LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Five Kentucky track and field athletes and the men?s 4×400 relay team have been selected to participate in the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, the NCAA announced late Monday evening.
The NCAA Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Arkansas, take place March 9-10 in the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
Sophomore thrower Ashley Muffet (North Canton, Ohio) [shot put] and the men?s 4×400 relay squad, both of which won Southeastern Conference Championships on Feb. 25, were automatic qualifiers to the event.
Muffet captured the 2007 SEC shot put title with a school-record toss of 56-8.50. Her mark stands as the best in the league in that event this season and is the SEC?s only automatic qualifier in the women?s shot put. Muffet holds the Kentucky school record in both the indoor and outdoor shot puts. She was the Cats? top points scorer at the SEC Championships with 13 points after also finishing sixth in the 20-pound weight throw.
The men?s 4×400 relay team captured the SEC Championship with a school-record and Nutter Field House time of 3:05.87. The squad, consisting of Justin Harrison (Wheaton, Ill.), Nathan Browning (Petersburg, Ill.), Jose Acevedo (Caracas, Venezuela) and Luis Luna (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) posted the second-fastest time in the country this season and broke the school record set in 1996.
Freshman sprinter Jenna Martin (Nova Scotia, Canada) qualified to participate in the women?s 400 meter dash. She broke the freshman school record on the opening day of the SEC Championships with a personal-best time of 53.44 in the 400 meter. The rookie holds 53 overall records in her home province and is a three-time Canadian Legion champion and record holder in the 400.
Junior Lavera Morris (Orlando, Fla.) and senior Georganne Way (Lititz, Pa.) each qualified for the women?s 800 meter run at this past weekend?s Iowa State NCAA Qualifier in Ames, Iowa. Way finished second in the event with a personal-best time of 2:05.97 and narrowly missed the school record of 2:05.72 set by Beth Heimann in 2002. Morris, an All-American last season in the outdoor 800, ran a personal-best mark of 2:06.00 to finish third at the last chance meet.
Luna, also a member of the 4×400 relay squad, also earned a berth in the men?s 400 meter dash. Luna finished second in the preliminaries of the men?s 400-meter dash with a season-best mark of 46.47.
Complete results and a recap of the upcoming NCAA Championships will be available at ukatheltics.com. A complete meet notes package will be available later in the week.
Kentucky?s NCAA Championship Participants
Luis Luna ? Men?s 400 Meter Dash Men?s 4×400 Relay Jenna Martin ? Women?s 400 Meter Dash Lavera Morris ? Women?s 800 Meter Run Ashley Muffet ? Women?s Shot Put Georganne Way ? Women?s 800 Meter Run
