Underdog Role Looking Good on Cats Entering Nationals

As season ago, the Kentucky women’s track team was among the favorites for the national championship.

The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 for much of the season and bore the pressure that came with the ranking. Then at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, they came in 11th place.

This year, it’s a different story.

The UK women, relatively speaking, are flying under the radar entering this week’s national-championship meet. Ranked fifth, the favorite label is gone for the Cats.

Edrick Floréal wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m all about underdog, man,” Floréal said.

Floréal relishes the opportunity to prove people wrong, which is exactly what he and his team will be looking to do in Eugene, Oregon, Wednesday through Saturday. Bringing 16 women’s qualifiers out west, as well as six on the men’s side, the Cats will be looking to make some noise.

“I believe that the underdog is probably a little bit more fierce competitor than the person who’s favored,” Floréal said. “Because when you’re favored, you just win and if you win you were supposed to win. So that’s no big deal. But when you’re the underdog and you win, you sort of upset the apple cart. I think the underdog is the person you gotta watch the most because they just feel that sense of invincibility.”

Floréal’s team, not surprisingly, has fully embraced that mentality.

“I definitely agree that we’re the underdogs this year,” sophomore pole vaulter Olivia Gruver said. “Last year we were coming in No. 2, No. 1, so coming in No. 5 this year is definitely a totally different outlook. I think we’re a lot more confident this year too. So I think that’ll benefit us so we can come out on top this year.”

Though the favorite label may be gone, UK’s goals are no different than they were last year. Helping in the pursuit of those goals will be the presence of star senior Sha’Keela Saunders. 

On top of running as a member of the Cats’ 4x400m relay team, Saunders qualified in the long jump after missing out a season ago. At indoors earlier this year, Saunders finally broke through and won her first national championship in her signature event after three times settling for silver and once bronze, but the outdoor title has still escaped her.

“This is my final shot to win a national championship outdoor,” Saunders said. “It’s exciting. Some people think it’s some pressure on me, but not really. I’m just really excited to go out there, have fun this last time in Eugene, Oregon. Usually the crowd in Eugene is really, really pumped up and I’m just ready to go out there and attack and go for the win.”

Though she missed out on qualifying for nationals last year, Saunders does have some fresh memories of Hayward Field, the site of this week’s meet. At last year’s Olympic trials, Saunders came within one and three-quarter inches of earning a spot on the United States Olympic Team.

“Personally I’m excited,” Saunders said. “Last time I was in Eugene, Oregon, I placed fourth at Olympic Trials, so I’m going in there with a fire in my eyes, I feel like, and I’m just ready to attack and score some big points for the team.”

Though he doesn’t have quite the same history in the venue, Jacob Thomson will take a similar mentality into the meet. He wants to win his 10k race and sees a prime opportunity to do so with Oregon’s Edward Cheserek, the winningest runner in NCAA history, missing the event due to a lower back strain.

“With him out of the field, there’s really probably eight or 10 guys who expect to go in there and compete for a national championship,” Thomson said. “I see myself as one of those guys. Workouts, everything’s been going great the last couple weeks.”

Thomson finished sixth in the 10k last season and was in contention until the final lap. 

“When it comes to the bell lap, you just gotta take the gloves off and fight,” Thomson said. “Best man comes out on top. Last year I think there were six of us who took the bell together and it came down to a really tough finish. I don’t expect this year to be any different.”

Thomson and his five fellow athletes on the men’s side will be looking to build on last year’s 22nd-place finish. They’re confident after a successful weekend hosting and competing in the NCAA East Preliminary Championships.

The women, meanwhile, have a sense of self-assuredness about them Floréal hasn’t seen since Kendra Harrison and Dezerea Bryant wore Kentucky blue.

“I haven’t seen them in this sort of mindset before,” Floréal said. “It just seems a good level of comfort that they can do something. Last time they did that was when Dez and Keni decided that they were going to go to the NCAA and get a runner-up trophy. I’m hoping that this group sort of has the same mindset and really wants to go there and prove something.

“I think if we can all show up and we can take care of business we can hopefully come out with some hardware.”