ATLANTA ? The Kentucky track and field teams notched six NCAA regional qualifying marks Saturday and the Wildcats captured two events on the final day of the Yellow Jacket Invitational. The two-day event took place at the George C. Griffin Track on the campus of Georgia Tech.
The men?s 4×400 relay squad, which charted one of its best performances last season at the Yellow Jacket Invitational, continued its success at the event, finishing first with a regional-qualifying time of 3:06.29. The squad, which captured the 2006 SEC Indoor championship and finished second at indoor nationals, consists of Nathan Browning (Petersburg, Ill.), Justin Harrison (Wheaton, Ill.), Jose Acevedo (Caracas, Venezuela) and Luis Luna (Barquisimeto, Venezuela).
Junior distance runner Andre? Silva (Centereach, N.Y.) took first in the 5,000-meter run with an outdoor-best time of 14:41.59. Bruce Hordusky (Erie, Pa.) and John Thompson (Owensboro, Ky.) each also posted strong marks in the 5,000 meter to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.
The men?s sprinters performed well in the 400-meter dash, as Luna (47.06), Harrison (47.07) and Browning (47.09) posted the top three outdoor marks in the Southeastern Conference this season to date.
Freshman sprinter Jenna Martin (Nova Scotia, Canada) notched a regional-qualifying mark in the 400 meter dash with the sixth-best outdoor time in school history at 54.61. Kleo Mack finished ninth in the event with a time of 55.83.
The men?s 4×100 relay squad, consisting of Browning, Gordon McKenzie (Queens, N.Y), Kwasi Obeng (Bardstown, Ky.) and Acevedo also notched a regional-qualifying mark with a time of 40.38.
Sophomore distance runner Taylor Miller (Owensboro, Ky.) charted a personal-best time of 17:26.78 in the women?s 5,000-meter run to finish third in the event. Freshman Lindsay Petri (Girard, Pa.) was 12th with a mark of 18:27.80.
Senior jumper Rachel Kohler (Georgetown, Ind.) just missed a regional-qualifying mark in the high jump, finishing fifth with a leap of 5-7. Sophomore Maggie Tincher (Winfield, W.Va.) narrowly missed matching her personal best in the pole vault with a leap of 11-5.75.
Kentucky returns to action Friday when it travels to Auburn, Ala., to compete in the two-day Auburn Tiger Track Classic.
Complete results and a recap of next weekend?s action will be available at ukathletics.com.
