LEXINGTON, Ky. – Twenty-one University of Kentucky track and field athletes embark on Columbia, Mo., May 25-26 to participate in the NCAA Mideast Regional hosted by the University of Missouri at Audrey J. Walton Stadium, looking to advance to the NCAA Championships scheduled to take place June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif.
The events commence each day at Noon EDT with live statistics available at http://mutigers.cstv.com/ncaatrack/results.html. In addition, live results and text commentary will be provided throughout each day?s action at www.ukathletics.com.
?We are ready for regionals this weekend,? UK head coach Don Weber said. ?Going into regionals, it may seem like an upgrade of competition from our last meet because you are going from a conference meet to a national meet, but there are not any better athletes than the ones in the SEC that we saw at the conference meet.?
The Mideast region is one of four track and field NCAA regions and is made from the Division I Universities in the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Missouri is the only school in the Big 12 Conference that competes in the Mideast Region. The Mideast Region houses many of the schools from the ultra-competitive SEC and Big-Ten Conferences.
Missouri will host the NCAA Track & Field regional for the first time in school history. Audrey J. Walton Stadium was the site of the 1998, 2000, and 2002 Big 12 Track & Field Championships as well as NCAA First and Second Round women’s soccer matches in 1999 and 2003.
The Wildcats posted a strong weekend at the 2007 Southeastern Conference Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Sophomore thrower Ashley Muffet (North Canton, Ohio) tied for the women?s Commissioner?s Cup after tallying 22 of the team?s 42 total points. Muffet finished second in the shot put and hammer throw and third in the discus. Junior mid-distance runner John Richardson (Ocean City, N.J.) claimed the men?s 1,500-meter championship for the second consecutive year with a personal-best time of 3:43.02.
