The University of Kentucky track and field team will return to action this weekend at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Baton Rouge, La. The Cats will begin competition on Friday, May 28, with the women?s discus and men?s shot put and the preliminaries of all the running events.
The Cats will look to their signature distance runners to make an impact at the regional meet, as the men?s and women?s 800 and the men?s 1,500-meter run are stacked with talent from UK. In the 800, Kris Landers, who has the 11th-best time in the nation this year, Paul Ciurlys and Jean Balan will give the Cats three NCAA Championship legitimate competitors, while Beth Heimann and Brooke Patterson hope to reach nationals on the women?s side. Heimann, the UK school-record holder who is ranked sixth nationally in the event, hopes to add her fourth All-American honor and improve upon her sixth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The 1,500 meters will also look to be as fruitful as the 800, with top contenders Hunter Spencer, David Freeman and Thomas Morgan. Spencer, No. 8 according to trackshark.com, just came off a third-place finish in the race at the Southeastern Conference Championships, while Freeman, who sat out of the outdoor SEC?s with an injury, is the reigning SEC Indoor mile champion. 2004 SEC Cross Country Champion Thomas Morgan and Caitlin Phillips give UK another threat in the 5,000 meters, as Morgan crushed the 32-year-old school record in the 5k with one of the fastest times in the nation this year.
The Cats also look to carry over their momentum from the SEC Championships in the field events this weekend. Ildiko Varga and Jeff Chakouian both claimed second-place finishes in the discus throw and shot put, respectively. Varga smashed her previous school record in the discus (175-02.00) to earn her highest finish at the conference tournament, while Chakouian threw a season-best mark of 63-04.00 after an outdoor season marked by an ongoing abdomen injury. Molly Lonergan and Gennessa Guzman will joing Varga in the discus, and Andy Fryman will compete alongside Chakouian in the shot put. Fryman and senior Tony Tzouanakis will team up to represent UK in the men?s discus as well, and Kristen Mowrey will take her personal-best leap of 5-08.00 in the high jump into the regional competition.
