Jan. 30, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – University of Kentucky senior Ashley Trimble broke the school pentathlon record that she established last season and added another top-10 mark en route to a second-place finish in the multi-event Friday at the Penn State National Invitational.
Trimble topped her old record of 3858 by more than 100 tallies, accumulating 3989 points to set the new UK varsity standard and earn an NCAA provisional mark. The Wildcat finished among the top four in all but one of the five events, including another top-10 performance in the long jump. Trimble’s second-place leap of 19-8.25 in the long jump is good for seventh all-time at Kentucky. She also placed second in the shot put, third in the 60m hurdles and fourth in the 800m run during the competition.
In the fifth event of the pentathlon, Trimble’s teammate Ashley Newby entered the UK record books. Newby cleared the bar at 5-5.75 to rank 10th all-time in the event. The sophomore also set a personal best score over five events, finishing the day with 3532 points. The total moves Newby into fourth all-time at UK in the pentathlon.
On the men’s side, senior Rashaud Scott made good on his only mark of the competition, pitching the 35-lb weight a distance of 66-4.50 on his first attempt. Scott’s throw was a personal-best mark that won the competition, improved the senior’s second-place all-time mark at UK, and notched a provisional mark to rank eighth in the nation.
In the men’s 60m dash, two Wildcat freshmen battled in the final. Justin Austin and Alex Williams finished third and fourth, respectively. Austin placed third with a time of 6.73 with his second provisional mark this year. Williams crossed the line next in 6.77, a personal-best mark that ranks ninth all-time in school history. Senior Brandon Austin advanced to the semifinals of the event with a season-best mark of 6.86 and finished 13th overall.
Senior Mikel Thomas sped closer to the 60m hurdle school record that he broke multiple times last season. He led the field throughout the event with the top time in the preliminaries, semifinals and ultimately won the final with a time of 7.79, just 0.04 seconds off of his record. The time earned Thomas another provisional mark.
Fellow hurdler Geoffrey Daley also made the finals. The junior placed seventh with a season-best mark of 8.14, just 0.02 seconds off of his top-10 personal-best mark.
Another multi-event athlete made his collegiate debut in the heptathlon. Freshman Kevin Carney is one of the few Wildcats in school history to compete in the discipline. Carney made an impressive debut. After four events the newcomer is among the leaders in the competition. Carney used three second-place finishes in the long jump, shot put and high jump to rank at the top after day one. The competition will conclude Saturday with the final three events.
Several other Wildcats turned in top-10 performances on day one.
Freshman Luis Orta finished fourth in the 5,000 meter run invitational with a time of 14:33.82. Earlier senior Bruce Hordusky finished ninth in the first running of the event, clocking in at 15:07.
In the women’s weight throw, junior Kristin Smith placed seventh overall with mark of 57-7. Classmate Heather Smith checked in at number 10 with a distance of 56-4.50.
The Kentucky men are ranked 11th in the preseason poll released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). No. 21 Georgetown is the other ranked team in the men’s field.
On the women’s side, the Cats are 22nd in the USTFCCCA poll and the competition is strong with four ranked teams joining the Cats: No. 4 Tennessee, No. 7 Virginia Tech, No. 11 Arkansas, and the host Nittany Lions at No. 14.
Competition resumes with running events at 10:00 a.m. ET before field events begin an hour later on Saturday.
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