Kristen Mowrey highlighted the Cats? performance Saturday at the Jesse Owens Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, with a personal-best and first-place jump of 5-08.00. UK was also successful in the field events at the Texas-Arlington Open, where Kentucky claimed the top three spots in the women?s discus throw and the men took two of the top-four standings on the men?s side of the event.
Ildiko Varga led the way at the UTA Open, grabbing first-place honors with a throw of 173-01.00. Molly Lonergan improved on her NCAA qualifying mark with a season-best toss of 166-10.00, while Gennessa Guzman landed in third with her toss of 152-10.00. Guzman also finished in third place in the hammer throw.
While Jeff Chakouian and Andy Fryman took third and fourth in the shot put, respectively, Tony Tzouanakis took the top spot in the men?s discus throw with a mark of 166-08.00. Fryman recorded his second top-five performance of the day with his fourth-place throw of 157-11.00.
Several student-athletes joined Mowrey with successful days at Ohio State. Georganne Way recorded a season-best time in the 800 meters in 2:12.92, while Jackie Gordon broke a personal-best mark in 2:13.00. Takia Brooks shed almost a second off of her 400-meter time in 54.92, while Olubusola Adeagbo finally reached an NCAA qualifying mark in the 400-meter hurdles with her 1:00.01 second-place performance Saturday.
The weekend?s competition marked the final preparation for UK before the Southeastern Conference Championships, which will be held May 13-16 in Oxford, Miss., on the campus of Ole Miss.