LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The University of Kentucky track and field squads opened the season with two second-place finishes at the Kentucky Invitational Saturday in Nutter Field House. Also earning an honor was Head Coach Don Weber for his 20 years as head coach of the Kentucky track and field program.
The men?s 4 x 400-meter relay team excited the crowd with a close race against Auburn to wrap up the two-day meet. The two teams battled throughout the four legs, but during the last leg Auburn prevailed, taking the first-place honor. The Cats finished second in a time of 3:11.85, just .45 behind the Tigers. Junior Chris Millisor also recorded a second-place finish in the mile in a time of 4:16.22.
?The 4 x 400-meter men?s relay team ran a good time to finish second,? said Weber. ?Finishing second to a top-notch team like Auburn is very admirable, but more important is how hard they competed to finish second.?
Rachel Kohler started off the meet for the Cats with a fifth-place finish in the high jump. The junior recorded a jump of 5-08.00, which was just shy her career-best mark 5-08.75.
After the morning events were completed Head Coach Don Weber was honored by the University of Kentucky for his 20 years of dedication to the UK track and field program. He was presented with a plaque by former athlete and friend Mike Sanner. Weber?s family, friends, along with past and present athletes all participated in the ceremony to thank Weber.
?It is a privileged position that I am in,? said Weber. ?I am supported by the university and they give us the resources to do to the absolute maximum for our athletes. The best part of being a coach is that I am inspired by what the kids do.?
Juniors Tolanda Ingram and Kenya Patton were next to place in the top-10 for Kentucky. The two took sixth (7.62) and seventh (7.64), respectively for the Cats in the 60-meter dash.
UK?s women faired well in the mile run with three Wildcats finishing in the top-10. In her collegiate debut freshman Liliane Sparkes placed fourth in a time of 4:59.16. Next to cross the finish line was sophomore Georganne Way in seventh (5:06.8) and freshman counterpart Lavera Morris finished eighth (5:07.45). Senior Allison Grace added to the women?s distance squad accomplishments with a sixth-place mark in the 3,000 meters in a time of 9:53.13.
Also fairing well in the mile run was freshman Stephan Smith who crossed the finish line fourth in a time of 4:21.64.
The Ingram sisters, Kenya and Kendra took to the track in the 200-meter-dash. Kenya crossed the finish line in seventh (24.54) while Kendra, not far behind, finished tenth (24.57)
The Kentucky track and field squads take a week off before returning to action as hosts of the McCravy Memorial Invitational. The meet will be held Jan. 28-29 at Nutter Field House.
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