Feb. 14, 2003

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Kentucky track & field program took two event titles in the opening day of the Tyson Foods Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. Junior Jeff Chakouian won the men’s shot put with a provisional qualifying throw of 62-06.75, while freshman high jumper Rachel Kohler won her first-ever event title with a personal best leap of 5-08.75.

Kohler’s win marks the first time all season that teammate and All-American Janet Crawford hasn’t won the event. Crawford, having a rare off performance, finished fifth with a jump of 5-07.00. In other women’s field events, Gennessa Guzman and Nicole Allyn took ninth and 10th, respectively in the women’s weight throw, while Simidele Adeagbo finished fourth overall in the women’s triple jump with a leap of 43-00.25.

Ernest Simms had a great day on the track, taking second in the 60-meter preliminaries with a personal-best time of 6.67, also a provisional qualifying mark. He went on to finish fourth in the finals with a mark of 6.70.

Junior Brooke Patterson finished fourth in the seeded mile race, while teammate Leah Kerstetter was 11th. Candace Leep took home sixth place in the women’s unseeded mile with a time of 5:05.42. David Freeman led the men in the seeded mile race, finishing second overall with a career-best time of 4:03.99. Justin Amason was ninth in the race.

Kentucky placed four men in the top-15 for the 800 meters, led by Kris Landers in fourth (1:49.49), Paul Ciurlys in fifth (1:49.73), James Doaty in 12th (1:53.58) and Jean Balan in 13th (1:53.85).

Caitlin Phillips finished fifth in the women’s 5,000 meters with a time of 17:01.56, becoming the first Wildcat to compete in the event this season.

Action resumes at 5 p.m. Saturday, with UK’s Thomas Morgan competing in the men’s 5,000-meter race. For complete results, visit www.flashresults.com.