Jan. 15, 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky track and field teams will begin the 2015 season this weekend inside the friendly confines of Nutter Field House at the Kentucky Invitational.
The meet will begin on Friday at 4 p.m. ET with the women’s weight throw. The only track events of Friday will be the men’s and women’s distance medley relays, beginning at 7 p.m.
Saturday’s action will begin at 9 a.m. ET.
Admission is free to the public. Fans are encouraged to park in the C-6 (Green) lot outside Nutter Field House.
The UK women’s team begins 2015 ranked No. 6, which ties the school record.
Dezerea Bryant, the defending NCAA 200m Champion, showed her class over the extra 100m with a winning time of 36.70 to begin the season in December at the Hoosier Open. Bryant’s time was the fourth fastest indoor 300m time ever by a collegian.
Seven returning Wildcats combined to earn a total of 10 All-America accolades indoors last year. Seven athletes won a total of eight All-America honors outdoors last season. The Kentucky women’s track and field team scored its most points ever at a NCAA Indoor Championships in 2014, finishing with 23 points for ninth place nationally.
The ninth-place finish earned the Wildcats their highest women’s team placement since 1989 when UK ended the meet eighth with the University’s previous all-time NCAA Indoor high score, 15 points.
The UK women’s team also finished inside the national top 10 for the second time ever, the other being 1989. Dezerea Bryant finished the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships as the team’s high-scorer having earned 18 points in two events. She came agonizingly close to pulling off the indoor short sprint double finishing runner-up in the 60-meter dash, a day after winning the NCAA 200m Championship.
The Wildcats will host what has become one of the best regular-season fields of any meet in the nation for the Rod McCravy Memorial Jan. 23-24. Defending Men’s and Women’s National Indoor Champions Oregon, in addition to defending Women’s SEC Indoor Champions Florida, defending Men’s SEC Indoor Champions Arkansas and national powers Florida State, LSU, Texas, Baylor, USC and Georgia amongst other elite squads are slated to compete at the McCravy meet.
The Wildcats will host the nation’s top conference meet, the Southeastern Championships Feb. 27-28 inside Nutter Field House.
