Jan. 25, 2003
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s and women’s track & field teams both finished third in the SEC Challenge at the Nutter Field House in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday, Jan. 25. The highlight of the day was an outstanding performance by the men’s 800-meter runners, two of which automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Leading the group in the event was junior David Freeman, who finished second with a personal-best time of 1:47.40. Close behind was senior Hunter Spencer, with his automatic qualifying time of 1:48.29, also a personal best. Junior Paul Ciurlys shaved nearly a second off his old personal best time to take fourth place with a provisional-qualifying time of 1:48.62. Senior Chad Johnson and junior James Doaty finished fifth and sixth, respectively, while also provisionally qualifying for NCAA’s.
Ernest Simms claimed the 60-meter title for the men with a provisional qualifying time of 6.71. Simms also finished fifth in the 200 meters, scoring for the Cats. Senior Thomas Morgan easily distanced himself from the competition in the men’s mile, claiming the title while just missing his personal best with a time of 4:06.91. Morgan also took home first-place honors in the 3,000 meters.
Senior Matt Smothermon defeated his personal best in the high jump with a second-place leap of 6-11.50, which ranks fifth in indoor school history. Jeff Chakouian added another event title to his credit with a throw of 62-07.75 in the shot put, a provisional qualifying mark. Closing out the men’s highlights was UK’s distance medley team, which took second.
In women’s action, Beth Heimann won the 800 meters with a provisional-qualifying time of 2:07.70, while Caitlin Phillips, Leah Kerstetter and Brooke Patterson took three of the top six spots in the mile. Phillips finished second in the 3,000 meters, while teammate Allison Grace was third.
Junior Olubusola Adeagbo destroyed her personal best in the 60-meter hurdles with a mark of 8.46, finishing fourth. Simidele Adeagbo and Janet Crawford claimed their second consecutive event titles in the triple jump and high jump, respectively. The women’s distance medley relay team finished second on the day.
The UK women tallied 90.50 points, far ahead of fourth-place Georgia with 65.50. South Carolina won the meet title for the women with 170 points. On the men’s side, Tennessee finished first with 139.50 points, while South Carolina was second with 124 and UK took third with 105. Georgia, Florida and Auburn closed out the lineup.
Complete results are available at www.ukathletics.com. The Wildcats return to action on Friday, Feb. 7, when they play host to their third meet of the indoor season, the Rod McCravy Memorial. The event continues through Saturday, Feb. 8.
