UKTF Sends Split Squads to Compete in Blacksburg and Winston-Salem

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky track and field pole vaulters will compete at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. In the Doc Hale Elite Invitational while the distance runners will run on the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, NC for the Camel City Elite Invitational on Saturday, February 5. 

The women’s pole vault begins at 11 a.m. and the men’s pole vault begins at 2 p.m. 

The distance runners will be competing in the men’s and women’s mile, with the women’s race beginning at 3:08 p.m. and the men’s race beginning at 3:18 p.m. 

Live results for pole vaulters can be found on flashresults.com. 

Live results for the distance runners can be found at live.jdlfasttrack.com. 

Pole Vault 

Kentucky will feature seven pole vaulters at the Doc Hale Elite Invitational in Blacksburg, including Siobhan Scerencsits, Payton Phillips for the women, and Matt Peare, Joeseph Jardine, Dalton Shepler, Jacob Sobota and Lincoln Young. 

The teams competing against UKTF’s pole vaulters include: 

• Charlotte 

• Tennessee 

• Virginia 

• Georgia Tech 

• Towson 

• Virginia Tech 

Szerencsits will highlight Kentucky’s women while Peare will highlight Kentucky’s men. 

Szerencsits has put up two wins in the 2021-22 indoor season, the first coming at the Cardinal Classic in December where she vaulted 14’2.5″/4.33 meters, improving upon her own No. 2 all-time spot for Kentucky. That vault also ranks her at ninth in the NCAA this season according to TFRRS. 

She also won the pole vault at the Jim Green Invitational (13’9.25″/4.20m). 

Peare made his season debut at the Rod McCravy Memorial, winning the event with a vault of 17’07.75″/5.33m. Before the McCravy, he last competed at 2021 Southeastern Conference Championships where he won the gold medal for the second year in a row with a vault of 17’9.75″/5.43m. 

Distance 

UKTF sends Tori Herman, Jenna Gearing to compete in the women’s mile and Dylan Allen to compete in the men’s mile at the Camel City Elite Invitational. 

The women’s mile starts at 3:08 p.m. on Saturday, with Gearing and Herman competing in the first heat. The first heat of the men’s mile begins at 3:18, with Allen being featured in the second heat. 

The women’s mile race will have student athletes from the following schools: 

• Virginia Tech 

• UMass Lowell 

• NC State 

• Cincinnati 

The race will also have several professional runners.

Herman has been placing high this season, finishing third (4:48.72) in the mile at the Jim Green Invitational, and second (9:10.59) in the 3000m at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet. 

She also had a successful cross country season, placing 17th at NCAA Cross Country Championships and becoming a cross country All-American. She was also first-team All-SEC due to her fifth-place finish in the 6K at SEC Championships. 

Gearing has also impressed in the indoor season, putting up her best season debut mile time at the Jim Green Invitational with a second-place finish (4:43.40), leading Kentucky in the race. She also raced at the Rod McCravy Memorial meet, placing fourth in the women’s 3000m with a time of 9:18.04. 

Allen has earned two wins at the McCravy and Jim Green Invitational. He won the 3000m at the McCravy with a time of 8:04.00 and won the mile (4:06.20) at Jim Green. 

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