LEXINGTON, Ky. ? This weekend, University of Kentucky track and field pole vaulter Mary Chris Durham broke the one-week old school record set by teammate Maggie Tincher, while senior Andy Fryman eclipsed a nine-year old men?s weight throw mark at the eighth-annual New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City.
UK red-shirt sophomore Durham cleared a height of 12-3.50 which tops the mark set by junior teammate Maggie Tincher last week by two inches. Tincher finished fourth with a final mark of 11-9.75. Durham also holds the freshman record in both indoor and outdoor pole vault, while Tincher retains the outdoor varsity mark.
?(Durham and Tincher) are both making huge strides and I expect both to challenge each other and the conference,? UK assistant coach for jumps, vaults and multi-events James Thomas said. ?I have extremely high expectations for them becoming scorers for us in the conference this season.?
Senior Andy Fryman pitched the 35 lb. weight a distance of 65-6.00, four inches farther than the UK record set in 1999 by Matt Kavanagh to finish third. Junior Rashaud Scott followed close behind with a throw of 63-9.00 to place fifth.
The women?s pole vault and men?s weight throw were not the only field events where the Wildcats set top marks.
In the men?s shot put Scott claimed the title with a throw of 58-11.25, the sixth-best mark in school history. Fryman finished third in the event with a put of 57-8.50. On the women?s side, junior Ashley Muffet placed second with a toss of 51-0.25.
Two UK freshmen posted top-10 all-time marks in the long jump. Derrick Locke jumped a distance of 24-2.25, the fifth-best leap all-time at Kentucky and just four inches shy of the school freshman record in his first collegiate competition. Danielle Sampley hit the dirt at a distance of 19-8.00 to set the sixth best women?s long jump mark. Locke and Sampley finished seventh and third, respectively, in their jumps.
In the women?s weight throw Muffet placed seventh while teammate Emily Bernhardt finished eighth with throws of 57-5.50 and 57-5.00, respectively. Bernhardt?s mark moved her into fifth all-time on the UK top-ten list.
UK veteran distance runners clinched two titles in the men?s and women?s 5000 meter runs. Junior Taylor Miller beat the second-place runner by over five seconds finishing at 17:36.87 in the women?s run. In the men?s race, senior John Thompson crossed the line first with a time of 14:54.40, two seconds ahead of the competition.
Junior Jessica Ortman tied her personal-best mark down to the hundredth of a second in the women?s 800 meter run. Her time of 2:09.78 ties her own mark that ranks ninth-best all-time in the UK record books.
Kentucky returns to action next weekend, Feb. 15-16 when it sends split squads to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash. Complete results and a recap of next weekend?s action will be available at UKathletics.com.
