Feb. 26, 2010
Fayetteville, Ark. — Both Kentucky track and field athletes competing in the pentathlon at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships scored points, finishing among the top eight, Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Sophomore Precious Nwokey ranked No. 20 in the nation with an NCAA provisional-qualifying score of 3,804 coming into today and had only competed in the pentathlon a single time this season. In addition to Nwokey, junior Ashley Newby looked to finish all events within the pentathlon for the first time this season after an injury prevented her from doing so during this event at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet in Lexington four weeks ago.
Both athletes turned in impressive performances among the field of 17 moving up and down the leaderboard throughout the event until Precious Nwokey, who entered the meet ranked 20th in the nation in the pentathlon, was third overall with an NCAA provisional-qualifying score of 3,967, while junior Ashley Newby, competing in her first full pentathlon this season, was eighth with 3,600 points.
Nwokey finished first in the long jump, the fourth event of the day, with a mark of 5.96 meters earning 837 points, vaulting her into third position overall.
Heading into the final event, Nwokey trailed Kettiany Clarke from South Carolina by 163 points.Nwokey finished third in the 800-meter run making up 67 points with a time of 2:20.06 and solidified her third-place overall finish, collecting an extremely important six points for the team.
“I thought the performance was outstanding,” UK multi-events coach James Thomas said. “Precious stepped into some heavy shoes following Ashley Trimble and, in just her second year, she’s only 30 points off the school record. I think we’re only one shot put away from really putting ourselves in position to get an NCAA automatic qualifying mark and an SEC championship.”
Newby finished ninth in the 60m hurdles to open competition but stormed back after she finished third in the high jump with a season best mark of 1.69m. Newby steadily rose, climbing all the way to third position after placing sixth in the shot with a throw of 10.83m. In the last two events, Newby dropped five spots to finish eighth overall but gained another point for the team in addition to the six earned by Nwokey.
Both Nwokey and Newby finished with personal bests.
“I think Ashley Newby fought the entire time and put herself in a great position to be successful,” Thomas said. “She struggled with the 800, but overall, I couldn’t be more excited about getting the team started off with seven points and putting us in the top three.”
The Wildcats are back in action tomorrow at 11 a.m. EST with the last event starting at 7 p.m. EST. Follow live stats and many other features at ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
Women’s Pentathlon – 1:30 p.m. ET (AUTO: 4,075; PROV: 3,725)
Precious Nwokey – Final: 3,967
Women’s 60M Hurdles – (AUTO: 8.14; PROV: 8.43)
5. Time: 8.67; Points: 980
Women’s High Jump – (AUTO: 1.85m; PROV: 1.78m)
2. Jump: 1.72m; Points: 879
Women’s Shot Put – (AUTO: 16.90m; PROV: 15.20m)
14. Throw: 8.75m; Points: 448
Women’s Long Jump – (AUTO: 6.38m; PROV: 6.13m)
1. Jump: 5.96m; Points: 837
Women’s 800 Meters – (AUTO: 2:05.00; PROV: 2:09.00 )
3. Time: 2:20.06; Points: 793
Ashley Newby – Final: 3,600
Women’s 60M Hurdles – (AUTO: 8.14; PROV: 8.43)
9. Time: 8.84; Points: 944
Women’s High Jump – (AUTO: 1.85m; PROV: 1.78m)
T3. Jump: 1.62m; Points: 842
Women’s Shot Put – (AUTO: 16.90m; PROV: 15.20m)
6. Throw: 10.83m; Points: 584
Women’s Long Jump – (AUTO: 6.38m; PROV: 6.13m)
10. Jump: 5.33m; Points: 651
Women’s 800 Meters – (AUTO: 2:05.00; PROV: 2:09.00)
15. Time: 2:39.49; Points: 579
Women’s Pentathlon Final Results
1.Kettiany Clarke (South Carolina) – 4,064
2.Chealsea Taylor (Alabama) – 4,019
3.Precious Nwokey (Kentucky) – 3,967
4.Ellen Wortham (Tennessee) – 3,863
5.Laquinta Aaron (Mississippi State) – 3,841
