Seven Wildcats Advance to Eugene on NCAA East Prelims Friday

TAMPA, Fla. –  Seven more Kentucky Track and Field Wildcats earned the top-12 finishes required to advance beyond the NCAA East Preliminary Championships on Friday.

They took UK’s NCAA East Prelims qualification quantity to 10 through two of three meet days. On Thursday, three Wildcats booked their spots on the plane to Eugene, Oregon where the NCAA Championships finals will be held June 6-9.

Kentucky had two freshmen finish as top qualifiers on Friday as Dwight St. Hillaire lopped a half-second of his 400m PB, while Sydney McLaughlin had to maintain balance into the home stretch, but eventually was the fastest in the women’s 400m hurdles quarterfinals.
 
A further seven students wearing Kentucky’s grey alternate uniforms advanced from Friday first-round heats into quarterfinals to be held Saturday where trips to the NCAA finals site will be on the line.

Seven field-event opportunities, plus three relay “Qs” will also be available to Kentucky on Saturday.

Wildcats moving on to Eugene on Friday
St. Hillaire was the fastest 400m qualifier out of East Prelims in some style. The Southeastern Conference bronze medalist smashed the personal best he set just two weeks ago by half a second. He broke 45 seconds for the first time, running 44.55Q to move to No. 19 on the collegiate all-time list and lower his school record.
 
“From the beginning (of the season) qualifying for NCAAs was the plan,” St. Hillaire said. “To finally achieve it, it’s only good things from here. Just keep training and follow the plan.”
 
McLaughlin finished as top 400m hurdles qualifier from East Prelims. The reigning SEC Champion hit a hurdle coming off the turn for home, but recovered well — plus she was already ahead by a large margin – and finished in 55.50Q.
 
Kianna Gray and Celera Barnes both turned in their best 100m races on Friday to advance on to Eugene. Gray ran a really fast, albeit windy 11.02wQ, third fastest of the day. The junior advanced to Eugene in the 100m for the third year in a row.
 
Barnes broke Gray’s UK freshman record by .04, running a PB 11.16Q (+1.6) to finish seventh fastest of the quarterfinals.
 
“To be able to come back and do what I’m supposed to do, be out here for my team is a great feeling,” Gray said. “I was so happy to see Celera run like that. I ran out of the (mixed zone) tent when I heard her name announced to get a view of the results board so I could see her time. She PR’d so I was happy for her.”
 
Olivia Gruver needed to clear just one bar, doing so on her second attempt at 13’8.5″/4.18m q to earn the trip to Eugene where she’ll seek to defend her NCAA title in the pole vault. The junior qualified to the NCAA finals site for the third year in a row.
 
Katy Kunc advanced to Eugene for the second year in a row in the 3k steeplechase. She won heat one in a season best 9:58.03, breaking 10 minutes for the second time in her career.
 
Noah Castle earned a first NCAA berth, having placed 11th in the men’s discus with a mark of 177’11″/54.22m q, which he tossed on his first throw.

Wildcats who advanced to quarterfinals on Saturday
UK went four for four – two men, two women – qualifying from straight hurdles first-round heats into the Saturday quarterfinals.
 
Daniel Roberts ran the fifth fastest 110m hurdles qualifying time 13.65Q (+0.7), and Caleb Wilt turned in a personal best 14.03Q (+1.8) to advance.
 
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn looked great running the top first-round time 12.60Q (+0.7), and Jacklyn Howell also advanced running 13.05wQ (+2.5).
 
The Wildcats went three for three advancing in the women’s 200m heats as a massive tailwind and eventual pouring rain set in after the first few of six first-round heats.
 
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn ran 22.21wQ (+4.8), good for No. 15 on the all-conditions collegiate all-time list. She had the third fastest first-round time.
 
Kianna Gray ran 22.65wQ (+5.3) to advance with the 10th fastest time. Kayelle Clarke ran a PB 22.82Q (+1.8) in one of the first heats before the winds rapidly increased. Her time ranks No. 6 on the UK all-time list, and was 13th fastest of the first round.
 
Wildcats moving on to Eugene on Thursday
For the second year in a row, Fred Dorsey dropped a big long jump from one of the first two flights – from which the low seeds based on season-best marks compete – to qualify to the NCAA finals site in the long jump.
 
The senior advanced to the NCAA Championships long jump for the third year in a row, using a mark of 25’1.25″/7.65m (+1.0).
 
Sophomore Ellen Ekholm needed to clear just two bars to book her trip to Eugene for the second year in a row. After clearing the first bar on her first try, she needed two attempts to get over 5’10.75″/1.80m, and that was all she needed.

Jacob Thomson concluded the night on the track, running a relatively solid 10k to advance comfortably with at fifth-place time of 29:22.27. He qualified for the NCAA 10k final for the third year in a row, having placed top five in each of those East semifinals.

The primer
The name of the game this weekend will be qualifying on to Eugene, Oregon. The Wildcats are competing at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships hosted by the University of South Florida running Thursday through Saturday.
 
UK has 40 entries at this week’s NCAA East Preliminary Championships.
 
The UK men’s team qualified 21 entries, while the UK women’s team qualified 19.
 
Additionally, Tim Duckworth – NCAA decathlon leader – became the first Wildcat to book his trip to the NCAA Championships finals site as the multi-events won’t be contested at the preliminary championships.

The format
The East and West regions are comprised of all Division I institutions in 25 states apiece for each of the two regions.
 
Twelve performers from each preliminary site advance to the NCAA Championships – hosted for the sixth straight year at Oregon’s Hayward Field – June 6-9. 
 
The East and West Preliminary Championship intended to have parallel schedules, although expected inclement weather in the late-May Florida afternoons this weekend have resulted in the meet program moving up earlier each day.
 
California State University, Sacramento will host NCAA West Prelims the same days.
 
For each individual event contested at each of the preliminary sites, the top 48 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition.  For each relay event, the top 24 declared relay teams were accepted into the competition.
 
For the heptathlon and decathlon, the top 24 declared student-athletes in each event based on their position on the national descending-order list were accepted into the Championships. Heptathlon and decathlon are not contested at preliminary championships sites.
 
But as it relates to the NCAA Championships, qualifying entries into the preliminary championships is less significant than the number of entries who make it through prelims and advance to Eugene for the NCAA Championships.
 
Precedent
A year ago, UK qualified 22 entries – 16 women’s and six men’s – out of the NCAA East Preliminary Championships, which it served as host institution for.
 
How to watch
NCAA track and field fans can watch a live stream of the NCAA Division I East and/or West Preliminary Championships as FloTrack Pro subscribers. The subscription will include access to all FloTrack live broadcasts, video on-demand from all events, documentaries, technique videos and more. Coverage of the preliminary competitions will be available May 24 – 26 at www.FloTrack.com. 
 

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