ATLANTA ? It may be early in the outdoor season but the University of Kentucky track and field squads are already posting big marks. The Cats produced six more regional qualifying marks at Saturday?s Yellow Jacket Invitational, highlighted by the men?s 4×400-meter relay smashing an 11-year old school record.
After a tremendous day of work from both the men?s and women?s squads, it was fitting the final event of the Yellow Jacket Invitational at host Georgia Tech was the mile relay. The crew of sophomores Nathan Browning and Justin Harrison, freshman Jose Acevedo and junior Luis Luna scorched the track en route to an easy first place finish, an NCAA regional qualifying mark and more importantly, a school record that held strong for over a decade. The Cats crossed the tape in 3:04.81, surpassing the 1996 squad?s mark of 3:05.71. This year?s team is no stranger to success, having produced the fourth fastest time in the country during the indoor season.
What made the 4×400 relay even more impressive was earlier in the meet, three-quarters of the squad produced regional marks in the 400, led by Harrison?s personal-best 46.56 (fifth all-time UK). Fellow sophomore Browning also produced a PR (46.80, t-seventh all-time), while Luna moved into ninth all-time with a 46.82.
Freshman Ashley Muffet recorded her fourth UK frosh record with a first place toss of 51-11.25 in the shot put. Muffet?s mark well exceeded the regional standard (46-11) and placed her third all-time at Kentucky. Junior Andy Fryman set a new personal-best with a throw of 60-6.50 in the shot put to improve his regional mark and earn second place honors (top collegiate). Fryman remains fifth all-time in the event.
In the discus, senior Ildiko Varga took home first place honors and improved her seasonal-best and regional mark with a throw of 177-05. Fryman finished second in the male portion of the event with a season-best throw of 167-9.
In the 400 hurdles, seniors Dedrick Tillerson and Thomas Masthay for the men and freshman Ashley Trimble for the women posted seasonal-bests. Tillerson finished third (top collegiate) with a regional mark of 52.23, while Masthay placed eighth (53.29). Trimble fell a little more than a tenth of a second short of a regional mark with her time of 1:00.94, but set a new freshman record and moved her into fifth all-time at Kentucky.
Other notables for the Cats included freshman Brandon Austin?s personal-best in the 100 (10.74), while sophomore Alisha Jones (57.20) and freshman Kleo Mack (56.57) both posted PRs in the 400. Senior Michelle Gales improved her personal-best with a fifth-place leap of 39-3.75 (sixth all-time) in the triple jump. Mary Durham broke the freshman outdoor pole vault record with a jump of 10-11.75. Durham already owns the indoor frosh and all-time records (11-11.75).
Friday night, the UK hammer throwers went to work and posted three personal-bests. Nicole Allyn was the top female for the Cats with a toss of 177-10. Allyn owns a regional mark with her season-best throw of 182-0 at the Baldy Castillo Invite (3/17). Muffet set a personal-best with a toss of 173-5 (fourth all-time UK), while Varga also set a PR (170-7, sixth all-time UK). On the men?s side, Fryman launched a personal-best 183-2 to move into third all-time at Kentucky and earn him a berth in the regional meet.
For the season, Kentucky owns 11 regional qualifying marks ? eight male, three female.
Next weekend, a majority of the UK squad will travel to the Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. (April 7-8), while the men?s 4×400 relay will attend the prestigious Texas Relays in Austin (April 5-8).
