Jan. 29, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky.–Soaring past her previous best score by almost 400 points, multi-event athlete Precious Nwokey opened the Rod McCravy Memorial Track and Field Meet with a victory in the pentathlon. Nwokey finished with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 3804.00 and the top score in the Southeastern Conference this season.
“It’s a great start in her first pentathlon of the season and I think she has a lot more in her. She has four weeks to really get focused, stay hungry and get ready for the SEC’s (championship meet),” said Coach James Thomas.
Nwokey is looking to fill the void left by All American and UK varsity record holder Ashley Trimble, and with performances like today, she is well on her way.
Capping off Friday night at E.J. Nutter Field House, Kristin Smith pummeled her personal best and her own varsity record, previously set at 64-01.75, with a throw of 67-03.50 to finish second in the women’s weight throw. Smith’s throw improves her provisional qualifying mark and stands just half a meter away from being the first NCAA automatic qualifier in UK history in that event.
In the pole vault, sophomore Samantha Stenzel finished tied for third with a mark of 11-07.75 just shy of her personal best 12-01.50 set two weeks ago at the Kentucky Invitational. Stenzel was the only athlete to compete for Kentucky in pole vault this weekend.
Check out the Wildcats in action when they return to E.J. Nutter Field House, where field events will resume Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Running events will follow, beginning at 12:30 p.m. A total of 14 men’s teams and 15 women’s teams are competing in the meet. The event is free and open to the public with live statistics and a complete schedule of events at www.ukathletics.com/track.
Event parking is located in the green lot of Commonwealth Stadium.
Kentucky Results
Indoor Pentathlon: Auto-4075.00; Prov.-3725.00 Precious Nwokey – (P) 3804.00
Women Weight Throw: Auto-21.00; Prov.-18.75 Kristin Smith – (P) 20.51/67-03.50 Ashley Muffet – 17.09/56-01.00
Women Pole Vault: Auto-4.25; Prov. 4.00 Samantha Stenzel – 3.55/11-07.75
