Nashville, Tenn. ? The final day of the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships was full of sunshine and top finishes for the University of Kentucky track & field squad in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday. Senior Jeff Chakouian led the charge with a second place finish in the men?s shot put, while senior counterparts Brooke Patterson finished third in the 1,500-meters and senior Allison Grace claimed third in the 5,000 meters. The men?s squad tied for 10th with 28 points, while the women?s team took ninth recording 31 points. Arkansas claimed the men’s title with 169 points, while the South Carolina women took first with a score of 145.20.
?I am pleased with the results, considering that we did not come into the meet fully equipped in all of the events,? said UK head coach Don Weber. ?The percentage of athletes that earned personal bests and improved on their times was high and we were very encouraged by that.?
Chakouian, competing in the second of two flights, began with a toss of 19.76m (64-10) and continued to improve, notching his best throw of the competition with a mark of 20.07m (65-10 ?) during his second prelims attempt. In his final preliminary attempt Chakouian threw 19.47m (63-10 ?) and headed into the finals in second behind Auburn?s Edis Elkasevic?s mark of 20.50 (67-3 ?). The first two attempts for both men brought marks lower than those of their preliminary tosses and the shot put title was down to Chakouian?s final throw. His toss looked to be his best of the season, possibly his career however the red flag was raised, ending his chances at a sixth title. Elkasevic recorded his best mark of 20.84m (68-4 ?) in his last attempt to claim the shot put title. Chakouian added his eighth All-SEC honor to his five SEC shot put titles and three runner-up finishes during his five-year career.
Sophomore Andy Fryman took fourth in the shot put with a toss of 17.88m (58-8), improving on his seventh-place finish last year. Competing in his third event in as many days, Fryman?s mark was a personal-best mark by one inch and was more than three feet further than his previous season-best toss. Fryman recorded six points in two events for Kentucky.
?Andy and Jeff both came up big when it mattered most,? said Weber. ?From a coaches perspective they performed their best when the best was needed and you can?t ask for anything more than that.?
Grace recorded personal-best time of 16:30.87 in the 5,000 meters, improving on her previous regional qualifying time of 16:38, while Patterson improved on her seventh-place finish at last year?s SEC Championships, recording a time of 4:28.57 in the 1,500 meters. UK freshman Liliane Sparkes ran a very determined 1,500-meter race, finishing just behind Patterson in fourth place, adding five points to the women?s total. Sparkes? time of 4:29.45 was her second fastest time of the season, while freshman teammate Lavera Morris finished 10th with a time of 4:32.92.
?I am pleased with the way that Ali ran today,? said Weber. ?For be fairly new at racing in the 5,000 meters she ran a pretty good race.?
Freshman Gabe McLaren ran into some obstacles in the men?s 800-meter race. McLaren was battling the flu to start the race and then 200 meters into the competition two competitors in front of McLaren got tangled up and he was forced to hurdle over the pair. McLaren finished in seventh for the Cats with a time of 1:51.30, adding two points to the UK men?s total. Sophomore Georganne Way claimed sixth in the women?s 800-meter run with a personal-best time of 2:07.87, while Patterson, who earlier in the evening had competed in the women?s 1,500-meters finished eighth with a time of 2:15.24.
In the men?s 400-meter hurdles junior Dedrick Tillerson shattered his personal-best time of 51.73 with a fifth-place time of 51.28. Tillerson added four points to the Kentucky men?s point total and recorded his fourth regional qualifying time of the season.
In the women?s javelin freshman Lauren Abney and junior Kathleen Biondi both scored points for the Kentucky women?s squad. Biondi annihilated her previous personal-best mark of 122-08 with a throw of 39.64m (130-1). Biondi finished seventh, earning two points for the women?s squad, while Abney took fifth with a toss of 41.57m (136-5), earning four points for UK.
The University of Kentucky track & field squads will travel to the Mideast Regional in Bloomington, Ind., May 27-28. Those athletes who met the NCAA regional qualifying standards will compete.
Results and photos from the SEC Championship can be found at http://www.vucommodores.com.
