Kentucky has four provisional qualifiers.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (May 25, 1998) — The University of Kentucky track and field team hadfour athletes provisionally qualify for the NCAA championships on Sunday.Roshell Russell, Shonnishia Johnson, Lutisha Shittu and Jeffrey Ellis turned inperformances in the Southeastern Conference championships that will extendtheir seasons.

Kentucky’s men’s and women’s teams both finished in ninth place in overallcompetition. The Arkansas men and Florida women both repeated as SECchamps. Junior Roshell Russell finished second to South Carolina’s ToniqueWilliams in the women’s 400 meter run. Her time of 52.48 earned her aberth in the NCAA championships.

Two Wildcats placed in the top five in the women’s 100 meter high hurdles.

Junior Shonnishia Johnson and freshman Lutisha Shittu finished third and fifth,respectively. Johnson completed the race with a time of 13.16, while Shittuplaced fifth with a time of 13.62.

From the men’s team, freshman Jeffrey Ellis earned a third place finish in themen’s 400 meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 50.39.

Other solid performances came from Jeffrey Limpert and Jason Margraf.Limpert placed eighth in the men’s 800 meter run with a time of 1:50.41.Margraf competed in the men’s discus throw. The Wildcat senior’s mark of176 feet was good enough to earn a fifth place finish.

The NCAA track and field championships will be held June 3-6 in Buffalo,N.Y. at State University of New York at Buffalo.