May 29, 2001

Freshman Jeff Chakouian and sophomore Chad Johnson head west to represent the University of Kentucky at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 30-June 2. All action takes place at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Chakouian enters the national meet ranked fourth in the nation in the shot put with a season- and personal-best throw of 66-00.50 achieved at the Georgia Tech Invitational on May 18. The Seekonk, Mass., native claimed third place at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Championships with a heave of 63-07.50 after winning the Southeastern Conference Indoor Shot Put title. At the SEC Outdoor Championships, he claimed second. Janus Robberts of SMU leads the nation with a top mark of 70-10.50.

Johnson ran a personal-best time of 1:48.10 in the 800 meters to place fourth at the SEC Championships and ranks 16th nationally. The native of Tifton, Ga., finished sixth in the 800 at the SEC Indoors and was a member of the second-place distance medley relay team. The DMR quartet advanced to the NCAA Indoors where it finished second, giving Johnson the first All-America honor of his career. South Carolina’s Otukile Lekote tops the national rankings with a time of 1:44.76.

The preliminaries of the 800 meters will take place at 9:10 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 30, with the finals on Friday, June 1. The preliminaries and finals of the men’s shot put will be held on Saturday, June 2, at 9 p.m. EDT.