KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ? The University of Kentucky track and field teams wrapped up action at the Sea Ray Relays Saturday afternoon at LaPorte Stadium. Freshman Jose Acevedo added to the list of NCAA Regional Qualifiers for Kentucky with a swift 20.87 in the 200 meters, while the men?s 4×400 meter relay capped off the meet with an impressive first place showing.
Acevedo, a native of Venezuela, set a new personal-best with his mark (20.87) and now ranks fifth all-time at UK in the event. Acevedo finished fifth in the race that featured nine sprinters that went under the qualifying standard. Fellow freshman Gordon McKenzie also competed in the 200 and posted a time of 21.25 (21.17, PR).
Acevedo and McKenzie also ran the first two legs (Brandon Austin, third; Nathan Browning anchor) of the 4×100 relay that finished fifth with a time of 40.78. The Cats already own a regional mark in the event set at last weekend?s Seminole Invitational (40.23).
The men?s and women?s 4×800 relay teams finished second and fifth, respectively. The men?s team of sophomores Gabe McLaren (1:54 split) and John Richardson (1:49), freshman Ryan Finn (1:54) and sophomore Stephan Smith (1:49) finished in 7:27.54 and were inched out by Penn State (7:25.47).
To close out the meet, the women?s 4×400 relay ran a season-best 3:45.05, but were slightly short of a qualifying mark (3:42.0). The nationally-ranked men?s 4×400 relay continued its dominance with an easy first place finish (3:05.93) over SEC foe South Carolina. The Cats broke the school record earlier this season (3:04.81, Yellow Jacket Invite, 4/1) and entered this weekend?s meet with the second fastest season-best in the country behind NCAA indoor champ LSU.
For the season, Kentucky owns 21 regional qualifying marks as a team (13 male, eight female), which is a vast improvement over last season?s total of 13.
Later this evening, on the West Coast, the Kentucky throwers will look to add to its list of regional qualifiers (three male, four female) at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz. Results and recap for the meet will be made available Sunday morning.
Next weekend, the squads will split duty at the Eastern Kentucky Invite (Fri., April 21) and Titan Invitational, Sat., April 22, in San Diego, Calif.
