EUGENE, Ore. ? Kentucky’s distance and mid-distance athletes recorded numerous personal bests and regional-qualifying marks to conclude the Oregon Invitational late Saturday evening at historic Hayward Field, considered by many to be one of the world?s greatest track environments.
Three Kentucky athletes notched NCAA regional-qualifying marks, highlighted by junior John Richardson (Ocean City, N.J.), who won his heat of the men?s 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:44.80. Senior Georganne Way (Lititz, Pa.), who qualified for the women?s 800-meter run last weekend at the Sea Ray Relays, recorded a regional-qualifying mark in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:27.28, marking a season-high. Junior Lavera Morris (Orlando, Fla.) also had a qualifying mark of 2:07.47 in the women?s 800 meter.
?Any time you can get kids to reach personal bests and add more athletes to NCAA Regionals, it is very encouraging and satisfying,? said assistant coach Pat Tyson, who along with head coach Don Weber, directs UK?s distance and mid-distance runners. ?Although it wasn?t a perfect weekend, we performed well in many places. We had multiple PRs this weekend and when you have kids recording PRs of over one minute, that?s huge.?
Sophomore Taylor Miller (Owensboro, Ky.) charted a personal-best time of 35:51.78 in the women?s 10,000-meter run, increasing her personal record by more than one-and-a-half minutes. It marks the fifth-best time in that event in school history.
?Taylor had a huge personal-best today in the 10,000 meter,? Tyson said. ?She has a little ways to go in order to qualify for NCAAs, but that was a big PR for her today. I am very happy with her progression.?
Junior Andre? Silva (Centereach, N.Y.) ran a 9:08.82 in the men?s 3,000-meter steeplechase, which moves him into 10th-place all-time in school history in that event. He has decreased his time by 28 seconds in the event since the beginning of the season. Sophomore Andrea Halasek (Georgetown, Ky.) notched a personal-best time of 10:50.96 in the women?s steeplechase, missing a regional-qualifying mark by just seconds in that event.
Bruce Hordusky (Erie, Pa.), Chris Long (Bellbrook, Ohio) and John Thompson (Owensboro, Ky.) each recorded sizeable personal bests in the men?s 10,000-meter run. Thompson recorded nearly a two-minute PR in the event, finishing with a time of 30:45.63. His previous personal-record was a mark of 32:27.01, achieved at the Shamrock Invitational in Conway, S.C., to begin the 2007 outdoor slate. Hordusky bested his previous PR by nearly 45 seconds with a time of 30:30.67 to finish in 11th place in the event. Hordusky?s time just barely missed cracking the all-time top 10 at Kentucky in that event.
The trip to Eugene was the first return with his Kentucky squad for Tyson, who was a member of Oregon?s track and cross country squads during their heyday of the early 1970s and is in his first season as an assistant coach for the Wildcats.
?It was good for our team to gain an awareness and appreciation for excellence that they were able to see this weekend,? Tyson said. ?They got to feel the energy and legacy of Hayward Field ? the most famous track in America. Personally, I felt a lot of pride and a warm reception when they announced Kentucky over the speakers. To see our kids appreciate and respond to that will launch them to continue to work to be the best they can be. It was neat that they were able to see the tie to Kentucky when they jogged around the football stadium and looked up and it is named Rich Brooks Field.?
Several of Kentucky?s distance and mid-distance athletes will travel to Philadelphia, Penn., next weekend to participate in the prestigious Penn Relays.
Complete results and a recap of next weekend?s action will be available at ukathletics.com.
