COLUMBIA, Mo. ? Kentucky?s track and field athletes begin their competition in the NCAA Mideast Regional on Friday at the Audrey J. Walton Stadium on the campus of the University of Missouri with aspirations of advancing to the NCAA Championships to be held June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif.
Live statistics will be available at http://mutigers.cstv.com/ncaatrack/results.html and live UK results and text commentary will be available through ukathletics.com throughout the two-day event.
Junior thrower Alek Grietens (Nipomo, Calif) opens Kentucky?s competition by participating in the men?s hammer throw at Noon EDT. Grietens has recorded a breakout campaign in the hammer throw this season, having improved his personal-best mark by nearly 12 feet since the beginning of the season. He currently owns the fourth-best toss in school history with a throw of 184-10, a feat he accomplished in both of the team?s last two regular-season meets.
Sophomore thrower Ashley Muffet (North Canton, Ohio), competes in the women?s shot put at 3 p.m. EDT. Muffet, who holds UK?s school record in both the indoor and outdoor shot puts, tied for the 2007 Southeastern Conference Commissioner?s Cup, which recognizes the league?s individual top points scorer, two weeks ago at the SEC Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Muffet scored 22 of the team?s 42 points, finishing second in the shot put and hammer throw and third in the discus.
The men?s 4×100 relay, consisting of Jose Acevedo (Caracas, Venezuela), Brandon Austin (Paducah, Ky.), Gordon McKenzie (Queens, N.Y.) and Mikel Thomas (Brooklyn, N.Y.) competes in its preliminary round at 4 p.m. EDT. The squad recorded a season-best time of 40.33 in its last outing at the SEC Championships.
Thrower Gavin Ball (Cottage Grove, Wisc.) competes in the men?s discus at 4:30 p.m. EDT after recording the seventh-best discus toss in school history at the SEC Championships with a personal-best mark of 175-3.
Junior mid-distance runner John Richardson (Ocean City, N.J.) claimed his second consecutive SEC 1,500-meter title in his last outing and will be competing in the preliminaries of the 1,500 on Friday at 4:30 p.m. EDT. In his win two weeks ago, Richardson posted a personal-best time of 3:43.02, the eighth-best time in school history in that event.
Acevedo competes in the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash at 5:50 p.m. EDT, having recorded a season-best time of 10.45 at the Shamrock Invitational.
Fellow sprinters Nathan Browning (Petersburg, Ill.), Justin Harrison (Wheaton, Ill.) and Luis Luna (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) run in the preliminaries of the 400-meter dash at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Luna recorded the fourth-best time in school history in the finals of the SEC Championships with a time of 46.31. Each member of the trio ranks in the top 10 in school history in the event.
Junior Stephan Smith (Tallahassee, Fla.) participates in the men?s 800-meter run preliminaries at 7:10 p.m. EDT after notching a season-best time of 1:50.19 at the SEC meet.
On the women?s side, junior Lavera Morris (Orlando, Fla.) and Georganne Way (Lititz, Pa.) will compete in the 800 meter preliminaries at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Morris had a season-best time of 2:06.44 to finish fifth in the event at the SEC Championships. Way also had a season-best time of 2:07.54 at the conference meet.
Thomas participates in the preliminaries of the men?s 400 hurdles at 8 p.m. EDT Friday. He notched the seventh-best time in school history at the Sea Ray Relays in mid-April with a time of 52.51. During the indoor season, he set the school record in the 60-meter hurdles.
Acevedo returns to the track at 8:50 p.m. EDT to compete in the preliminaries of the 200-meter dash. He notched a season-best of 21.13 in that event at the SEC Championships.
Sophomore distance runner Taylor Miller (Owensboro, Ky.) closes out the evening at 10 p.m. EDT by participating in the 5,000-meter run. Miller holds the eight-best time in school history in that event, finishing in a time of 16:50.30 at the Sea Ray Relays.
Complete results and a recap of Friday?s action will be available at ukathletics.com.
Kentucky Athletes Competing on Friday, May 25 at the NCAA Mideast Regional
Men’s Hammer Throw ? 12 p.m. EDT
Alek Grietens
Women?s Shot Put ? 3 p.m. EDT
Ashley Muffet
Men?s 4×100 Relay (Preliminaries) ? 4 p.m. EDT
Mikel Thomas, Gordon McKenzie, Brandon Austin, Jose Acevedo
Men?s Discus ? 4:30 p.m. EDT
Gavin Ball
Men?s 1,500-Meter Run (Preliminaries) ? 4:30 p.m. EDT
John Richardson
Men’s 100-Meter Dash (Preliminaries) ? 5:50 p.m. EDT
Jose Acevedo
Men?s 400-Meter Dash (Preliminaries) ? 6:30 p.m. EDT
Nathan Browning
Justin Harrison
Luis Luna
Men?s 800-Meter Run (Preliminaries) ? 7:10 p.m. EDT
Stephan Smith
Women?s 800-Meter Run (Preliminaries) ? 7:30 p.m. EDT
Lavera Morris
Georganne Way
Men?s 400 Hurdles (Preliminaries) ? 8 p.m. EDT
Mikel Thomas
Men?s 200-Meter Dash Preliminaries ? 8:50 p.m. EDT
Jose Acevedo
Women?s 5,000-Meter Run ? 10 p.m. EDT
Taylor Miller
