GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? The University of Kentucky track and field squads wrapped up day one action at the SEC Indoor Championships Saturday. Freshman Ashley Muffet placed third in the shot put, while multiple middle distance runners advanced to tomorrow?s finals.
Muffet started the day with a third place finish in the shot put (50-11). Muffet?s personal-best this season of 52-2.75 remains an NCAA provisional mark and ranks her third all-time at UK.
Freshman pole vaulter Mary Durham rebroke her indoor school record and notched the highest jump in school history with a leap of 11-11.75. Durham?s jump surpassed former Wildcat Liz Kittredge?s mark of 11-9 (2001, outdoor).
Senior Tom Masthay reached a personal-best in the 55 hurdles, finishing in a time of 7.59. Masthay?s time converted to an 8.12 for 60 meters and moves him into a tie for fifth all-time at Kentucky.
Freshman Andrea Brown and junior Georganne Way advanced to tomorrow?s mile run finals. Brown ran a personal-best 4:54.01, while Way clocked a 4:55.31.
Sophomore John Richardson advanced to the mile run finals after clocking a swift 4:07.67. Tomorrow?s race looks to be extremely stout with three runners owning season-best times in the top 20 nationally, including last year?s SEC meet champ Said Ahmed of Arkansas.
Sophomore Lavera Morris will represent the Cats in the 800 finals, finishing the prelims in a time of 2:10.76. Stephan Smith won his heat and ran the third fastest prelim (1:51.86) overall to advance to tomorrow?s 800 finals.
Senior Michelle Gales increased her personal-best in the long jump by six inches (19-1.50) to finish ninth out of 28. The event finished with five jumpers beyond the provisional standard. Despite it being Gales? first season of collegiate track and field, the former gymnast ranks eighth all-time at Kentucky in the event.
Freshman Gordon McKenzie just missed reaching the finals of the 60, but rebounded nicely in the 200 with the seventh fastest time (21.53) and a trip to the finals.
Sophomore Nathan Browning (48.79) and junior Luis Luna (48.63) both ran season-bests in the 400 but failed to qualify for the finals.
Those who qualified for their respective finals and the remaining UK athletes will continue action at the O?Connell Center tomorrow afternoon. Live scoring for the event will be available on ukathletics.com. For full results and meet information, fans can go to gatorzone.com.
