Every Tuesday, UK Athletics recognizes outstanding performances for our student-athletes.
These are the honorees for the week ending Sunday, May 15:
Track & Field: Colin Boevers
Senior Colin Boevers claimed his second-straight SEC discus title on Sunday at the Spec Towns Track in Athens, Ga. Boevers used a career-best throw of 196-00/59.74m to secure his second-straight discus championship on his opening throw of the competition. The senior eclipsed the field by 12 feet, seven inches, defeating a pair of Auburn freshmen Stephen Saenz (183-05/55.92m) and Marcus Popenfoose (179-11/54.84m). The title extends UK’s streak of discus champions to four straight dating back to Chase Madison in 2008 followed by Rashaud Scott in 2009.
Baseball: Thomas McCarthy
Junior third baseman Thomas McCarthy carried Kentucky to three wins during a four-game week, including a huge series win over Georgia … McCarthy swung the bat at a blistering pace, batting .684 (13-for-19) with nine RBI during the four-game week and batting .714 (10-for-14) with two doubles, two homers and eight RBI during the three-game series with Georgia … McCarthy got UK out of the gate strong on Friday night, batting 3-for-4 with his 18th double of the year … During Saturday’s series-clinching win, McCarthy had a career game, launching two homers and charting a career-high four hits, adding four RBI … In the Sunday game, McCarthy again totaled three hits, adding three RBI and another double, his conference-pacing 19th of 2011 … The Corvallis, Ore., native extended his hitting streak to a club-best seven games and owns five consecutive three-or-more-hit games … In a win on Tuesday over Indiana, McCarthy went 3-for-5 with an RBI … McCarthy’s offense put the Wildcats on his shoulders during the week, helping UK to its first series win over Georgia since the 2007 season, falling just shy of sweeping the Bulldogs for the first time since 1993 … On the year, McCarthy leads UK with a .359 average, totaling 19 doubles, one triple, seven homers and 34 RBI, swiping eight bases … In SEC play alone, McCarthy has hit a club-best .392 with eight doubles, one triple, five homers and 19 RBI … The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder leads UK with 27 two-out hits and has added 17 two-out RBI, hitting .403 with two outs … In addition, McCarthy has charted a team-pacing 17 two-strike hits in 2011.