DES MOINES, Iowa ? University of Kentucky track and field senior Andy Fryman qualified for two event finals during the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Drake Stadium Track on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday.
Fryman became a two-time finalist by finishing 12th overall in the men’s hammer throw after placing ninth in the discus earlier in the day. Fryman’s hammer throw toss of 210-5 was an inch better than a pair of throwers from Missouri to claim the last at-large spot in the Friday final.
Earlier in the men?s discus, Fryman and junior Rashaud Scott both advanced to the final on Friday afternoon. Fryman threw 179-11 in windy conditions to place ninth. Scott finished 10th overall in the qualifying with a toss of 176-7. All qualifying throws are wiped out for the final as all 12 finalists will start with a clean slate.
At the end of the evening, freshman Grant Lindsey made the finals of the high jump after clearing two heights earlier in the evening. The high jump final will take place Friday afternoon with 15 finalists.
Joining the three male field event finalists are several UK semifinalists in the running events.
In the women’s 800m run, both UK runners advanced to the semifinal competition on Thursday evening at 7:15 p.m. ET. Senior Lavera Morris placed second in her heat to automatically qualify for the semis after leading much of the final lap in a time of 2:08.54. Junior Jessica Ortman ran in a much faster heat. Ortman ran a quicker time than Morris of 2:08.24, but placed fifth in her heat. The faster qualifying heat launched Ortman into the semis as the final at-large qualifier.
Sophomore Jenna Martin was the top at-large qualifier in the women’s 400m dash for the semifinal Friday. Martin finished third in her heat crossing the line in 52.84. Her time was the fifth fastest of the 16 semifinalists.
Junior Gordon McKenzie automatically qualified for the men’s 100m semifinal after finishing third in his heat with a time of 10.60 against a headwind of 2.6 mph. McKenzie ran the tenth fastest time of the first round.
Competing in the only event to schedule the first round and event semifinal on Wednesday, McKenzie was scheduled to run 100m dash again just over an hour after his first round finish. However, in the first heat of the men’s 100m dash semifinals McKenzie was disqualified for a false start.
Junior Emilee Strot finished 22nd in the nation in the women’s discus after a qualifying throw of 155-2 in gusty conditions.
The first UK competitors to finish the day were the four members of the men’s 4x100m relay squad. The Cats? squad of sophomore Kwasi Obeng, along with juniors Brandon Austin, Jose Acevedo and McKenzie finished fifth in their semifinal heat and 13th in the nation with a time of 40.11.
A handful of Wildcats begin their Championship quests Thursday evening.
At 5:50 p.m. ET, junior Mikel Thomas will compete in the men?s 110 hurdle first round. Thomas has broken the UK varsity record no less than four times this season. His current mark of 13.57 was accomplished at the Mideast Regional where he placed second overall to automatically qualify for the Championships. Thomas also broke the 60m hurdle mark during the Indoor season earlier this year.
Senior John Richardson will compete in his third and final NCAA Outdoor Championship during the men?s 1500 meter run semifinal scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET. Richardson qualified as an at-large candidate with a season-best time of 3:41.87 during competition at Stanford in early May and ranks fifth all-time at UK. During the indoor season, Richardson became just the second Wildcat in school history to run under four minutes in the mile.
The men?s 4x400m relay squad waits until the end of the second day to compete at 8:55 p.m. ET. The relay team consisting of senior Nathan Browning, classmate Justin Harrison, sophomore Kwasi Obeng and junior Jose Acevedo will compete for the Cats in the four-lap event. Kentucky ranks seventh nationally after an impressive win at the SEC Outdoor Championships in 3:04.57. Should the Cats advance to the final, they will be part of the live national broadcast on CBS Saturday as the last event of the Championships.
The Wildcat that has the longest wait is freshman Danielle Sampley. Sampley will compete in the women?s heptathlon over the final two days of the Championships.
Scott will compete in his second event of the Championships Thursday at 5:15 p.m. ET when he starts the qualifying round of the men?s shot put. Scott?s personal-best throw this year of 62-1.25 ranks sixth all-time at UK.
McKenzie and Acevedo will run in the first round of the 200 meter dash at 6:25 p.m. ET. If the Cats advance the semifinal for the event would take place later in the evening at 7:45 p.m. ET. Acevedo and McKenzie both ran personal-best times at the Mideast Regional. Acevedo is third all-time at UK with a mark of 20.58 while McKenzie clocked in at 20.77 for the seventh-best time in school history. Acevedo?s mark also was under the Olympic ?A? Standard qualifying him for the 2008 Summer Olympics as part of the Venezuelan National Team.
All field events will have a day of qualifying followed later in the week by the event final. Short-distance running events will have first round heats followed by semifinal heats and finally the event final on the third or fourth day. Relays and distance events will conduct just a semifinal and final round over two days.
Live results links are available from the UKathletics.com homepage and the track and field schedule page. On Friday evening, CBS College Sports Television, formerly CSTV, will broadcast track event finals from the Championships live from 8:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. ET. On Saturday, national network CBS will broadcast the running event finals live from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. ET.
A full recap of Wildcat performances and a preview of the next day?s events will be available after each day of competition on UKathletics.com.
Kentucky NCAA Championship Meet Participation Schedule
Men?s Shot Put Qualifying ? Thursday 5:15 p.m. ET
Rashaud Scott
Men?s 110 Meter Hurdles First Round ? Thursday 5:50 p.m. ET
Mikel Thomas
Men?s 200 Meter Dash First Round ? Thursday 6:25 p.m. ET
Jose Acevedo
Gordon McKenzie
Women?s 800 Meter Run Semifinal ? Thursday 7:15 p.m. ET
Lavera Morris
Jessica Ortman
Men?s 200 Meter Dash Semifinal ? Thursday 7:45 p.m. ET
Jose Acevedo
Gordon McKenzie
Men?s 1500 Meter Run Semifinal ? Thursday 8:10 p.m. ET
John Richardson
Men?s 4×400 Meter Relay Semifinal ? Thursday 8:55 p.m. ET
Kentucky
1) Nathan Browning 2) Justin Harrison 3) Kwasi Obeng 4) Jose Acevedo
Women?s Heptathlon Day One ? Friday 2:00 p.m. ET
Danielle Sampley
