FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.- The University of Kentucky concluded the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. with solid performances by several underclassmen. The Cats were led by the women?s distance medley team?s third place finish in a time of 11:42.84.
The young distance medley relay team comprised of freshmen Liliane Sparkes and Lavera Morris and sophomores Georganne Way and Jackie Gordon ran a season-best time. Way ran a personal best split of 2:08 for the 800 meter leg.
Three-time All-American Beth Hiemann smashed her season-best 800-meter time set in the prelims with a time of 2:05.93 to capture fourth for the second consecutive year in the 800 meters. That time provisionally qualifies Heimann for the NCAA Championships and is the fourth best time in the country. Tennessee?s Nicole Cook set an NCAA and SEC indoor record with a very impressive time of 2:00.75, which is also the fastest collegiate mark this season.
Maysville, Ky., native Andy Fryman competed well for Kentucky in the shot put with fifth place career-best heave of 58-10 ?. Fryman also finished ninth in the weight throw with a toss of 56-10 ? Saturday.
The men?s distance medley relay team comprised of Stephan Smith, Jeremy Johnson, Nick Reeves and Ryan Deluca crossed the finish line sixth in UK season-best time of 9:59.29. Also capturing sixth was junior Rachel Kohler in the high jump with a season-high 5-08 1/2. UK?s men?s 4×400-meter relay team recorded a season-best time of 3:09.98 to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships. The team crossed the finish line in sixth too and was comprised of three freshmen Justin Harrison, Nathan Browning, Dan Huston and junior Dedrick Tillerson.
Freshman Justin Harrison competed in the men?s 400-meter final, finishing eighth in a time of 47.37. While, freshman counterpart, Gabe McClaren competed in the men?s 800 meters for the Cats, crossing the finish line in a time of 1:51.68 in ninth place. McClaren qualified for the final in a personal-best time of 1:51.28 on Saturday.
Select Cats will be competing next weekend to try to improve on their NCAA qualifying marks.
-UK-
