy Castillo Invite
Men?s Sprints
Freshman Gordon McKenzie placed second in the 200 with a regional mark of 21.17, earning him a spot on the UK all-time list (eighth, sixth nationally). McKenzie also placed second in the 100 in a time of 10.55. Fellow frosh Jose Acevedo placed third in the 200 (21.26, tenth all-time UK) and fourth in the 100 (10.67). Sophomore Justin Harrison came in sixth in the 200 (21.56). Freshman Brandon Austin ran a PR in the 100 (10.99), while 400 specialists sophomore Nathan Browning (21.74) and junior Luis Luna (21.62) ran personal-bests in the 200. Senior Thomas Masthay had third place finishes in the 110 and 400 hurdles. Masthay ran a personal-best in the 110 (14.67), good for fifth all-time, and went 53.29 in the 400. Senior Dedrick Tillerson placed fourth (53.63).
Men?s Middle Distance/Distance
Freshman Ryan Finn placed fourth in the 800 (1:56.57), while sophomore Andre Silva and senior Andrew Thompson competed in the 3,000. Silva currently ranks first in the SEC in the event (8:40.22).
Men?s Field Events
Junior Andy Fryman earned a fifth place finish in the men?s shot put with a regional qualifying toss of 58-1 (first SEC). Fryman was also the Cats? top performer in the hammer throw with a toss of 165-7. Fryman?s personal-best of 180-1 remains fourth all-time at Kentucky. Sophomore Alek Grietens entered the UK record books at sixth with a toss of 152-7 in the hammer.
Women?s Sprints
Senior Kenya Patton placed third in the 100 (11.99) and fifth in the 200 (24.32), while freshman Ashley Trimble came in sixth in the 100 hurdles (14.84).
Women?s Middle Distance/Distance
Junior Georganne Way and sophomore Lavera Morris placed second and third, respectively, in the 400. Freshman Andrea Brown and senior Candance Leep went two-three in the 800.
Women?s Field Events
Senior Nicole Allyn reached a regional qualifying mark with a toss of 182-0 in the hammer throw. Allyn placed third in the event and was just shy of a personal-best (182-5, second all-time UK). Freshman Ashley Muffet earned a Kentucky freshman record and personal-best throw of 173-1 (fourth place). Senior Ildiko Varga placed seventh with a personal-best of 170-0 (fifth all-time UK). Varga went beyond the regional mark with a toss of 173-4 in the discus, good for second place. Varga owns the school record in the event (182-1, 2004). Muffet hit a new personal-best with a third place regional qualifying throw of 156-0 (eighth all-time UK). Muffet backed up her performance in the discus with a second place finish and regional mark in the shot put (49-1.75, fourth all-time UK). Newcomer senior Michelle Gales continued to strive in the jumps with two UK all-time top ten marks. Gales won the long jump with a leap of 19-1.50 (eighth all-time UK) and followed it up with a third place finish in the triple (38-1.50, sixth all-time UK).
Future Looks Bright
There are 12 marks/times in the UK indoor and outdoor top ten rankings currently owned by freshmen. Highlighting the men?s side is McKenzie who holds marks in indoor 60 and 200 and outdoor 200. On the women?s side Muffet owns the frosh records in indoor shot put and weight throw an the outdoor hammer throw. Mary Durham holds the school indoor record in the pole vault.
Last Season?s Yellow Jacket Invite
Former Cats Brooke Patterson won the 800, while Allison Grace placed first in the 1,500. Former All-American Jeff Chakouian was the top collegiate thrower in the shot put (64-6.50), while current Wildcat Dedrick Tillerson ran a regional mark in the 400 hurdles.
